Articles tagged 'B2B'

v15 Features

Jan 17, 2019 | Mark Troast

Ability to visualize your cart

Our new visualization feature empowers a user to merchandise product on a canvas prior to order creation. Buyers and reps can use this to quickly merchandise each shipment of a pre-book order or for that quick replenishment...

Why We're Excited For Our v15 Release

Jan 8, 2019 | Mark Troast

The latest version of Envoy B2B is on the way. We’ve got a host of new features and improvements coming, but there are few additions in particular we want to call attention to. As always, we will release a list of the changes and updates, but for...

Energizing Your Wholesale Channel

Nov 6, 2018 | Tom Rau

Wholesale strategies have shifted. Retail has moved from a landscape once dominated by big box stores, to one that is now much more centered on smaller, specialty retailers. With that comes a new growth opportunity, but the old methods for working...

Update 14.50 - One More Thing...

Oct 25, 2018 | Envoy

While we normally do one large release per quarter, we had a few user requests that we wanted to deploy without waiting for a larger, quarterly release. This is all part of our never ending effort to make Envoy B2B the best possible platform for our...

Envoy Platform - v14 Updates and Improvements

Oct 4, 2018 | Envoy

Envoy is always striving to be the best B2B wholesale platform available. Our users are important to us, and we love getting feedback from them on how to make our platform better. As a result, we’ve focused this release on addressing user requested...

Showroom: Best Practices to Help You Engage, Educate, and Sell

Aug 8, 2018 | Jeff Tow

Showroom is the content destination that defines your brand, educates your buyers, and provides the materials reps need to make a successful sale. It gives your buyers a B2C experience inside a B2B platform.

But a tool is only as good as its content...

Buyer Engagement During Trade Show Season: Going Beyond the Booth

Jul 11, 2018 | Mark Troast

Engaging buyers within the limited timeframe of a trade show is no longer enough. After all, a trade show only lasts four days, and there are 365 days in a year.

It’s time to go beyond the booth.

How can you attract new business while keeping your...

Envoy Platform - The Latest Updates

Jun 21, 2018 | Envoy

Envoy continues to innovate the platform with new features and benefits aimed at enhancing the user experience, speeding up the ordering process, and making it all more accessible than ever.

Conquer and Divide

We are bringing more B2C-like functionality...

One Step At a Time - How To Adopt a B2B eCom Platform Successfully

Jun 7, 2018 | Jon Faber

Putting a modern B2B eCommerce platform in place - whether it’s for the first time or as a byway of transitioning between platforms - is best approached through a series of focused stages we call the Envoy stairway. This is a common approach to software...

Envoy Platform Updates – Welcome to Version 12

Apr 25, 2018 | Envoy

We have some fantastic new features that have rolled out with version 12. To learn more, read a bit about each one below.

Email Order Confirmations

Now when submitting an order you can send order confirmation emails to specific customer users and...

Now Is The Time To Adopt A B2B

Apr 20, 2018 | Mark Troast

You might think that your brand needs to have all its wholesale solutions in place, from customer management to order capture to fulfillment and logistics. Naturally, you want and expect all these systems to integrate seamlessly. While there are huge...

What Makes Envoy B2B Different?

Mar 20, 2018 | Mark Troast

Envoy’s B2B e-commerce platform is different. But being different only counts if that differentiation offers real added value to partners.

Here’s what sets us apart from our competitors: industry specialization, a stairway of solutions for brands...

What We Learned From A Brand New Outdoor Retailer (or Why Envoy Is More Relevant Than Ever)

Feb 7, 2018 | Jon Faber

Outdoor Retailer (OR) is the country’s largest outdoor recreation expo and conference. So it was a natural fit for Envoy to be there, given that our clients are outdoor and lifestyle brands. And there was no better location than Denver to bring these...

Brands: Empower Your Retail Partners With Envoy

Jan 25, 2018 | Mark Troast

Change for the sake of change doesn’t make sense. But change for a better buyer experience, greater efficiencies, and increased sales?

That’s something to embrace.

To compete in a changing retail environment, you need a wholesale/retail strategy...

The Benefits of a Digital-First Strategy for Brands

Jan 11, 2018 | Mark Troast

A digital-first strategy should be a key component of any brand that combines commerce with content. (And if your brand isn’t thinking about its B2B platform as a content destination, it’s time.)

When you adopt a digital-first approach, the life of...

A Conversation With See Kai Run

Oct 18, 2017 | Mark Johnson

We work hard to provide brands with a modern platform that increases efficiency and smooths out their customer interactions. Envoy makes it easy for brands to do business so they can focus on increasing their successes. We had a chat with the folks...

