Quick take: OrderMyGear (OMG) has acquired DistributorCentral, a leading technology provider for suppliers and distributors in the promotional products industry. This announcement brings together two leaders in the branded merchandise ecosystem – the market-leading online store solution and a trailblazing technology platform for suppliers and their customers.
Why it matters: Together, we’re creating the industry’s best technology paired with the highest quality product data so it’s easier for promotional product distributors, apparel decorators, team dealers, and suppliers to do business. Businesses that sell custom branded merchandise now have one technology partner to help them discover products, generate sales, and manage orders across sales channels. Suppliers now have one technology partner to help them transform, manage, and distribute high-quality product data to the entire industry.
Q: What is DistributorCentral?
DistributorCentral is a leading technology provider for promotional product suppliers and distributors, with more than 24 years of experience serving the market. They provide a suite of tech solutions for distributors including product search, eCommerce websites, and order management. For suppliers, DistributorCentral provides the industry’s only solution to transform, manage, and distribute product data in PromoStandards format from a single source without any technical expertise or resources. Suppliers can also promote and advertise products to customers through product search and eCommerce websites.
Q: Why did OMG acquire DistributorCentral?
Selling custom branded products and apparel to groups requires accurate, up-to-date product data. However, it can be challenging for suppliers to manage and distribute product data across all channels customers and end consumers interact with their products, as each channel typically has unique formatting requirements. Distributors, decorators, and dealers need access to high-quality product data; suppliers need the ability to distribute their product data at scale.
DistributorCentral provides high-quality product data to numerous players in the industry, including OMG, which is the top request we hear from clients and partners. Their expertise in promo and suppliers is unmatched and complements our expertise and strength in online stores for distributors, decorators, and dealers.
The addition of DistributorCentral significantly expands the technology solutions available to the more than 4,000 distributors, decorators, and dealers using OMG online stores. The union also allows us to provide suppliers with product data management and advertising solutions.
Together, OMG and DistributorCentral offer businesses that sell custom branded merchandise and apparel a one-stop-shop for business technology, as well as provide suppliers with a single source for managing and distributing high-quality data to the entire industry.
Read the press release for more information about the announcement.
Q: What does DistributorCentral bring to OMG?
DistributorCentral was built by a promotional product supplier for suppliers and their distributor customers. They have spent over two decades providing industry-specific technology for the branded merchandise space, so they have a highly knowledgeable team with unmatched expertise. We have a shared vision to provide the best technology paired with the highest quality product data for selling branded merchandise to groups. As a combined company, we’ll have even more resources and tools to make this possible.
Q: How does this benefit OMG and DistributorCentral clients and partners?
Clients and partners can access more tools and resources by combining our two companies.
Benefits for promotional product distributors, apparel decorators, and team dealers include:
• One technology platform to discover products, generate sales, and manage orders across sales channels
• Access to additional technology solutions, including product search, eCommerce websites, and order management
• High-quality, order-ready product and inventory data from leading suppliers that eliminates costly order errors and reduces order turnaround times
• Single API to access PromoStandards-compliant product data, providing immediate access to new suppliers as they’re added without the need to create unique integrations with each supplier
Supplier benefits include:
• One platform to manage and distribute high-quality product data to the entire industry, including service providers
• Ability to promote and advertise products to promotional product distributors, apparel decorators, and team dealers across all channels, including product search, online stores, and eCommerce websites
• Technology to transform raw, unstructured product data to the industry standard PromoStandards without any technical expertise or resources
• Access to a suite of business management technology, including eCommerce websites and order management
Q: How does this impact the strategy for OMG and DistributorCentral?
Together, we’re committed to partnering with distributors, decorators, dealers, and suppliers as they explore new ways to grow sales across all their sales channels. And we now have more resources to invest.
The acquisition allows us to remain focused on providing market-leading online stores for any customer and program on the OMG platform while also providing new tools for clients to manage and grow their business, including product search, eCommerce websites, and order management. It also allows DistributorCentral to remain focused on helping suppliers transform, manage, and distribute product data across the entire industry utilizing the PromoStandards format, all from a single source.
Q: I am a current OMG and/or DistributorCentral client – how does this acquisition impact me?
You can expect the same level of service and innovation as we move forward as a combined company. There will be no immediate changes, so you can continue to access and use the OMG, DistributorCentral, and OneSource solutions as you do today. We’ll share more about what’s next in the coming months as we continue to push the promotional products industry forward together.
Q: Where can I learn more about OMG and DistributorCentral solutions?
For more information about online stores and to see the OMG platform in action, browse the OMG website and click the purple Request a Demo button in the top right corner of this page.
For more information about DistributorCentral solutions, visit distributorcentral.com and dc-onesource.com.