FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASETORONTO, ON – January 28, 2014 – commonsku and the Advertising Specialty Institute® (ASI) today announced a strategic partnership to offer ASI’s ESP® product database as part of commonsku’s cloud-based CRM and order management software.
commonsku is a web-based CRM, order management and social collaboration platform designed specifically for the promotional products industry. ESP is the industry’s largest and most comprehensive product database. Under the new agreement, ESP’s search engine will now be available at no extra charge to ESP subscribers who use commonsku’s CRM or order management products. commonsku subscribers can now access an expanded array of product information and resources while extending the reach of suppliers’ product information as supported by ESP.“Our first priority at commonsku is to create an easy-to-use system that allows a distributor to run their entire business,” said Mark Graham, co-founder of commonsku. “Having ESP’s robust database integrated seamlessly into commonsku is a big win for ESP subscribers looking to run their business using one system. ESP users can now access all of their product searches inside commonsku, thus eliminating any re-keying of data.”“We’re excited to work with commonsku to ensure ESP users have easy, flexible access to ASI products and services through this exciting platform,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI, the largest media, marketing and education organization serving the $20 billion promotional products industry, with a network of over 25,000 distributors and suppliers throughout North America.All told, ASI’s User Experience and Product Development teams have made over 350 enhancements to the ESP platform within the last year, resulting in new features, stronger functionality, faster speeds and a superior experience. Visual search technology is now available in ESP Web® and ESP Mobile™, allowing distributors to upload images to ESP for an instant scan for similar items.“ESP is quick and responsive,” said Graham. “We’re thrilled to leverage ESP’s extensive product selection, open search capabilities and frictionless experience for PC and Mac users alike.”