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As technology continues to advance, digital presence is necessary and beneficial for all businesses. As a business, your online presence is continuously available for people across the world to access. A digital presence gives customers an easy way to contact you, and the information you provide online alone may answer questions your customers may have about your business or product, saving your company time and money. What you have to offer online may be someone’s first impression of your company. If your company is not online, customers may not even be able to have a first impression of your company because they won’t know that your company is in business.

When strengthening your digital presence, study your audience and the content you want to release, and effectively build up your social networks.

Know Your Target Audience

When building your digital presence, define your online audience and market first. Recognize changing market trends so that you can make early decisions or develop strategies to increase your sales. Look at your competitors and see how they are reaching out to their target markets. Then, adjust your communications efforts based on your findings. Find how potential customers use technology, if at all, and take note of their likes and dislikes. When taking note of this information, understand how your audience might react to certain topics online and the best methods to reach them. Develop a relationship with them by sharing valuable content and quickly responding to messages.

Decide What Content to Share

It is important to determine how you want to represent your company online. What do you want your customers to see when they browse through your website or social media accounts? Put yourself in the place of a potential customer – what would you want to know about your company? Would you want to see team photos? Industry articles? Educational videos?

Decide what will be most applicable and helpful to potential customers.

Maintain Your Website

A potential customer or business partner should be able to find most, if not all, of your company details through an online website, including contact information and what your company does. This website should have a clear format that is easy to follow so that viewers do not have trouble finding what they need. Design is extremely important in your website, so make sure that what you showcase embodies your company’s brand and message. It should also be kept updated; a website that was last updated a year ago can drive away customers and other businesses because they may doubt your company’s ability to respond quickly online, think you are no longer in business or be unable to contact you due to outdated contact information.

There is a high chance that site visitors will skim your website before moving onto another one, so ensure that your site engages these viewers through accessibility and design.  

Expand Online

Businesses should have more to offer than just a website. An interested customer or business should be able to search your company name on various social media platforms and find you almost instantly. Especially since there are so many people actively using social media, it can act as a great tool to promote your company. LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are all common applications to use for your business, but while starting out, focus your attention on only a select few that would best benefit your brand.

• LinkedIn is best to discover and connect with other businesses. Not only can you form partnerships, but you can gain insight on who your competitors are.
• Instagram is a photo and short video sharing application, which can be used to showcase your company’s available products or deals, your customer’s content, and company news.
• According to Statista, Facebook is the most popular networking site worldwide with the most diverse group of users. It allows you to connect with other companies, directly communicate with customers, and share articles, photos, and videos.
• Twitter is a social networking site best to stay updated with global events and share shorter, more concise company updates.
• Youtube allows you to upload videos, which can consist of product tutorials, testimonials, or company overviews. Videos can also give viewers a better sense of who your company is because it puts a face to your brand.

There are many outlets to help you spread word about your company. Decide which ones will be most beneficial to your brand, and consistently stay active on them.

Any company can strengthen its digital presence by understanding its target audience, building an effective website and branching into different social networks.

A product listing can either prompt greater interest in a product or depress it. The E-Commerce User Experience Study by the Nielsen Norman Group found that 20 percent of purchasing failures online are a result of unclear information in the product listing. As a business, it is important to create a clear and compelling perception of your products on each listing page to boost professionalism and avoid losing potential consumers. To do this effectively, there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration.

The approach that your specific company should take regarding product listings is highly dependent upon the consumer audience, the product type and your brand persona. For instance, a new trendy clothing brand aimed at young adults will pursue a very different approach than an e-store selling automobile parts to mechanics. The style, format and content of each listing can differ slightly from business to business when such factors are considered.

Despite these potential differences, there are universal concepts and tips that can be applied to every product listing to ensure a solid foundation for your business.

Product Images

This is the first thing that a consumer will see when considering a product, even before they decide to click on it. Depending on the product, there should be roughly 2-6 images in total. If the product being sold is a car, for instance, multiple pictures of the front, back, sides, top and interior may be necessary. Conversely, if the product is merely a pair of jeans or a t-shirt, 2-3 images could suffice.