5 Reasons Why Small Brands Should Add a B2B eCommerce Platform to Their Go-to-Market Strategy

Oct 12, 2017 | Jon Faber

You run a small but growing Brand. With exciting new product lines, your company plans to implement its go-to-market strategy just like it always has and transform your small brand into a global empire overnight. Sounds great, right?

There’s only...

Envoy B2B Platform Recognized As One Of The Best e-Commerce Solutions For 2017

Sep 21, 2017 | Mark Johnson

For years we’ve worked hard to deliver the best possible B2B tools to our clients. From our humble beginnings as a catalog and presentation tool for iPads all the way through to the best-in-class B2B platform that is Envoy, our number one goal has...

Come Together: The Advantages Of A Single System B2B For Content And Commerce

Aug 17, 2017 | Mark Troast

Many B2B e-commerce providers have adopted a multi-system approach. They offer a commerce only solution that exposes their lack of content features to drive sales. This missing capability is “solved” by integrating with a content solution, either as...

Four Reasons Why A Content Destination Is An Essential Piece of Your B2B Platform

Jul 14, 2017 | Jon Faber

A dedicated content destination in your B2B platform informs your buyers, keeps them up to date, and engages them in your key stories. As a result, you build greater brand loyalty and grow your wholesale channels.

According to research firm Forrester...

Envoy Updates: Multiple Order Shipments And Order Discounts

Jun 30, 2017 | Christopher Morse

At Envoy, our goal is to create amazing experiences that empower and delight our users. We don’t want to just check the boxes of expected and acceptable features. We want to create the best possible, most useful tools for the people using our platform...

Making the Customer Fall in Love: B2B Vendor/Client Support Relationships

Feb 1, 2017 | Steve Dabbs

Customer support for a B2B platform typically involves interacting with many client roles. The most frequent of those roles is the client’s own customer service representatives (CSR). What happens when customer service has to provide support for customer...

Taking Advantage Of A Content And Commerce Strategy

Jan 13, 2017 | Jon Faber

If you’ve recently discovered the value of adopting the content and commerce approach for your B2B marketing strategy, your next question might be: “How can I prepare my organization for the content and commerce approach?”

Fortunately, adopting content...

A Year In Review

Dec 29, 2016 | Jon Faber

This has been an amazing year for Envoy. Thank you to everyone that shared our success in 2016. We look forward to an exciting 2017 as we continue to grow our company, and lead in our industry.

01. Advisory Board
This year we implemented a new Advisory...

Why Your B2B Needs To Be More Like B2C

Dec 14, 2016 | Mark Troast

The B2B world is constantly changing. New technologies and industry demands are creating new paradigms. But there are signposts of things to come if you know where to look. And if you’re wondering what direction your B2B should take going forward...

Envoy Releases New Tools And Features For Its Innovative B2B Platform

Nov 23, 2016 | Byrum & Fisk Communications

New updates enable footwear, apparel and accessories companies to reach B2B customers through in-platform marketing materials and campaigns, bringing together content marketing and e-commerce.

GRAND RAPIDS (Mich.) - Footwear, apparel and accessories...

6 Product Photography Tips For Easing The Preseason Burden

Nov 17, 2016 | Kara Hoffman

The easiest way to accomplish a successful go to market launch is to utilize a third party photography service. Planning ahead and ensuring all products are documented and photographed in advance will lead to a smooth pre-season, a successful launch...

Envoy Welcomes New Advisory Board

Nov 3, 2016 | Jon Faber

We’re excited to announce a new Advisory Board as we strengthen Envoy and grow our company.

We’ve spent the last six months building our new Advisory Board, connecting with some of the most influential experts in the footwear, apparel and B2B industries...

Design Is How It Works

Oct 21, 2016 | Christopher Morse

I recently read an article on Daring Fireball ("Design as Branding") that reminded me of the following Steve Jobs quote, taken from a 2003 Rob Walker profile of the iPod for The New York Times Magazine:

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design...

All Together Now - Content and Commerce Drive a Successful B2B Strategy

Sep 29, 2016 | Jon Faber

It’s likely that, as a channel, your wholesale B2B eCom platform has mostly been where you park existing buyers. As a platform, it’s helped those buyers replenish products and has been viewed as an order-capture utility.

Believe it or not, an eCom...

