What happens when a manufacturer with thousands of products across multiple sales channels can’t keep up with the pace of its own growth? For lighting and ceiling-fan brand Craftmade, managing 3,800 SKUs across showrooms, hospitality, and e-commerce became overwhelming. Reps lacked real-time information, customer service was buried in repetitive calls, and product launches moved slower than the market demanded.
A multi-channel sales model
Craftmade sells through a broad network: more than 2,000 showrooms across the U.S., a specialized hospitality sales force for large-scale developments, and online retail partners who require constant product data feeds. Every channel depends on accurate product data, real-time inventory and pricing, and reliable ordering — and without a unified system, inconsistent data created daily friction for reps and customers alike.
From paper processes to a digital catalog
Before modernizing, pulling specs and inventory from the legacy system was slow and frustrating. The wholesale ordering portal frequently crashed or served incomplete information. At trade shows, orders were still written on paper while marketing printed binders of updates. Customer service fielded hundreds of repetitive calls a day about order status, tracking, and availability. The gaps were structural:
- Fragmented and unreliable data systems
- Weak communication between leadership, reps, and customers
- A failing portal that damaged customer confidence
- Heavy service workloads from repetitive status calls
One source of truth
The shift began when Craftmade centralized its product data on SuperCat — connecting product development, reps, customer service, and end customers to the same live information.
Real-time inventory and pricing
Hourly API updates keep every SKU current with stock levels and next-available dates. Reps see accurate information instantly and close on the spot — no spreadsheets, no phone calls.
Multi-price-list management
Different customer types get different pricing structures, from designers to stocking distributors. The “Get My Price” feature pulls live, account-specific pricing in under a second.
Complete product information
All 3,800 SKUs link directly to spec sheets and installation guides — accuracy in the field, and 24/7 self-service for customers.
Library updates with red-dot alerts
Price lists, discontinued items, and show specials post to SuperCat’s Library; a red-dot notification tells reps the moment something’s new. No binders, no buried emails.
Trade shows, without the paperwork
Instead of handwritten order forms, Craftmade’s reps scan a product or family QR code on an iPad, apply display discounts or stocking levels, and generate a digital order on the spot — pulled straight from live catalog data. Orders no longer get re-entered after the event, saving hours and cutting errors.
A B2B portal that cuts the calls
Buyers track shipments through UPS, FedEx, or SIA with live links, and see backorders with expected availability — without calling customer service. Adoption has been remarkable: around 1,500 individual users and 300–350 sessions per day in peak seasons.
Results that matter
- Self-service eliminated roughly three full-time customer-service roles’ worth of repetitive inquiries.
- New SKUs publish instantly with specs, images, and live inventory — no more waiting on print.
- A two-year print catalog cycle, supported by continuous digital updates.
- True business continuity: orders, inventory checks, and tracking continue through weather disruptions and office shutdowns.
From reducing costs to empowering reps with real-time data, SuperCat turned a fragmented sales process into a unified, digital-first operation.