The quality of the picture itself is often thought by consumers to be an indicator of actual product quality. Avoid unusual angles, dark lighting or distracting backgrounds. The first image to be shown, or the “main” image, should provide a clear look at the product itself, preferably facing forward. For more complex products, a visual diagram of the product with labels and measurements can also be very helpful.

Product Title

When deciding on a title for your product listing, creating a standard format not only improves efficiency, but also eases the process in which consumers search for products. For example, the standard order of the title could be manufacturer, model and then size, or it could be brand, type and then color. Choosing keywords to put in the title about the model, brand or type of product optimizes search results and eases the process in which consumers browse even further.

The length of the title will also impact it’s selectability; the title must be concise yet specific. If it’s too long, then the full title won’t be able to fit on the browsing page, but if it’s too short, then the viewer won’t know enough about the product. To avoid being lengthy or repetitive, try to minimize your use of conjunctions, such as “and” or “for”, in the product title.

Product Description

Once the consumer has developed a definite interest in the product, the product description validates that interest and persuades them to follow through with a purchase. To achieve this, the description needs to briefly summarize all uses and features, as well as utilize keywords and phrases that will draw the reader’s attention. For example, rather than saying “The jacket is waterproof,” you could say “The soft, versatile jacket is made from 100% water resistant material.” The style of writing and word choice in the description should reflect the brand persona you are trying to portray. Is it friendly? Informational? Funny?

Refrain from writing more than 5-10 sentences in order to keep the reader’s attention. (Save the details for the product information section). Bullet points can also be used to create the appearance of a concise description and emphasize important features. To further optimize search results, your description should mention the specific product name multiple times throughout.

Product Information

This section should include specifics, such as size, weight and color, and provide the consumer with a clear understanding of the product’s appearance and function. If your business operates on an international scale, the specific measurements given in this section should be offered in various units of measurement to mitigate the need for conversion for the consumer. For more complex products, all technical information, such as operating speed and voltage capacity, should be included as well.

To create an effective product listing, the product images, title, description and information should be clear, informative and compelling. It is important to not only inform consumers about your product, but also give them a better understanding of your company as a whole

As an industrial e-marketplace, we know that often it’s not exactly intuitive for the average online shopper to navigate the wide array of industrial equipment available and understand their respective uses. This is particularly true because while some types of equipment are used by a broad range of industries, other categories cater to a specific industry segment in manufacturing or processing.

Categories sometimes also overlap in their functionality, but one process might be slightly favored in certain applications over others. Even if you’re familiar with the processes and systems used in your own line of business, perhaps you’ve wondered about other industrial products.

Industrial product catalogs filled with specs and industry-specific technical terms may seem overwhelming at first blush, especially if you’re not in manufacturing, but we believe that knowledge of common uses of equipment and machinery can be accessible to anyone. In this post, we hope to demystify a few of our best-selling categories.

Our selection includes equipment that can…

• • Move heavy inventory from one place to another Any business that deals with heavy inventory needs equipment to move their goods around. Many of our best-selling products fall under the category of materials handling. Broadly speaking, that includes equipment to move items across spaces, such as pallet jacks and forklifts, and equipment that gets items onto shelves, such as hoists and lift trucks. This happens to be one of our most comprehensive categories so far, with a wide range of vendors to choose from at virtually every price point.

• • Play a key role as part of a larger machine or system Another of our best-selling categories is pneumatics. Pneumatics and hydraulics refer to fluid power systems, so the products in this category can be thought of as components that can power a variety of processes. Some of our customers are even designers and inventors who use pneumatics products for prototyping. Check out this robot one of our customers built that uses our air cylinders in the robot's arms.

• • Help car specialists get the job done If you own any kind of auto repair shop or tire shop, you'll need various automotive-related equipment. Our top-selling category within automotive is hydraulic car lifts, the equipment that holds the car off the ground for maintenance and repair. Many of our initial car lift customers had a hard time believing the prices at first, but our prices are indeed a result of buying factory-direct, not from skimping out on quality. Also, although they’re in a totally different category, many of our sandblaster customers are also car-lovers – our sandblasters are great for restoration of old cars.

