1. “It’s simple. Our distributors and suppliers provide the part numbers plus their pricing and item
availability, and DataSource delivers all the rich content related to those items.”
— Søren Bartels
Head of eService Business Development, TOPNORDIC
Customer Profile
TOPNORDIC Maintains Bottom-Line Advantage with
CNET Channel DataSource™
Denmark's first technology reseller to offer products online, TOPNORDIC "We certainly didn't have the manpower to search for, aggregate,
offers business and government customers in Denmark, Sweden and organize, and present highly detailed data and pictures for the
Norway a veritable smorgasbord of hardware, software and office supply thousands of items we offer. And no other prospective data providers
items, IT deployment services and repair-related support through its could come close to DataSource's breadth and depth of content, much
online retail portal, topnordic.com. Up to 100,000 stock-keeping units less offer it for Danish, Swedish and Norwegian SKUs."
(SKUs) are available to customers in each market.
Just-in-Time Strategy Delivers High-Value Returns
The company tracks inventory turnover at a remarkable rate of 80 turns
Today, TOPNORDIC's online store presents a catalog of items from a
per year, because TOPNORDIC's enormous catalog of items is mostly
database that is created anew each day based on inventory availability
stocked by its distribution partners and suppliers – while TOPNORDIC
from its 60 distribution partners in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
holds only merchandise it can purchase in such quantity and at such a
CNET acquires exhaustive product information from manufacturers and
significantly discounted price that it can ensure high-volume sales and
other trustworthy sources for DataSource. TOPNORDIC's partners'
minimize inventory storage costs.
inventory availability determines what content from DataSource will
populate the online catalog.
Rich, Consistent Data Creates Vast Virtual Catalog
TOPNORDIC is a regional reseller, but Søren Bartels, head of As a result, TOPNORDIC is able to aggregate and present an extensive
TOPNORDIC business development, observes, "Dropping product catalog, without the cost – and risk – of maintaining inventory. Once an
prices put pressure on our profit margin, and the consolidation of order is placed, it is sent to the distributor that offered the item and
competition in our industry means we've got to be more effective to beat shipped directly to the customer or to TOPNORDIC, which in turn sends
fewer, bigger companies for customers' business." it on to the customer. "It's simple," says Bartels. "Our distributors and
suppliers provide the part numbers plus their pricing and item availability,
TOPNORDIC launched its e-commerce channel in 1996. The company's and DataSource delivers all the rich content related to those items."
Web portal required a great deal of manual data entry and presented
content provided by TOPNORDIC's distribution partners and suppliers.
TOPNORDIC staff had to sort through inconsistent data from multiple
sources to present government and business customers with product
At a Glance
information, and the portal was not designed to support comparison
shopping. Company: TOPNORDIC
Website: www.topnordic.com
By 2002, e-commerce had become more prevalent, and Bartels' team Headquarters: Ballerup, Kobenhavn, Denmark
recognized the need to make it easier for customers to procure Founded: 1985
merchandise online. "Initially, we didn't define the problem as one of data
Employees: 370
quality. We talked a lot with different vendors and distributors about how
to improve the site," says Bartels. "Although our reputation as a top
reseller allows us to ask our suppliers to make changes that will help us Summary of Challenges: TOPNORDIC sought to
improve business, we couldn't seem to arrive at a solution that would enhance its virtual stores' utility with rich, consistent product
have the desired results." data tailored to the regions in which it operates, without
additional investment in manpower.
When a representative from CNET Channel met with TOPNORDIC to
show how it would be possible to present detailed, consistent product
information-translated and localized to reflect merchandise available in Summary of Results: After implementing CNET Channel's
each market – Bartels' team recognized the opportunities to make the DataSource soluiton, TOPNORDIC has automated the crea-
storefront more useful. TOPNORDIC chose CNET Channel's tion of a virtual catalog of products that reflects availability
DataSource service to provide product information for its merchandise, and presents data in the user's preferred language.
enabling customers to search for merchandise in their native language
and choose from a selection of goods stocked in their region.

2. Bartels notes that with two staff dedicated to the work of adapting
TOPNORDIC's Web portal to integrate the DataSource information feed,
it took approximately two and a half months to bring the first portal
enhancements live. Today, maintenance simply requires downloading
the data package each day, amounting to just a few hours of time
per month.
Partnering for Competitive Advantage — and Results
With DataSource providing a solid foundation for its robust shopping
portal, with text and images that are consistent from product to product,
TOPNORDIC has added parametric search and comparison capabilities.
This enables users to find products based on the specifications they
require and then evaluate those specifications to make an informed
decision. Building on the DataSource content and data model,
TOPNORDIC has also developed features and functions that reinforce
customer preference, such as an accessories guide, so customers can
find compatible products – and TOPNORDIC can create up-sell
opportunities.
According to Bartels, DataSource is vital to TOPNORDIC's business
model, which depends on offering an enormous selection of products
without a corresponding investment in inventory, so that operational
costs stay low and competitive advantage remains high. "We're finding
new ways to use DataSource content all the time," he says.
"TOPNORDIC was first in the market to present customers with such a
wealth of information, and that initial advantage has helped us continue TOPNORDIC's Web site is powered with CNET Channel product information
to improve the customer experience and stay a step ahead of our
competition."
And the results are evident. When TOPNORDIC began using "We certainly didn't have the manpower to search
DataSource, about 15 percent of customer orders were placed through
its shopping portal. Today, 60 percent of all orders are made
for, aggregate, organize, and present highly
electronically. "DataSource has made it possible for us to offer a much detailed data and pictures for the thousands of
larger catalog while our staff can focus on their core tasks," says Bartels.
"There's no doubt that our customers appreciate the utility of our site."
items we offer. And no other prospective data
providers could come close to DataSource's
About TOPNORDIC
breadth and depth of content, much less offer it
TOPNORDIC is a leading reseller of IT products and services to
government and business customers in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
for Danish, Swedish and Norwegian SKUs.”
One of the first resellers to provide customers with the option of
e-commerce, TOPNORDIC continues to find ways to make it faster and — Søren Bartels
easier for customers to purchase the hardware, software and supplies Head of eService Business Development, TOPNORDIC
that they need.
About CNET Channel
CNET Channel is the world's leading independent source of on-demand
product information, supporting both online catalogs and traditional sales
with detailed content on over 2 million technology products. More than
1,000 companies in 35 global markets including Amazon, Dell, Tech
Data, Actebis, CDW, Microsoft, Computacenter,TOPNORDIC and
Yahoo! rely on CNET Channel to power their e-commerce platforms. In CNET Channel
Corporate Headquarters
addition, the company's ChannelOnline solution combines this data with 235 Second Street
sales, order management, sourcing and e-commerce storefront tools to San Francisco, CA 94105 USA
automate the complete sales cycle for more than 2,250 VAR Toll-Free 1.877.276.5560
Tel 415.344.2000
professionals. CNET Channel is a subsidiary of CNET Networks www.cnetchannel.com
(NASDAQ: CNET).
CNET Channel, DataSource, ChannelOnline and Transactive Product Data are trademarks of CNET Networks. All other company and product
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