In a year like 2020, it's easy to look at the challenges facing our industry. However, as we move towards cooler temps, we are taking stock of opportunity areas for both landscape buyers and sellers to take advantage of in the year ahead. Now is a great time to start thinking about the business areas where you should invest in 2021. Not surprisingly, given the turn of events this year, investing in technology is a big one.
Not only has LandscapeHub been growing and adding product features (be on the lookout for something BIG coming very soon). Overall, we see more integrations and collaborations of software across the industry.
We're participating in more strategic conversations and noticing, overall, that professionals within the green industry have a more significant and growing understanding of the benefits of integrated technology to improve their efficiency and profitability. Because of the newfound knowledge of services, the green industry is also adopting new technologies faster.
The industry sees the value of solutions like LandscapeHub, and as a result, we've seen an uptick in integrations this year. For instance, the ability to build a takeoff list in LandOne and immediately turn around and get a quote from LandscapeHub at the click of a button streamlines the job costing process and recaptures a tremendous amount of time.
The LandscapeHub and DynaSCAPE integration offers similar efficiencies to the LandOne integration. DynaSCAPE customers can send job and estimate details directly from DynaSCAPE Manage360 to LandscapeHub to generate a LandscapeHub quote, saving time and streamlining product procurement.
Other integrations formed this year (or coming soon!) include SBI Software, Arbre Tech, Arborgold, Aspire, and Epicor. Our Epicor integration alone will bring our marketplace tools and data to the workflow of nearly 8,000 retail and garden center locations in the US.
For suppliers, integrations will dramatically expand the reach of your brand and your product offering. For buyers, integrations will deliver real-time pricing data to help you estimate with confidence and save you tremendous time in the process.
We've noticed an increased capacity for freight in some regions of the country. Freight has also become more of an opportunity than a challenge due to technological integrations that allow for easier combining of loads and multi-pick, multi-drop flexibility. Those types of loads and associated cost savings or cost-sharing is much more difficult without the support of technology that allows for visibility, changes, and additions.
LandscapeHub has moved into southern states, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Texas. We've noticed that the product mixes are vastly different in the southeast — not just in terms of the types of plants grown due to other cultural conditions, but also in the diversity of product mix.
Surfacing the supply chain via digital technology allows everyone across the country to see what's happening in the marketplace, informing suppliers what they should add to or subtract from their product mix. Moreover, marketplace visibility provides buyers with critical suppliers and pricing data to estimate with confidence and purchase with greater speed.
Want to learn about more opportunities that may be available for your business? Reach out and we'd be happy to help set you up for success.