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405,000+ SKUs added in just months
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Quantifiable savings on staff time, increased productivity
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Enhanced cross-selling opportunities, increased product awareness
Why
Southern Advertising is a promotional products supplier based in Greenville, South Carolina. They operate the Capstoyou.com web storefront where consumers can go to customize various shirts, hats and other gear with their company name and logo or other identifiers.
Southern Ad uses a system called Promo Standards that holds all their suppliers’ data. Vesta was called on to tap into this system to collect, normalize and feed product data to the Southern Ad web store. During the onboarding process, the Vesta customer support team and South Advertising discovered that this was not going to be a simple plug and play API integration as it turned out each supplier had different product setups.
Southern Ad has been enthused at what Vesta has achieved considering the variety and complexity of product data at hand. Promo Standards set up the data, but it still needed to get to a ‘ready state’ for eCommerce, which is where Vesta came in…
“Vesta took the ball and ran with it. It’s been a long journey, but it’s been a big push to get all this product data how we need it. [Vesta] is really good at what they do. They are smart and know what they’re doing, and we tell people that all the time.”
- Chris Ayers, Southern Advertising
How
Southern Ad required a solution to normalize product data for import to Southern Ad’s web storefront in a sustainable manner, as well as a product information management solution that empowers their suppliers to alter product data over time while automatically syncing changes and updates to their site. Vesta provided the following solution:
- Product data teams working with Promo Standards to clean and standardize product info for use in web storefront
- Establish consistent product data format and sync to site so new products can be onboarded and changes to existing product data be reflected on the site in real-time
- Automate what was once untenable as a manual process – consistently display accurate product data (inventory, pricing, etc.) while onboarding new products to accelerate revenue growth rapidly and consistently over time
The Results
- Live product data feeds automatically adjusted when vendors change prices, products are discontinued, colors are discontinued, etc. – all automated and keeping pace with ‘a moving target’
- No need for an internal developer team to maintain – all set up and automated via the Vesta solution, setting Southern Ad up for long-term, ‘hands-off’ success
- Greater cross-selling and product awareness opportunities – when consumers find their hats on Google they can now, thanks to Vesta, easily access Southern Ad’s entire suite of product offerings, which has led to an increase in sales
- Direct impact on revenue – cross-selling figures and product SKUs are up since Vesta adoption
- Internal productivity boost and reduction in resources/dedicated staff time to maintaining product data – Vesta now acts as their de facto developer team
- Can market confidently with direct mail, email blitzes, etc. knowing all the product and related info inside is accurate and up-to-date for the consumer
“What Vesta does in days would take my team weeks or even months to accomplish. I don’t know what I’d do without Vesta. I have zero clue. I’d be dead in the water without Vesta.”
- Chris Ayers, Southern Advertising
