DataSource

• DataSource™: Content Delivery and Maintenance for Your Electronic Product Catalogs
  (December 2004)
  This paper will help CIOs and IT/eCommerce engineers in channel businesses understand the technologies that comprise the DataSource solution, how these technologies work together to provide the richest and most complete product information in the industry, and how their businesses can use DataSource to reduce operating costs and drive revenue.

• Delivering Multi-Vendor Product Information to Facilitate Customer Purchase Decisions: Evaluating the ROI of CNET Channel DataSource™
  (January 2005)
  To demonstrate and quantify the economic benefits associated with DataSource, CNET Channel contracted Callan Consulting, an independent business modeling consulting firm, to develop a detailed return on investment (ROI) model. Callan Consulting interviewed a broad range of CNET Channel customers and gathered data from a variety of secondary sources to create the DataSource ROI model. As this white paper describes key ROI benefits, it can be read either as a stand-alone document or in conjunction with the ROI model. Please contact us if you're interested in having a CNET Channel conduct a 1:1 DataSource ROI analysis with you.

• Optimizing Cross-Sell and After-Market Sales Opportunities for IT and Consumer Electronics Accessories
  (September 2005)
  The online reselling of IT and consumer electronic products is a highly competitive marketplace. A crowded market means resellers must battle to attract and retain loyal online technology buyers. And shrinking margins on parent products require resellers to effectively cross-sell accessories — both point of sale and after-market — in order to remain profitable. Whether from an OEM or a third-party vendor, cross-selling products is the single best opportunity for resellers to increase order size, boost bottom-line profitability, reduce sales drop-offs and contribute to customer satisfaction. This white paper details the challenges online retailers face in today’s crossselling process, identifies best practices in cross-selling IT and consumer electronics products, and describes how CNET Channel is uniquely positioned to deliver an innovative, automated solution for customers to identify, recommend, and sell profitable accessories.

• Communicating Trust to Your Online Customers
  (March 2005)
  Product information is the DNA of your online store or your e-commerce extranet/intranet. Without product information, no transaction could take place. How retailers/resellers support product information directly impacts their bottom-line results. Many, however, ignore the fundamentals by featuring inaccurate, incomplete, inconsistent and confusing information on their Web sites. This results in distrust of the information customers associate with your brand and ultimately impacts your bottom line. In a sales channel where consumers can find the same product at many different locations, product information can impact your bottom line significantly. This white paper explains the seven key content characteristics that build trust and provides two case studies of CNET Channel customers that earned trust from their online customers.

ChannelOnline

• Automating the Complete Sales Cycle to Facilitate the Quote-to-Order Process: Evaluating the ROI of ChannelOnline™
  (February 2005)
  To demonstrate and quantify the economic benefits associated with ChannelOnline, CNET Channel contracted Callan Consulting, an independent business modeling consulting firm, to develop a detailed return on investment (ROI) model. Callan Consulting interviewed a broad range of CNET Channel customers and gathered data from a variety of secondary sources to create the ChannelOnline ROI model. As this white paper describes key ROI benefits, it can be read either as a stand-alone document or in conjunction with the ROI model. Please contact us if you're interested in having a CNET Channel conduct a 1:1 ChannelOnline ROI analysis with you.
  

Manufacturers

• Ensuring Sales Effectiveness in a Complex Channel Environment: Overcome the Challenges of Disseminating Product Information to the Marketplace Accurately, Timely and Consistently
  (March 2005)
  Manufacturers know that a successful product launch has a pronounced impact on a product’s ultimate profitability. But how can a manufacturer be certain that everyone has the information they need to sell effectively – and that all of the online catalogs present the product in its best light? Manufacturers cannot afford to spend so much on physically getting a product to market on time – only to find that their channels are not prepared to sell it. Making product data as clear and easy to access as possible for the channel partner is critical to the manufacturer’s success – and revenue stream. This paper describes the challenges of delivering timely and accurate product information to the channel and outline a new option for manufacturers that overcomes these challenges, reduces the high cost of disseminating product information, and increases revenues through the channel.