by Tom Dellner

Senior Writer

Reshare Corporation of Minneapolis is a new company founded on one of those ideas that’s so seemingly commonsensical and such an obvious win-win for every party involved that you’re left wondering, "What’s the catch?" Or, if you’re a little less cynical, "Why didn’t anyone think of this before?"

Reshare has developed Distribution Relationship Management® (DRM) software that allows a manufacturer to sell direct to the consumer via its Web site without disintermediating – that’s tech speak for cutting someone out of the loop – its retail partners.

When a manufacturer sells directly to the consumer over the Internet, a number of problems arise for the retailer and manufacturer alike. First, the retailer is deprived of a sale and the opportunity to build a relationship with that consumer. The manufacturer enjoys the short-term benefit of making the sale, but may pay big time down the road by cutting out the retailer. After all, the retailer effectively serve as the vendor’s ultimate sales force by educating consumers and recommending and servicing products.

Here’s how DRM works to alleviate these problems. When the manufacturer makes a sale to a consumer on its Web site, the consumer is required to choose a local retailer. (The consumer is asked, for example, to select a location to which they would like to take the product in the event that it requires repair or service after they receive it.) The product is shipped directly to the consumer by the manufacturer, and the chosen retailer receives the profit as though it were a brick-and-mortar transaction. (Reshare recommends that all of its clients provide the retailer with the same margin it would’ve received in a traditional transaction, even though the retailer has avoided certain costs, such as shipping and insurance.) In addition, the retailer receives all of the details of the transaction – the consumer’s contact information, the model and specifications of the item purchased, and the sales price – so that is able to inform the consumer about complementary products and services and foster or improve upon an existing retailer-consumer relationship.

"The benefits of e-tailing are too great to ignore and are becoming increasingly significant as more and more consumers go online," explains Adam G. Southam, Reshare president and CEO. "And between the retailer and manufacturer, the manufacturer is far better suited to e-tail effectively. Manufacturers are better able to make effective branding decisions concerning their products. They have the budgets to promote their sites and, in fact, are already spending the advertising dollars to drive consumers to their sites. Consumers come to the manufacturer’s site intuitively. By selling to these interested consumers direct, a manufacturer can capture the sale now, instead of merely referring him or her to a local retailer and hoping for the best. The retailer receives its profit from the incremental sale without the cost of stocking the inventory, shipping, insurance, advertising, etc."

Reshare’s DRM software has a proven track record in the hair care industry, where manufacturers like L’Anza Research International have implemented DRM, with no backlash from their retail partners. "Without exception, DRM has served to improve relations between manufacturers and their retailers where it has been implemented," says Southam. "Ours is a versatile and pliable technology and we typically see manufacturers and their retailers work together to refine the system once it’s in place."

To learn more about Reshare Corporation and DRM, visit www.reshare.com or call 952/345-6100.