FFP Global Analysis Finds Strong Market Opportunities for Emerging Companies

Substantial market opportunities are unfolding for emerging companies in the personal technology and associated accessories sectors according to a new analysis from FFP Global, a business process outsourcing company. These opportunities are fueled by the robustness of broadband networks and consumers’ attraction to personal technology products, services and applications on many levels. With a multitude of online sales channels and companies making their customer bases accessible through partnership programs, distribution is no longer the taxing challenge it once was.

Brands: From Retail to Ecommerce

Over the past decade, retailer growth strategies were heavily predicated by offering more and more brands on store shelves. However, as product choices within each category increased, it has become difficult at the point of purchase for consumers to make choices. Do Walgreen consumers really need 25 types of superglue to chose from? Apparently, not as the chain is cutting the category to 11 selections.

While variety in theory is important, too many choices, especially when there is no accompanying guidance can slow the buying process in the physical retail world. However, when consumers are online, a myriad of options can be presented based on a variety of criteria – from price, to user reviews.

The other threat to traditional brands is retailers capitalizing on their captive distribution assets by developing their own private brands, ranging from food to consumer electronics.

These developments will provide a further catalyst for the growth of ecommerce retail sales.

Ecommerce Services

Call Center Outsourcing

Companies continue to explore outsourced infrastructure operations especially in areas that provide immediate cost benefits and don’t require capital investments. One of the most popular areas is call centers, which encompass sales, support and a variety of other customer facing interactions. Outsourced call center relationships can take many forms. For example, certain types of inquiries can be handled in-house, while others might be directed to an outsourced provider. In addition, configurations can be based on inbound versus outbound call center programs.

A Gartner survey identified the 4 top reasons for outsourcing.

1. Reduce or Control Costs.

2. Gain Access to Outside IT Resources.

3. Free Up Internal Resources.

4. Improve Customer Focus.

Based on your needs, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss the benefits of call center outsourcing with you. Please feel free to contact Joe Sarno at 877-337-7587 x4467.

Marketing Research with FFP Global’s SurveySolutions

With companies needing to make more informed marketing decisions FFP Global is unveiling SurveySolutions. This offering is a suite of qualitative and quantitative market research tools and services to implement, test, track and analyze survey-based programs and initiatives. SurveySolutions is available for B2B and B2C markets. FFP Global has call centers in both California and Massachusetts. For more information on SurveySolutions contact Joe Sarno at 877-337-7587 x4467.

Diversity Supplier Certifications

As a minority and women owned business, FFP Global holds a number of related certifications. They include:

WBE – Women’s Business Enterprise National Council

MBE – National Minority Supplier Development Council

NMSDC – Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Corporate Plus Member

NCSDC – Northern California Supplier Development Council

Supplier Clearinghouse for the Utility Supplier Diversity Program of the California PUC

SOMWBA / DBE – (Massachusetts & USDOT)

As a certified MBE, we offer businesses with diversity initiatives the opportunity to competitively procure ecommerce, call center and product fulfillment services from an established, reliable and award-winning provider. For more information contact Michael Erickson 877-337-7587 x4471.

Call Centers at the Point of Decision

FFP Global Call Center Agent

As consumers’ dependency on ecommerce continues to grow, it’s becoming much more critical for online merchants to offer interaction opportunities through their contact center or contact center, especially when the consumer is in the process of making purchase decisions or about to checkout. There are times when only the “human touch” will do whether this is through voice, live web chat or online collaboration. Accordingly, agents must have real-time access to all of the information needed to help customers: complete a purchase; follow up on or cancel an order; or request other service or support assistance.

Ecommerce entities that are new and or don’t have established brand equity can especially benefit from a call center outsourcing company.

Positive Ecommerce Signs

During [November 1- December 24], approximately $27 Billion was spent online, which represents an increase of 5 percent over the same period a year ago, according to ComScore. For the period from Black Friday through Christmas Eve, and after adjusting for the additional shopping day in 2009, sales grew by approximately 3.5 percent.

FFP Global saw impressive seasonal gains for many of our ecommerce and fulfillment clients, especially in the apparel, entertainment and toy sectors. Free shipping was a major enticement to consumers.

Ecommerce Trends for 2010

Despite the worldwide recession, ecommerce continues to build sales momentum thanks to merchant initiatives, growth in the mobility sector and more sophisticated back-end systems, according to a new report entitled 10 Ecommerce Trends for 2010 that we released this week. The report says that online shopping is moving from a transaction mentality to one that also embodies discovery, entertainment and social bonding experiences.

Five of the report’s key ecommerce trends for 2010 include:

A Smarter Mobility:
Smartphone growth with its wider screens and compelling applications will continue to accelerate in 2010. Just as ecommerce sites have contributed to sales in physical stores, we will see more aggressive pushes by mobile applications to drive ecommerce sales. One emerging way will be through Augmented Reality (AR), where information is overlaid on images or video.

Fulfillment Rules:
More retailers will consider regional fulfillment centers because of the volatility of fuel costs and marketplace demand for accelerated delivery times. To minimize inventory, drop shipping from manufacturers will gain traction. Reverse logistics will also be a point of emphasis as recapturing the value of goods not only fits into heightened environmental concerns, but for businesses represents an opportunity to reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction and increase marketing opportunities by offering refurbished products.

Customer Service is Everywhere:
As consumers utilize an increasing number of communication channels – from texting to responding to YouTube videos, their expectations to access information, express themselves, and receive feedback in an immediate time frame, poses a complex challenge that e-retailers are beginning to take very seriously. As a result, Call Centers are being replaced with Customer Experience Centers that deliver consistent superior touchpoints with consumers over a wide spectrum of communication channels.

Being Relevant is Virally Important:
Whether they like it or not, e-retailers are expected and valued as more than suppliers of goods and services. Accordingly, they must proactively take on personalities that their market segments feel comfortable with. This relevancy requires e-retailers actively listen, converse and engage in a variety of areas such as online destinations and social responsibility forums,

Business Intelligence Meets Business Process:
While companies retain a wealth of data, they often lack the capture tools, analytical processes and personnel bandwidth to turn this information into actionable activities. In 2010, there will be a greater commitment to unleash the intelligence residing in data banks to create sophisticated marketing and sales business processes that provide competitive advantages.

Elise Chow, President and Chief Executive Officer of FFP Global in commenting on the report said: “Traditional analysis has suggested that the growth of ecommerce represents a powerful shift to the consumer, because comparative information is readily available at their disposal. However, FFP Global believes that e-retailers are being infused with considerable clout as well through extensive data capture capabilities, influential interactive mediums such as Facebook and Twitter along with the availability of robust outsourced backend services.”

To receive the report 10 Ecommerce Trends for 2010, contact Joe Sarno (508)475-0932 or via email at jsarno@ffpglobal.com

Product Fulfillment Services

Although we are still facing some challenging economic times, the worst seems over. We are seeing encouraging signs that companies are getting back into the decision making mode. For an outsourcing company such as FFP Global this is good news. Our product fulfillment services business is especially active.

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Portuguese Speaking Call Center Agents

As a Bilingual Call Center we have agents who speak many different languages and dialects. One such ethnic group we serve is the Portuguese population. They are are the fourth largest ethnic group in the State of Hawaii, fifth largest group in Rhode Island and the eighth largest group in Massachusetts. Portuguese Speaking Call Center Information

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