CHRIS: So we have the ability to restrict the variations of a product based on the account or the franchise that we're working with? And that's a pretty interesting capability that just makes it easier for the buyers within those different franchise groups that are purchasing from your buying group platform.
Another key aspect that we see a lot is notifications, [which we talked about in one of] the previous webinars. You are able to see what the inventory is, order up whatever they need, but possibly being notified when additional inventory is available. It’s possible to notify the sellers, notify the suppliers, “Hey, if you can get more inventory of this amount, we would order it,” and that can be really helpful as well.
Finally, you have some of the more standard fields like the description, having a nice friendly HTML description if desired, capable of handling any data fields like product data sheets, possibly spec documents or diagrams. In many cases, our clients have dynamically generated schema diagrams that show how the device or the item is constructed, and possibly include a rollover, an exploded view, of the variations or kit items.
We’ll also include tabs for reviews, tabs for immersive media, videos, instructions, or support. This is one of the most exciting things about working with different buying groups, is they tend to have a really specific need for the end-customers. Ultimately, those are some of the fundamental things that you're going to want to look for. It really centers around a standard product detail page, plus all of the pieces that are required to help someone decide if they can purchase something of that size or quantity, setting up a complex purchase in many cases, right?
RON: Yeah, that makes sense. And I'm going to go ahead and talk about a couple of the things that you just mentioned. You talked about potentially buying only two colors of the approved uniform for a franchise. Well, one of the things that you can do, at least in a platform like ours, is the ability to have multiple stores. And these stores can be a custom-filtered store within the massive PIM or with the product database.
Here’s an example. Let's say I carried a thousand items at Costco, right? I'm Costco and I'm the buying group owner and I'm allowing eCommerce buying groups like restaurants and things like that to come to me. Well, let's say Chris owns a restaurant and he comes to my store, Costco, and he goes, “Well, you've got a lot of great prices on a few things. These are the 12 things that I want to buy from you. I want to buy in large quantities and I want to buy often.” So I sign a contract with him. I let him purchase on account.