• • Boost food sales and/or ensure food safety Whether you own a convenience store or a fast-casual restaurant, we offer high quality commercial refrigerators at a low price. Read our blog post about about foodservice businesses and food safety to learn more about commercial refrigeration.

• • Cut just about anything We have equipment and machinery for a wide range of cutting processes, including high-end waterjet cutting. An interesting fact about waterjet cutting is that they are so customizable yet powerful that the same machines are used across very disparate industries. That’s right, that means if you’re a fab shop owner looking to expand into waterjet cutting capabilities, you could very well be looking at similar options as a company that uses waterjet cutting in frozen food processing.

• • Help bring operations in-house Perhaps you’re a company that traditionally usually outsources a certain process. With our prices, it may now be affordable for you to bring operations in-house. For example, many of our chocolate equipment customers are actual food brands looking for more control over the ingredients that go into the chocolate they use in their final products. Read here about how Wio Diet was able to do just that.

As you can see, not all categorization of industrial equipment is entirely intuitive, as one product may be used across a wide range of industries while other products are in fact components of a wide range of machinery.

Regardless of the industry or specific application, we are proud to provide US businesses, large and small, with the tools and equipment they need to keep their operations up and running. We’re particularly proud of bringing unbeatable prices due to our emphasis on buying factory-direct. That means reducing capital costs for new and existing businesses alike.

When buying equipment and machinery from overseas, comparing suppliers on sourcing sites like Alibaba.com can be overwhelming due not only to the sheer number of vendors but also having to differentiate whether the vendor listed is the actual factory or an intermediary.

Trading companies are the most common type of intermediary appearing on sourcing sites. It’s important to know whether you’re placing an order with a trading company or an actual factory.

Purchasing directly from a factory means:

• Lower prices and shorter lead times
• You can customize the product to fit your needs

That being said, all of the overseas vendors on Toolots are actual factories, so the prices you see are true factory-direct prices.

Unlike vendors selling through Toolots, many of the vendors listed on sourcing sites are actually middlemen: trading companies, wholesalers, and sourcing agents. The reason for this is that the actual manufacturers – the factories who produce the products – do not have a strong foundation for dealing with non-domestic customers. This holds particularly true in equipment and machinery industries.

By Kyle Ryan / Unsplash

Almost every supplier listed on sourcing sites will tell you they are a real factory. To really find out whether you're getting factory-direct prices, here are some tactics to help determine whether a supplier is a factory or a trading company:

• Check the seller’s business license and ensure that the specific business scope reads “manufacturer”.
• Ask a technical question. If the contact does not reply within a few hours, it’s likely they aren’t the actual manufacturer.
• Request a factory visit. Factories interested in doing business welcome visitors they are genuinely interested in doing business with.

These tactics can help determine which vendors are intermediaries aggregating equipment from various factories, as opposed to the factory themselves. However, particularly in this industry, you may find that your options for buying directly from factories are quite limited, depending on the type of equipment or machinery you’re looking for.

Less than 1% of Chinese manufacturers attempt their own overseas sales channels, leaving room for English-speaking trading companies to set up shop on US-facing sourcing sites and take a cut of the profit. Indeed, as is the case with any kind of intermediary, there are certain conveniences that come with working with a trading company. After all, if there were no upside, these companies wouldn’t be making a profit.

But that doesn't mean you have to cough up the cash to pay these intermediaries.

Toolots is cutting out the middlemen by providing a platform that alleviates the language and marketing barriers for Chinese equipment manufacturers. Our services thereby reduce the barriers and limitations that had traditionally kept the average overseas seller from attempting sales through the typical sourcing site. The buyer gets the variety and convenience offered by trading companies, but at factory-direct prices. Read more about how we’re revolutionizing the cross-border supply-chain here.

From restaurants to cafeterias, the foodservice industry includes businesses that sell or serve food prepared outside the home. According to the USDA, the foodservice industry is a large and growing market, in which commercial foodservice establishments account for the majority of nationwide “food-away-from-home” expenditure.

Commercial-grade refrigeration keeps ingredients fresh and looking their best.

Particularly in a world where maintaining brand reputation can mean everything for a foodservice business, a top concern for business-owners in this industry is taking the the proper measures for ensuring food safety.

