Published on : Monday, April 6, 2020
In the wake of the present situation caused due to COVID-19 pandemic, companies are introducing ways to manage business disruption in an innovative way. International Market Centers (IMC) and its digital innovation division IMC_di recently announced that they will offer free subscriptions and transactions to customers through year-end on ShopZio, its B2B digital platform that facilitates product and resource discovery as well as e-commerce.
“The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted business quickly and significantly. While ensuring the health and safety of our staff and customers is our top priority, we also have been able to start planning for recovery and we will use our virtual market tools to help our customers do the same,” said Bob Maricich, the CEO of IMC. “To that end, we are offering gift, home and apparel suppliers virtual market tools — at no charge through the end of the year — to help our customers maintain visibility, market available products and transact business digitally as recovery begins.”
Recently acquired as part of the IMC_di initiative, ShopZio is a fully-functional B2B platform that facilitates product and resource discovery as well as transactional e-commerce. In support of economic challenges caused by the current disruption, all marketplace fees will be waived for the balance of the year for both new and existing ShopZio customers.
ShopZio’s B2B platform will be linkable directly from IMC’s market websites – AmericasMart.com, IMCHightPointMarket.com and LasVegasMarket.com – enabling robust product discovery and referrals to vendors’ e-commerce platforms. IMC’s websites currently receive more than three million unique visitors annually. Combined with IMC’s attendee marketing, which reaches hundreds of thousands of qualified buyers, the sites will help vendors engage buyers and drive traffic and e-commerce sales. “As recovery begins and the American public emerges from this difficult period, one thing is certain: People will reach for the things that provide comfort, beauty and solace – the very things that our industries design, produce and sell,” said Maricich. “As retailers reopen for business and begin to restock, these virtual market tools will have established a pipeline to jump-start much needed economic recovery for the gift, home and apparel industries.”
By combining IMC’s online discovery and e-commerce capabilities with IMC’s unparalleled scale, reach and buyer engagement, IMC can accelerate sales across the industry. According to Eric Dean, president of IMC_di, “IMC is committed to bringing buyers and sellers together whenever and however they choose to transact. ShopZio allows us to offer an excellent interim solution to an industry looking for assistance in helping buyers and suppliers get back to business and for leadership in a time of economic hardship.”
Meanwhile, IMC is hopeful and continuing to plan for summer Markets to be held in High Point, Atlanta and Las Vegas. “We hope to have the opportunity to produce physical Markets this summer – although we recognize they may look and feel slightly different given the impact of COVID-19. We will continue to monitor the situation and communicate with customers if postponement is deemed necessary,” said Maricich.
Tags: COVID-19, customer support, digital platform, furniture and accessories, IMC, novel coronavirus, pandemic, ShopZio, special offer
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