PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - It may have taken a while for 10-year-old gay adult company Pacific Sun Entertainment to embrace the digital age for wholesale DVD distribution, but now that it has, the company is fairly glowing with the success of its online operation.
Beta-launched in March and now in alpha, Pacific Sun's new wholesale website allows bulk customers to browse the company's product, order and pay 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Anyone may browse the catalog, but viewing prices requires registration so the company may verify a prospective buyer's authenticity as a retailer.
"It has been working great," said Pacific Sun chief executive officer Pritam, who took over management of the company when founder Motti Green stepped down in late 2007. "It has been a great sales tool for the salespeople to showcase our products to prospective customers. One can search either by studio or brand, and we clearly distinguish between the two. Any search result shows all the relevant movies as thumbnails. If one clicks on that, one sees the full details, including front and back covers, descriptions, UPC code, cast, director, et cetera."
Pritam said the wholesale website's launch is part of an overall strategy to improve efficiency and take advantage of technology.
"This website, I believe, was badly needed for a long time," he said. "Before, we were using our retail site [to tempt wholesale customers], but it simply was not meant for that purpose. When prospecting new customers and sending product information, it is so much more efficient and convenient to send them to a website than to send them an Excel [product] list, paper brochures or try to explain on the phone."
That doesn't mean customers can't order and pay in the same ways they always have, he added. Customers who order large volumes of Pacific Sun product receive volume discounts either way, Pritam said.
"The website is just a tool," he said. "There is no difference in pricing for ordering online versus phone, email or fax. In addition, most trade customers do not pay using credit cards. Thus, our ordering interface also allows customers to place orders using COD and terms. It also allows them to leave messages with special instructions and our ordering people can reply to them using the Web interface."
The establishment of the wholesale website has provided some surprising benefits, he noted.
"We have been able to get distribution rights for new studios, which will be announced soon," he said. "Our success in exploiting new media has encouraged many producers to choose us as their distributor, because they see us as being in the forefront. [In addition,] our international sales, especially to new customers, have skyrocketed."
Pritam said the wholesale website is just the tip of the new-media-expansion iceberg for Pacific Sun. The company has a bevy of other virtual products in the works, as well.
"As Pacific Sun goes aggressively into new media, many similar other websites are being developed: Gay Photo Gallery, Pacific Sun TV and Pacific Sun VOD, for example," he said, adding, "We are expanding into new media such as Internet VOD partnerships, Internet sublicensing, satellite TV, cable TV, IPTV, mobile, et cetera. When approaching these companies to do business with them - either by selling specific rights or doing revenue-share - we always have to introduce ourselves. Sending them to this [new wholesale] website immediately projects [us] in front of them, and that has helped create a good impression. It helps to facilitate the close of the deal or negotiation of more favorable terms."
GayVN
- By
