The Pages
How do I get the best results from a search?
It is usually best to search within a product category as general searches generate a results list so long that it can be difficult to gain benefit from. The more specific your required search, the more filter selections you should make to ensure the most relevant results.
What can I see on the results page?
A search will result in a list of suppliers who meet the criteria set in your search. In some cases this may be one or hundreds of suppliers. The results will display an overview of each company, a link to the supplier’s minisite, the company type and distance from the buyer. The results are by default sorted by the distance between the supplier and you, with the closest supplier listed first. This is to encourage buyers to consider foodmiles when choosing which suppliers to work with.
What is a Supplier Minisite?
Supplier minisites are concise versions of a supplier’s website. We call them minisites because they are sites within our site, not because there is anything “mini” about them. The content of the minisite is managed by the supplier as their website would be. Suppliers are encouraged to maintain and update their product information regularly to ensure that searches generate the most complete and comprehensive results possible.
What can I see on a Supplier Minisite?
Company Information
Full contact details for the company are displayed. Users are able to download this information directly to their address book using vCards (a file format standard for personal data interchange, specifically electronic business cards). They contain name and address information, phone numbers and URLs.
Product Listings
A list of products available from the supplier. We encourage suppliers to list all products individually, however the functionality does exist to allow the supplier to list “ranges” of products.
SalesForce
Once a buyer has viewed a supplier minisite, he can chose to contact that supplier via SalesForce, an instant messaging system where the buyer communicates to the supplier with one “click”, his level of interest and the action that he requires the supplier to take.
How is SalesForce moderated?
Suppliers agree to our terms and conditions which state that “the sales force system should be used to respond to buyers according to their level of interest”. Suppliers should not use this information to send out blanket marketing material.
Associated Wholesalers
A list of wholesalers that stock and supply some or all of the supplier’s products. Buyers should view the list of wholesalers to find out which is nearest to them.
Tools
- Get in touch with a supplier via private messaging.
- Add the supplier to contacts on My Vanilla.
- Add this supplier to your watchlist (supplier members only)
- Get in touch with a supplier via private messaging.
