OptiCat has announced the availability of custom-branded catalog websites for suppliers and distributors utilizing OptiCat’s online parts research catalog. The online catalog provides supplier data from the OptiCat Data Repository in “near-real-time,” the company says.
This allows suppliers to have data available to the marketplace almost immediately, thus allowing an alternative path for important information that could require as much as nine months or more to reach the market, according to OptiCat.
This new capability is offered in two forms:
Supplier Custom Branded Websites
OptiCat can now provide a custom website for the supplier, under the supplier’s own brand, using the data resident in the OptiCat Data Repository, which can be customized to the supplier’s needs. This approach minimizes website development effort and cost, while allowing the supplier site to be “up and running” in minimum time, OptiCat says. This capability can be used for a variety of purposes including online selling and developing custom product communication and training tools for the supplier’s field sales force, among others. The sites are capable of handling images (including 360 degree images), custom messaging and other features. In order to access this capability, suppliers must be subscribers to OptiCat’s OnBoard Pro software system.
Catalog Web Services
In response to market demand, OptiCat also offers custom Web services, allowing companies to access the “near-real-time” supplier data available via the OptiCat Data Repository. All data remains the property of the supplier and the supplier must approve delivery of the data via the OnBoard Pro system. Catalog Web services allow companies to pursue the development of a high-performing website with the freshest data without the challenges of collecting and maintaining cataloging data.
OptiCat Chief Operating Officer Bryan Thueson commented, “OptiCat’s new custom-branded website capability provides all levels of the supply chain with the fast and a cost-efficient path to offering their own, high-performing website capability. While many companies have already undertaken developing their own websites utilizing in-house or third party resources, the new OptiCat capability can help them get there faster and with less expended resources, all directed at helping sell more parts.”
