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42-years of product innovation under one digital roof
THEIR STORY
Organization without the price tag
Founded in 1979, Alltrade Tools is a global leader in the design, manufacturing, and marketing of tools.
While automotive has been their primary focus, they’ve now introduced home, garage, and worksite equipment to their range. Brands such as Caterpillar and Wagner, for example, will lean on Alltrade Tools to design, develop and manufacture products that are sold to retail giants like Costco, Amazon, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Sam’s Club—and the list goes on. However, some brands under the Alltrade umbrella are available for direct-to-consumer (DTC) purchase.
With a portfolio of almost 5000 SKUs, it can be chaos to manage. And so, that is exactly what happened. Fortunately, Leah Hall, Content Management and Digital Marketing at Alltrade Tools, jumped in before the pot boiled over. “I started at the company 2.5 years ago, and one of my first ecommerce projects was to share 800 SKUs with Summit Racing. It was a great opportunity as their team wanted to curate hundreds of our products on their website. But, without any structure in sight, I had to manually hunt down data as it was everywhere.”
And we mean everywhere!
Leah continues, “if you think about it, we’ve been around since the 70s. That’s decades of recording product information. When I began the search, it took me a full month to complete—something that takes me 20 minutes now. I sieved through 10 different versions of each product to find the right size in the right resolution. And that was only the images. Next, it was the content.” It goes without saying that this was a lengthy task that could have been prevented. “We didn’t have an organized solution for all products, and that’s when I started researching our options.”
THEIR GOAL
Let the hunt begin!
Leah shares that when she began her search, she wasn’t sure what she was looking for. She hadn’t heard of Plytix, or a PIM system for that matter. “All I knew is that I needed product and content organization.” She booked demos and webinars with more than 10 different software companies. “Some of these tools had too many bells and whistles for a large price tag. And others, well, they weren’t finalized yet. Many of the smaller mom-and-pop apps didn’t have it together, while bigger brands charged per plugin. This was not something we were looking at.”
“After vetting a wide spectrum of options, I found Plytix.”
CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOLUTION
Not only a single source of truth for product data, but an internal communication hub
Leah shares that having unlimited storage and unlimited users were key selling points for her. “The level of customer support and enthusiasm sealed the deal.”
“Currently, we have 50 people in the system and 130 reps on the road that would benefit from using Plytix. I share ecatalogs with them rather than letting them log into the system. But eventually, I’d love them to access the tool themselves and generate their own product catalogs.”
The teams at Alltrade Tools use Plytix for sales presentations (PDFs), ecatalogs, product content management, and soon, to push information to various online Channels. At the moment, the PIM has become their main hub of communication in the company. “For example, we use Plytix to create presentations for meetings. Merchant teams will display potential items going to manufacturers, and we will make decisions using the PIM as our internal presentation system.
“Our next focus is to get our products complete and ready for sales channels. At the moment, we have a dedicated team working on creating quality content that is linked to Channel Advisor. Plytix will also be able to assist with the optimizing and readiness of product information.”
THE RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
“We have more complete product information than ever before!”
Alltrade Tools is on a winning streak with its content.
As they work to improve the quality of their information, we are thrilled to make it easier for Leah and her team. “Even though we’re not ready for channels yet, our data is far more concrete and concise than it ever was. I am able to confidently respond to channels that reach out, as our data foundation is strong enough already.”
“Before using a PIM, we had a team of five who worked on creating printed catalogs, only to have them outdated by the time they got to print. Now, I, alone, can export a multiple-page catalog with 120 products, all categorized, in less than 5 minutes.”
- "Our sales teams can create a 200-product presentation in minutes!"
- “Our ecatalogs creation process is fast and professional. Now, we spend more time selling!”
- “A single source of truth has helped us save time, sell more, and focus on growing the business!”
“Plytix’s customer support agents have been amazing. They feel like friends to me. They’re accessible—you’re not communicating in a chat bubble. They’re building real, personalized relationships with people who are invested in your business.”
Leah Hall, Content Management and Digital Marketing at Alltrade Tools
