Keypoint Intelligence and GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp. have joined forces to help office technology providers understand the value of an online storefront and provide an e-commerce solution to support online purchase capabilities on their websites. The collaboration is twofold, including a financing component and an educational component. GreatAmerica offers a financing solution for Keypoint Intelligence's e-commerce platform, UVERCE, to make an e-commerce strategy less cost prohibitive. The two companies are also producing a two-part webinar series, the first on Dec. 8, 2022, and the second on Feb. 2, 2023. Each webinar will feature an interview with a solution provider who will share their perspectives on the benefits of e-commerce, as well as the hurdles and common concerns that are prevalent in the office technology channel today.

This collaboration is a needed push for technology providers hesitant to inch into the world of e-commerce. In 2022, 65% of B2B companies across all industries are fully transacting online and, for the first time, B2B's are more likely to offer e-commerce over in-person sales, according to McKinsey & Company. 

"For the office equipment industry, e-commerce is still in its infancy," said Anthony Sci, President & CEO, Keypoint Intelligence. "It has first-mover potential and we want to help the channel embrace this opportunity. Our collaboration with GreatAmerica helps our collective customers better understand e-commerce and implement it if they desire, while moving their businesses forward."

According to Jennie Fisher, senior vice president and general manager of the Office Equipment Group at GreatAmerica, solution providers are considering e-commerce for many reasons, including meeting the demands and buying habits of digital buyers, competing with the big box stores and being seen as total technology solution providers.

"We are pleased to unite with a respected group, Keypoint Intelligence, in order to provide the resources our mutual customers need to evolve at the pace that makes sense for them," Fisher said.

The webinar series is designed to help answer questions office technology providers might have about considering and implementing an e-commerce solution. In the first webinar, Sci and Tim Renegar, co-owner and president of Kelly Office Solutions, will address audience questions, as well as some of the top dealer concerns related to implementing an e-commerce solution. In the second webinar, Sci will join with Dan Cooper, CEO of NovaTech, to discuss what he has learned as he's implemented an e-commerce solution. He will also share a demo of the NovaTech version of the UVERCE solution.

Register for both webinars below:

Webinar Part I
Webinar Part II

In other news, Predictive InSight and GreatAmerica have announced they have won an award for Best MPS Industry Collaboration by the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA). The award recognizes their collaborative work on an integration to incorporate the financing process into the Predictive InSight e-commerce platform, Shopblocks, customized for the imaging channel. The award was presented to the companies during the 2022 MPSA Leadership Awards livestream event on Nov. 1, 2022.

Jennie Fisher, senior vice president and general manager for the Office Equipment Group at GreatAmerica, says that GreatAmerica invests to proactively adapt to changes in the market with a focus on making doing business with its customers as easy as possible. 

"Financing continues to be a key selling tool for our solution providers and this integration with Predictive InSight brings financing capabilities into the end-customers' e-commerce buying journeys, helping them meet their budgetary needs," Fisher said. "We're proud and excited to be recognized, along with the Predictive InSight team, for our forward-thinking e-commerce efforts. "

The Shopblocks platform calls up the GreatAmerica API in order to automate financed transactions.

Ed McLaughlin, co-founder of Predictive InSight, says his passion is improving the "people-to-process ratio" by providing the best knowledge building and customer experience improvement tools available. 

"Shopblocks is no-code platform that allows the development and deployment of an e-commerce site in 20% of the time at almost 20% of the cost of most competitors," McLaughlin said. "Our collaboration with GreatAmerica Financial Services provides dealers with a true B2B e-commerce platform that can lead the way to even more sales force automation and account development."

In addition to the six official awards categories, for the first time this year, the awards program featured honorable mentions for providers that took a close second in any of these. In addition to its "Best MPS Industry Collaboration" award, GreatAmerica was also acknowledged with an honorable mention for "Best Innovation."

There were six award categories for The MPSA Leadership Awards this year. Winners included:

• Best MPS Collaboration 2022 — GreatAmerica Financial Services and Predictive InSight
         Honorable Mention: Ingram Micro
     
• Best MPS Infrastructure Provider 2022 — Distribution Management
         Honorable Mention: Ingram Micro
    
• Best MPS Software 2022 — Tigerpaw Software
         Honorable Mention: In Time Tec LLC
    
• Best MPS Independent Provider 2022 — Total Print USA
          Honorable Mention: Milner Inc.
    
• Best MPS Innovation 2022 — Y Soft
          Honorable Mention: GreatAmerica Financial Services
    
• Best MPS Professional Services 2022 — ACDI
          Honorable Mention: Pulse Technologies

Nominations were submitted to the MPSA and winners were selected by a team of judges from non-competing organizations. The MPSA Awards were first held in 2010 to honor companies in the office technology industry that have excelled in managed-print-related areas. GreatAmerica has been recognized with an MPSA Award each year the MPSA has held an awards event.