Maintaining the cold chain

In the US, several federal agencies oversee food regulation and safety. The USDA and FDA have published “best practices” guidelines for a number of processes up and down the foodservice supply chain. According to Food Safety Magazine, the common thread in all of these guides can be summed up as “maintaining the cold chain”. From farm, to transportation, to distribution, to ultimately the food service establishment itself, proper temperature control of perishables at every point in the "chain" is paramount.

Food safety is often taken for granted by customers, but it’s a top-of-mind consideration for anyone who owns a foodservice operation. Restaurants typically use reach-in refrigerators and freezers to store their ingredients. Larger operations, such as grocery stores, typically have full walk-in coolers or commercial freezers. Many restaurants and convenience stores also use “merchandising refrigerators” to display ready-to-eat products.

Merchandiser units invite customers to purchase items like salads and beverages, while keeping them cold and fresh.

Shopping for a commercial refrigerator?

Selecting reliable, commercial-grade refrigeration equipment is key to ensuring adherence to food regulation guidelines and the safety of your customers. We carry quality reach-in refrigerators and freezers at manufacturer-direct prices, so you can save money for your business without compromising on functionality or reliability.

Seeing is believing: Our factory-direct business model cuts out the middlemen, passing on the cost savings to you. For example, our vendor Kalifon Kitchen sells a 43 cu. ft. merchandiser refrigerator for only $1,359.15 on Toolots. Meanwhile, several units with the same specs are retailing for hundreds more in markup, even though these retailers purchase their units from manufacturers just like Kalifon.

Whether you’re looking to increase grab-and-go sales with a merchandiser, or simply need more storage room in your restaurant’s kitchen, you can count on Toolots for factory-direct prices with US-based service and shipping times.

Courtesy of Tyler Ruffino

How does waterjet cutting work?

There are various machine tool processes for cutting materials, including waterjet cutting, laser, plasma, and more. To most, the idea of using water to cut through industrial materials may seem surprising. However, in manufacturing and processing, it’s a process growing in popularity due to its versatility and ease of operation. Waterjet cutters are often used in metal fabrication, but applications range from used from creating custom floor tiling to cutting frozen meat in food processing.

So how does water cut through such tough materials? The key is waterjet pumps' ability to force ultrahigh-pressure water through a tiny nozzle. The jet of water strikes the work surface, and the erosive force of the water removes material, not unlike a saw or any other cutting mechanism achieved by abrasion. The high pressure from the waterjet causes the water to flow at such a great velocity, that the force on impact is great enough to create shear in the work piece. That’s why waterjet machines always include the water pressure in its specs.

Pure water jets, which provide a very thin stream and therefore cut width, are used to cut soft, light materials such as silicone, foam, cork, plastic, and more. Applications include disposable diapers, tissue paper, and automotive interiors.

Abrasive waterjets are the much more powerful version of waterjet technology. These machines include abrasives in the water to facilitate the erosion process. Since the abrasives option can also be switched off, abrasive waterjets can cut through virtually any material, from paper to steel.

An intensifier pump is used to create high pressure water.

Interested in buying a new waterjet table?

If you’re in an industry that involves cutting processes, chances are you’re already familiar with waterjets. Have you considered adding waterjet cutting capabilities to your shop? There are many considerations when selecting a cutting method.

One consideration is accuracy: an advantage of waterjets is that they can make parts to very tight tolerances, which translates to cost-savings due to greater material utilization. However, if precision is more important than speed for you, certain processes such as electrical discharge machining can often achieve even higher precision.

Waterjets also do not require as much uniformity of material, as compared to processes such as laser cutting or electrical discharge machining (EDM). They also do not cause thermal distortion or hardening as no heat is involved. This is an advantage over processes that cause heat transfer, such as laser, plasma and flame cutting.

Compared to laser cutting, abrasive waterjets can machine certain materials lasers cannot, such as reflective metals like aluminum or copper. Furthermore, unlike machining or grinding, waterjets have the benefit of not producing dust or particles that are harmful if inhaled.

A potential disadvantage of waterjet cutting is that the abrasives used are usually disposed, so they constitute an additional operational cost. However, abrasives management systems are becoming more available, which may be an investment worth considering due to their ability to recycle a portion of used abrasives.

