Today at SAGE Conference, held in Las Vegas in conjunction with The PPAI Expo, SAGE announced several new product releases and updates to their products and services. Eric Natinsky, SAGE CEO, revealed SAGE Online 15, the latest version of the company’s flagship research and business management solution, and SAGE Web 3.5, the latest version of SAGE’s web-based platform. Other releases included new features and capabilities for SAGE Websites, an advanced, end-buyer ecommerce website, SAGE Company Store Premium, and SAGE Chat, an all-new chat platform for the industry.
“We’re proud to be releasing so many new features and enhancements to multiple platforms at one time, many of which were suggested by our customers,” Eric Natinsky, SAGE CEO, commented. “We are pleased to continue to upgrade our products, all while keeping our offerings affordable and user-friendly.”
SAGE Total Access will include over 200 new features and enhancements, including a new drill-down option for product search results in both SAGE Online 15 and SAGE Web 3.5. This drill-down option will allow users to further filter their search results by relevant categories. The new “color sense” search enhancement feature will automatically display products of a certain color when that color is used as a search criterion. Additionally, similar products will be showcased at the bottom of each product detail page within a search to further assist with the selection process.
Other enhancements to product searches in SAGE Online 15 include a new “Add to Site” feature which will allow distributors to add a product to their SAGE Website or SAGE Company Store directly from any given product search.
SAGE also announced a refreshed product search results and detail pages. The new modern layout allows for ease-of-use and a more efficient searching experience.
Upgrades to SAGE Online’s Order Management include a refreshed order dashboard, the ability to highlight and flag orders, an option to quickly “peek” into an order without opening it, the option to add thumbnail images of products to order forms, and easy-to-use filter tabs to quickly reference what you’re looking for. SAGE Online 15 is scheduled for a rolling release this February.
Also, scheduled to release this month is SAGE Web 3.5, bringing major new features and enhancements. One of the biggest additions in SAGE Web 3.5 is the ability to use the SAGE Print Studio to create custom catalogs in both virtual and print formats.
In addition, SAGE Web users will soon be able to send email campaigns, which will create even more opportunities to connect customers with featured promotional products. The email campaign feature in SAGE Web 3.5 will also allow distributors to track their success rates with real-time reporting.
Also, arriving in March are brand new interactive features for SAGE Websites. Those with SAGE Website Professional and SAGE Website Professional Plus will now be able to upgrade their customer service and respond faster to potential customers with the new Live Chat feature using SAGE Chat for a streamlined line of communication. The Live Chat feature will include a full feature-set, including the ability to set business hours, configure automatic replies, and multi-task among several sessions at the same time.
SAGE also announced new homepage customization and styling options, including the addition of SAGE Signature Collections, which will showcase popular products from across the industry.
SAGE Signature Collections will come with the option for a lifestyle vs. carousel design theme, and products will change monthly to keep distributor websites fresh and continuously updated.
Another new feature for SAGE Website Professional and SAGE Website Professional Plus owners is “Welcome Alerts”, which are pop-up message boxes that will appear once a visitor arrives to the website. These welcome alerts can be used to announce sales on items, offer discounts, or provide a place for a customer to provide their contact information. Plus, SAGE Websites will now include SAGE’s new “color sense” search enhancement feature, a drill-down option to allow users to further filter their search results by relevant categories, and similar products that they may be interested in.
SAGE also announced SAGE Company Store Premium, which will allow promotional product distributors to sell products online through completely customizable professional stores, create an unlimited number of custom pages, manage inventory levels with real-time alerts, create packing slips and shipping labels, and see advanced statistics and reports for each store. In addition, end-buyer customers will be able to rate products and leave product reviews in SAGE Company Store Premium, allowing for enhanced SEO.
Additionally, SAGE has announced new features for SAGE Company Store Standard, including full-site SSL, responsive design, and the ability to print packing slips and shipping labels.
SAGE is also pleased to announce SAGE Chat, the replacement for the previous SAGEim platform. SAGE Chat will feature an all-new look, new features, and can be used to easily facilitate conversations internally within individual companies, between distributors and suppliers regarding product questions, and with other industry distributors. SAGE Chat will also integrate with Live Chat on SAGE Websites to provide a line of communication between end-buyers and distributors. SAGE Chat is scheduled to release in March of this year.
Eric Natinsky added, “We always listen to our customers and try to implement as many of their ideas as we can to help them become more efficient, more creative, more productive, and all around more successful. I am proud of the work we’ve done to take customer feedback and turn it into all of these new products and features I know our customers are really going to enjoy using.”
SAGE encourages distributors who are not already SAGE subscribers to take advantage of its complimentary 30-day Total Access subscription. Visit their website to get started with SAGE Total Access, which includes SAGE Online, SAGE Web, and SAGE Mobile.
