Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JULY 2021 58 L ong before anyone ever heard of COVID-19, AVB CEO Jim Ristow implored BrandSource members to prioritize their websites, as e-commerce would become the go-to shopping channel of the future. "Your website is your flagship store," he told members more than two years ago. "It's the most important store in your arsenal," he said, comparing a poorly merchandised website to a showroom without salespeople. Then came the pandemic, and the timeline for digital adoption by consumers contracted from 10 years to one. Fortunately for BrandSource dealers and thanks to AVB's foresight, the group was prepared. From the AVB Marketing team came LINQ, an online merchandising portal that allows members to present their most popular products on their e-commerce catalog pages and keep online pricing and promotions current and in lock- step with in-store merchandising. Developed in-house, the program populates AVB's Alta 360 websites with product and presents it in the most saleable and customer-engaging way. With it, members can: • Sort their merchandise by popularity, rather than alphabetically • Showcase promotions • Create special catalogs for scratch-and-dent and other clearance models • Flag products that are in-stock, on sale or offer special features • Set rules to price-scrape competitors' products and meet or beat their retails • Make custom product packages that take advantage of their overstock and vendor deals BrandSource members have lauded LINQ, which has become an essential tool for e-tail and no doubt contributed to the group's better-than 800 percent increase in online transactions last year. But the big news this year is that what was already the leading edge of product management technology just got better. As AVB Marketing explains, LINQ was due for an update and the decision was made to redesign it from the ground up. Based on member feedback, the team mapped out a new series of requirements and set to work "reverse engineering" the software using new language and building an entirely new UI with relocated buttons. The result: LINQ 2.0, which is faster, more intuitive and easier to use than its predecessor. The updated LINQ UI is also more flexible, allowing members to implement customized merchandising tactics, such as only posting in-stock items rather than the entire vendor catalog. In addition, LINQ has been optimized for mobile with a responsive layout that automatically adjusts to whichever screen size it's accessed from, be it phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer – making the system even more user friendly. What's more, AVB Marketing has upgraded its infrastructure to allow for greater speed and responsiveness and to accommodate robust updates more quickly. Based on member feedback, the team hit it out of the park. "I just checked out the new LINQ," wrote Pete Kossaras, owner of Kurt's Appliance Center in Saint Johns, Mich. "It looks much more streamlined and much, much quicker." His one-word summary: "Wow!" Manager Greg Schmidt at Stewart-Molander Appliances in Antioch, Calif., concurred. "The new LINQ interface is really nice," he reported. "I like it!" As an added testament to its user-friendliness, David Jones, owner of Jones Appliance & TV in Iowa Falls, said his 70-something dad has become his company's "LINQ specialist." "The new software is easier," Jones said. "He's doing great with it." For owners whose fathers are less inclined to liaison with LINQ, or who are simply too preoccupied with day-to-day operations to manage the program themselves, AVB continues to offer its LINQ4U assisted service, in which set-up and merchandising duties are handled by the AVB tech team. "We continue to innovate," said AVB's Vice President of Marketing Brian Wattier, who promised even more integrations and improvements to come. Alan Wolf is Senior Communications Specialist for AVB/BrandSource, the nation's leading merchandising and marketing co-op for independent appliance, home furnishings and consumer tech dealers. B U Y I N G G R O U P N E W S ONLINE MERCHANDISING GETS EVEN WITH AVB'S 'LINQ 2.0' RO

• Cover