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JBT Announces Social Media Metrics Tracking For Retailers And Brands, Plus Easier Memo And More August 30, 2021 (0 comments)

Warwick, RI—The Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) has introduced three more new programs for members.

While JBT’s overarching mission as the most reliable provider of credit information and marketing data on thousands of jewelry businesses hasn’t changed, the organization is undergoing its first major refresh in decades, focused on technological changes in the jewelry industry. It has developed multiple new products to better serve members’ changing needs and to increase internal efficiency.

Recently JBT announced its partnership with Podium to provide messaging tools for retail jewelers, the first of its suite of four new programs for the industry.

Now JBT is launching the remaining three new programs: the JBT Social Media Tracking Program, an automated UCC filing service with CLAS for memo goods, and a new API system that seamlessly integrates JBT data with members’ systems.

With the industry changes brought about in the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a social media presence has become more important than ever before. JBT’s Social Media Tracking Program exclusively for the jewelry industry automatically tracks the number of social media posts and follower growth trends for both retailers and suppliers, enabling them to better gauge how they are performing against industry benchmarks and competitors.

With this new system comes the ability for JBT members to filter data based on region and to view overarching trends over select time periods. The program is available immediately for all Enhanced Standard and Retail JBT members. It is also available as an additional filter via JBT’s marketing list program, further enabling vendors to target a specific subset of the market based on social media metrics, credit data, and more.

Related: JBT Partners With Podium To Provide Customer Messaging Tools For Retail Jewelers

The second new JBT program is an automated service for filing UCCs to protect memo goods.

JBT has for decades cautioned businesses conducting memo transactions to protect their goods in the event a customer files bankruptcy, by filing a Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Yet many don’t take this step, finding the process too cumbersome and expensive when lawyers get involved. But if a customer enters bankruptcy with memo goods still in hand, it can be a very lengthy and complicated process for vendors to get their goods back, and can cause substantial hardship in the process. 

That all changes with JBT’s new UCC filing service. Beginning this fall, JBT will offer all Enhanced Members an online UCC filing service with CLAS. In just minutes, a UCC can be filed electronically in 47 states, for less than half the fees charged by a lawyer. Members will have the option to file PMSI for a modest additional fee and will have access to an online portal to track status. 

JBT president Erich Jacobs acknowledges the current process for filing a UCC is too time-intensive and expensive.  “Our new program takes the pain and high cost out of the equation entirely, which ultimately makes this a no-brainer for our members,” he says.

Finally, the JBT API (Application Programming Interface) allows both individual companies and trading platforms to access JBT data in real-time from within their own systems.

A well-known acronym for developers, in layman’s terms APIs allow systems to talk to one another. This means a JBT member could be working within their own accounting system and with the click of a button access a company’s JBT membership status, JBT credit ratings, JBT credit report information, and more.  

The API includes a secure authentication, integration with JBT back-end systems for billing purposes, and a free developer sandbox. There is no incremental cost for JBT Enhanced Members.

Still not sure how an API works? Here is an example:

When you use an application on your mobile phone, the application connects to the Internet and sends data to a server. The server then retrieves that data, interprets it, performs the necessary actions and sends it back to your phone. The application then interprets that data and presents you with the information you wanted in a readable way. All this activity happens via API.

An API also provides a layer of security.  Your device’s data is never fully exposed to the server, and likewise the server is never fully exposed to your device. Instead, each communicates with small packets of data, sharing only that which is necessary—like ordering takeout. You tell the restaurant what you would like to eat, they tell you what they need in return and then, in the end, you get your meal.

“JBT is proud to provide these services for our members,” continues Jacobs. “The Social Media Tracking Program is groundbreaking technology for our industry, and the API is efficient technology our industry needs to be competitive.

For more information, contact: Brenda Gamba, (401) 996-6752, bgamba@jewelersboard.com.