It’s Time To Give Wholesale B2B Marketing Teams Their Jobs Back

Jul 28, 2016 | Jon Faber

As a wholesale B2B marketer in the footwear and apparel industry, it’s likely one of your goals is making sure content and product information reflects your brand’s story. From product images and descriptions, to sales presentations and catalogs, all...

The Ripple Effect of a Content & Commerce Approach to B2B

Jul 22, 2016 | Mark Troast

It’s easy to undervalue any part of a wholesale B2B e-commerce system that is not directly involved in capturing orders. Although capturing orders is a fundamental part of B2B, focusing on it exclusively can often be a sign of a limited view of what...

Product Segmentation

Jul 6, 2016 | Mark Troast

In our previous blog post about adopting Envoy, we covered designing for digital first. In part 3 of this series, we'll examine product segmentation.

Product segmentation continues to be a "wouldn't that be nice" concept for many footwear and apparel...

Congratulations! Another Great Season!

Jun 28, 2016 | Team Envoy

Congratulations to all of our clients on another outstanding season! Working together we were able to achieve another successful go-to-market.

So far this season, Envoy and our clients have worked together to:

Create 46 interactive catalogs
A total...

Total Cost of Ownership

May 11, 2016 | Envoy

What’s the total cost of ownership when you implement a new B2B platform? Should you license a framework or go down the SaaS route? What is the best way to get a feature rich platform that let’s you accomplish all your goals without blowing the budget...

What You Need To Know About Designing For Digital First

May 3, 2016 | Mark Troast

In our previous blog post about adopting Envoy, we covered centralized product data. In this post, we’ll continue by examining what you need to consider when adopting a new digital medium for your marketing content.

One of the huge advantages of...

Envoy Makes it Easy With Their E-Commerce Approach

Apr 29, 2016 | Jane Whitttington, Michipreneur.com

Original article at michipreneur.com.

Entrepreneurs have to know how and when to change. Business is a dynamic process that, in order to succeed, must be willing to evolve as the marketplace, technology and customer s’ needs and expectations evolve...

What you need to know about centralized product data workflow

Apr 8, 2016 | Mark Troast

Adopting Envoy can often shine a light on missing pieces in your brand’s business solutions. One of the most common issues we’ve seen is that when adopting an efficient, modern system in one part of your business, inefficiencies elsewhere become more...

Improving Wholesale B2B User Adoption - The Human Centered Design Approach

Mar 31, 2016 | Christopher Morse

Creating a solid user training plan is a significant, yet often overlooked component of implementing a new wholesale B2B system. And the lack of a pre-rollout training plan does not just mean an increased risk of scheduling conflicts and headaches...

Turn Your Wholesale B2B Into A Strategy For Success, Part 3 - Great Products Deserve Great Visual Content

Mar 25, 2016 | Appropos

Now that you’ve implemented a new wholesale B2B Platform, it’s time to develop visual content that accurately documents your products and allows you to tell a consistent story to your customers across all mediums. The first step to accomplishing this...

Turn Your B2B Into A Strategy For Success, Part 2 - The Cost of Implementation

Mar 4, 2016 | Appropos

Congratulations! Your business has decided to adopt a new B2B platform.

As we mentioned in the first post of our four-part series, Turn Your B2B Into a Strategy for Success, organizations and businesses can expect to face some common challenges when...

Turn Your B2B Into A Strategy For Success, Part 1 - Identifying the common challenges of adopting a B2B platform

Feb 19, 2016 | Appropos

You’ve cleared all the hurdles to ditch your antiquated order placement process and decided to adopt an integrated B2B platform. The budget is approved, IT is on board, leadership has signed off on the idea, and your team is excited about a better...

Six ways Envoy delivers for footwear and apparel companies

Jan 26, 2016 | Appropos

We developed Envoy with the needs of our leading footwear and apparel clients in mind. As more companies adopt Envoy, we’ve compiled a list of highlights that our customers tell us set us apart.

Here what they tell us:

1. Envoy is designed with their...

Envoy B2B Gives Companies A Modern Advantage

Jan 22, 2016 | Mark Johnson

In many ways, the business-to-business world remains stuck in the past. Many of us as consumers enjoy modern, online systems such as Amazon, where we can easily purchase a new pair of pants or some fresh running shoes. Or we simply walk into a store...

Grand Rapids' Appropos leads wholesale business into the Amazon age

Dec 17, 2015 | Rapid Growth

Even as online retailers dominate the business-to-customer retail market with intuitive software and data-based marketing tools, business-to-business wholesale transactions still tend to wallow in clunky, outdated software systems. Grand Rapids-based...