Interested in affordable and reliable cutting equipment? Shop our selection:

• Waterjet Cutting Machines
• All Cutting Machines

Pictured – CEO Board of Directors

City Council Member and Vice President Chinese-American Elected Officials Board of Directors, Grace Hu, invited Toolots and Chief Executive Officer, Jason Fu, to attend the Chinese-American Elected Officials (CEO) 2018 Installation & Awards Dinner in Whittier, California.

Founded in 1997, CEO counts over 100 current and former elected officials in Los Angeles County. Their mission focuses on civic engagement, member education, and community outreach. From federal and state governments, to local city councils, education boards, and water districts, members serve in all rungs of public office.

The evening was spent celebrating and honoring current and former elected officials, including an inspiring speech by the first Chinese-American woman elected to Congress, Judy Chu. Current CEO President, Honorary Scarlett Kwong, provided welcome remarks and reinforced CEO’s mission and accomplishments. The evening concluded with the presentation of the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award. Recipient, Kim Toon Larry Wong was away on business, so his family accepted the award on his behalf. Kim Toon Larry Wong has spent over 60 years as an active Chinese-American community volunteer, leader, and mentor advocating the betterment of Chinese-Americans in America and overseas.

The Installation & Awards Dinner is a pleasant reminder of how involved Chinese-Americans are in supporting the community. We look forward to a successful year with the support of CEO.

Pictured – Toolots’ Chief Executive Officer, Jason Fu. CEO VP Board of Directors, Grace Hu

Pictured – Judy Chu (speaker)

To learn more about CEO, please visit their website or Facebook page.

Part of Toolots' turnkey solutions for our international machinery and equipment vendors is providing local fulfillment. Why’s that so important? For our overseas vendors, shipments to the US can take a long time, especially for large, heavy items that are common in the industries we work with.

Our US-based warehousing and other services allow vendors to sell in the US even if they don’t have teams of their own here. However, our fulfillment services don’t just help overseas vendors who have few other options. They’re valuable to our domestic vendors as well.

Our fulfillment services can help US vendors expand operations

We’re happy to announce that we’ve received our first container from a US-based vendor. Most of our overseas vendors use our warehousing and fulfillment services, but NobleLift is our first US-based vendor to do so.

NobleLift makes material handling equipment, specializing in pallet jacks and pallet moving equipment. Included in the recent shipment were some of their best-selling pallet jacks and stackers. (As always, we are a third-party platform, so we do not buy any of our vendors’ goods.)

Most of our US-based vendors either have logistics and order fulfillment functions in place, whether it is their own operations, through their distributors, or a combination of both. But that doesn’t mean they can’t take advantage of our fulfillment services.

NobleLift has a warehouse in Illinois whose central location has been able to support their distribution needs so far. Of course, as with any other company that warehouses in strategic locations to cut the time and price of shipping, growing demand means it might make sense to open a second location.

However, opening new warehouses is no small consideration as it involves investing in and training a new team as well. As NobleLift has seen rising demand on the West Coast, they decided to use Toolots’ fulfillment services for their West Coast orders instead.

NobleLift pallet jacks and stackers have arrived in our warehouse in Cerritos, CA

What do our fulfillment services look like?

Sellers on any marketplace platform need a good fulfillment solution. Although the term “fulfillment” is used rather broadly, it generally means anything to do with storing and shipping: warehousing, inventory, software, distribution, shipping providers, returns, etc.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a great example of how sellers can streamline sales and cut costs when a marketplace offers fulfillment services fully integrated with their platform. Of course, fulfillment needs are different for consumer goods. Amazon FBA’s competitive advantage is in the various pick-and-package efficiencies they’ve developed for the purpose of fulfilling many disparate small purchases with high turnover, so the cost per square foot is priced accordingly. Industrial equipment orders are higher in value and require less pick-and-package, so it is not cost-effective to pay for fulfillment that is catered towards consumer goods. We charge 50 cents per cubic foot for storage – cheaper than the industry average.

But cost is not the only consideration. Warehouse location and ship time are just as important for B2B equipment than for consumer goods, if not more, because operational downtime is costly for businesses. It’s important that it’s done right.

