Brandwise and GHTA Announce Release of
First Gift and Home Index Release
Revolutionary New Market Information Tool Focuses on Atlanta Show
LAKEWOOD, Colo.-- Brandwise, an application service provider well known in the industry for its software solutions, and the Gift & Home Trade Association (GHTA), the industry’s leading trade association, have announced the release of the first Brandwise Gift and Home Index which focuses on the Atlanta Gift and Home Furnishings Market held in January, 2009.

The debut report is comprised of aggregate sales information from 414 vendors and provides subscribers with valuable data in the form of pie charts and graphs, never before available in the industry. Brandwise provides the unique ability to display statistically relevant industry trends based on their aggregated data structure and substantial national client base. Data reported in the individual market indices include:
  • percentage of total order count year-over-year
  • average order size
  • total revenue percent year-over-year
  • unique buyer percentage year-over-year
  • trending of suppliers withing the index, up, down and nominal chage
The Territory Index by market includes much of the same data but presented out-of-territory vs. in-territory sales. The debut Atlanta Winter Market Index shows that the number of unique buyers purchasing at the Atlanta Market were down 20.43% from 2008.

“One of the GHTA’s missions is to help the industry by finding ways to bring more information resources to light,” says GHTA Executive Director, Diane Carnevale Jones. “We’ve been working closely with Brandwise for three years on this project and are pleased to have this effort come to fruition with this first index. Knowledge is power, and we firmly believe the Index will help the industry by giving vendors and sales organizations information they can use to benchmark themselves and make better, more informed decisions.”

“There is a real need for relevant data and we’re pleased to be able to offer this information to the industry,” says Todd Litzman, President of Brandwise. “Our goal in working with GHTA was to provide the industry with unbiased data driven statistics about the industry trending. While the data does not represent 100% of the industry, the sampling in Atlanta includes over 15,000 unique buyers which is 100’s of times larger than what the industry has been able to accomplish though exit interviews with retailers, and there is no “gut feeling” involved, ” Litzman continues.

The Index will be released twice annually after each of the major markets where a relevant sampling of data is available. This list currently includes Dallas, Chicago, New York, Las Vegas, High Point and Los Angles.

The Index is free for vendors and sales agencies who are both GHTA members and Brandwise clients. For those who only fall into one category a special price of $250 is available. For more information on the Index, how to subscribe, and additional pricing details please visit the GHTA website, or contact Brandwise at (877) 435-3225, ext 2 or visit www.brandwise.com.

NOTE: Media interviews with Todd Litzman or GHTA Data Action Group Chair Adam Schrier are available upon request.

ABOUT Brandwise
Brandwise is an Application Service Provider (ASP) delivering hosted and distributed software solutions to manufacturers and their sales channels within targeted industries. The Brandwise product suite integrates a series of industry-specific tools that help manufacturers and sales reps sell more products to their customers, combining Sales Force Automation technology, Business Intelligence tools, Decision Support and Customer Relationship Management (CRM to enhance the coordination and communication of information between manufacturers and their sales channel). In the near future Brandwise will also add e-Commerce to their product offering. For more information on Brandwise visit www.brandwise.com or call 877.435.3225.

ABOUT the Gift and Home Trade Association
GHTA is the gift and home industry’s non-profit professional trade association formed to help vendors, sales agencies and industry affiliates work together to improve relationships. GHTA's mission is to lead and transform the gift and home industry to ensure its long-term health and viability. GHTA has four major initiatives: to educate sales professionals; to understand and educate the industry on opportunities for technological efficiencies; to support and cultivate the industry’s independent retailers; and to understand and educate the industry on showroom/trade show costs, statistics, schedules, opportunities and preferences. GHTA can be reached at 877.600.4872. For more information on the GIFT AND HOME Trade Association visit www.giftandhome.org.
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