Contrary to Amazon FBA and third-party logistics companies who handle consumer goods, our fulfillment services are specialized for our industry. In fact, Shopify’s guide to third party warehousing and fulfillment lists “similar industry specialization” as the number one consideration in choosing a fulfillment company. Our warehouse and personnel specialize in handling large, high-value equipment and machinery. By using our services to expand operations, vendors can optimize cost-efficiency and our buyers can rest assured that their purchases are handled properly and arrive in a timely manner.

Are you a US-based vendor interested in selling on Toolots? For more information, contact Toolots customer service.

Last week, Toolots had the pleasure of hosting representatives from the Ningbo Municipal Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs at our headquarters to discuss the present position of Toolots and CEO Jason Fu's vision for the future.

While engaging in lively discourse with these representatives, Jason spoke about how Toolots is helping small and mid-size Chinese manufacturers break into international trade. Jason created a groundbreaking model to help manufacturers sell overseas while keeping costs low for consumers with the Toolots e-commerce platform. Other e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Alibaba have tried to tap into overseas industrial equipment, but have only had success with consumer goods. Industrial equipment is highly technical, and because of the language barrier, manufacturers can't effectively communicate equipment specifications or set up a business presence in the US, making it challenging to sell on other e-commerce platforms and increasingly difficult to break into the US market.  Because of this, people all over China are talking about the great things Toolots is doing for Chinese manufacturers.

Our guests from the Ningbo Municipal Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs were excited to hear that Toolots is working with manufacturers in their region to improve product quality and demand for their products. Ningbo is a harbor city in the Zhejiang province located at the fifth largest port in the world, the Ningbo-Zhoushan port. In 2013, Ningbo's exports totaled $65.7 billion, ranking second in economic performance in the Zhejiang province. Some of Ningbo's key exports to the US include metals, papers, plastics and agricultural products. Ningbo hits home for Jason because he was born and raised in this city. He has great rapport with the business owners in the area, and because of this, most of Toolots' Chinese vendors are from his hometown.

Jason also discussed several goals he has for Toolots with the Ningbo Municipal Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs representatives.

"Our goal for this year is to onboard 300 merchants from China by October," said Jason. "We are also in the process of seeking series A funding."

Because Toolots is growing so rapidly, we have encountered challenges in product specifications and shipment. We are currently working with vendors to alleviate these problems and ensure that their products meet US standards.

"We all learn from our mistakes," Jason said. "Each mistake is a learning experience, and we will continue to grow this way."

Internships have a large number of benefits for both interns and businesses. For interns, they are able to network with professionals, gain hands-on experience, develop new skills and define their career goals. For businesses, they are able to get extra pairs of helping hands and the ability to mentor the next generation of business professionals.

This year, we are proud to announce that we are partnering with our local school district, ABCUSD, to host an internship program for local high school students for the summer. This is our second year hosting a company-wide summer internship program, and we are excited to be able to help students grow professionally so early on in their career.

Last year, we were fortunate to have talented students from Cerritos High School, Whitney High School, Artesia High School and more. Students were able to get real-life job seeking experience by creating a résumé and interviewing with department managers. They also were able to choose which department they wanted to be an intern for and gain hands-on experience working on projects with our teams. Some of the projects they worked on included creating content for our blog, designing graphics and troubleshooting products.

Our employees were able to help students learn a wide range of skills, including business development, graphic design, engineering, IT, social media and more. We didn't limit our interns to one department either; we gave them the opportunity to branch out and learn from managers in the departments of their choice and assist with any projects they were excited about.

"I love being able to mentor students and help them grow professionally," said Ben Cartwright, Department Head, Business Development & Product Management. "They teach us a lot as well as identify areas we need to improve in our department and as a business."

We are proud that we are able to have a positive impact in our community by helping students achieve their career goals, and we are grateful for all of the help they provide and the ideas they bring to the table. If you have a high school student who is looking for an internship in one of the areas below, please contact us at hr@toolots.com.

Internship Openings: Public Relations & Social Media Information Technology (IT) Engineering Business Development & Product Management Graphic Design & Omni Channel