The Dashboard has proven to be a valuable source of information for members and suppliers since July 2017. We have seen many enhancements added to the platform over the years and now is the time for a new release of the new IMARK Plumbing “Dashboard 2.0.” In December 2022, the IMARK leadership entered into an exclusive agreement to provide proprietary rebate management functionality in addition to the new Rebate.ai base platform via “The Dashboard” ensuring that IMARK Plumbing will continue to be the leader in providing “world-class” rebate management capabilities for members and suppliers within the group. We have been diligently working behind the scenes to deliver “The Dashboard 2.0,” focusing on three main goals: 1. Improve the user experience 2. Focus on supplier programs that have the best ROI for each member 3. Enhance data security and streamline data transfers.
Improved user experience
As a member or supplier, the first thing you will notice is the clean, modular look. You will have four main tiles that will lead you to: My Dashboard, Rebate Management, User Management and Category Management modules. Once you are in My Dashboard, the Financial Health module is where you will find all your purchases by supplier, the overall rebates for each of the rebate program types and how close you are to achieving the next tier in a growth program. Rebate management is one of the places you will see the entire supplier rebate library and each of their individual rebate programs.
“I use the Dashboards to have visibility into each supplier’s rebate program
and to understand which products are included or excluded.”
Kevin Phillips – V.P. Operations ProSource
The User Management module will allow you to see who has access to your Dashboard within your individual company. Users will continue to be controlled by the IMARK SSO portal access. Category management is where you can map your product categories to the master categories to ensure that the product conversion opportunity, IMARK Plumbing’s proprietary AI/ML algorithm is properly categorizing your individual products to the master product hierarchy.
Missed Opportunity Conversion gives distributor members alternatives for purchasing related goods and earning rebates within the group. Example, if a distributor buys $50,000 worth of fittings from a manufacturer outside the buying group, a manufacturer inside the umbrella of the buying group may provide a 4% rebate on fittings. If the fittings are converted to the in-group supplier, this translates to a $2,000 profit for the distributor at the end of the year, which was previously overlooked.
The Dashboard is configured to “drill down” into each area to view more detailed information. Navigation is simple, all you need to do is “click” on the tile and it will present you with the next level of detail. At the top right-hand side of each dashboard will be the “breadcrumbs” of your journey, which makes it easy to go back to the previous screen or any other previous screen including the home page.
The new tile format will also allow you to view your dashboards on your mobile device or tablet. Each tile will automatically adjust to the device you are using. You must still login through the IMARK portal for security.
Maximizing your ROI on purchases
The top two asks from the distributor members over the past five years have been: “I want to see how much I need to buy to achieve the next tier” and “Which suppliers should I buy from to maximize my rebate for the year?”
Introducing the Rebate Optimization Module.
Within the Rebate Optimization you can see how your earnings compare to previous years, drill down into rebate types (Base, Growth, FBI, etc.) that provide the greatest ROI on your purchases. Members will be able to filter the highest ROI rebate programs to easily determine how much you need to buy to attain the next rebate tier.
All the rebate programs with the highest ROI are “one click” away from all the program details like, the basic program information, product inclusions/exclusions, how the rebate is calculated, special conditions and how much you need to purchase along with the rebate you will earn. No more leaving rebates on the table because you were a few dollars short of achieving the next tier!
Data security and transfers
Since the inception of “The Dashboard” in 2017, there has not been a single material breach of data, and we would like to keep it that way. Keeping data safe is not easy to do. Let’s look at what steps we take to continue the fight against protecting your data.
As a responsible organization offering rebate management software that deals with data and analytics, we recognize the importance of ensuring data security. At Tredence, we ensure adherence to all applicable data loss protection regulations, established data management guidelines and privacy policies. In addition, we ensure appropriate organizational and technical measures in our rebate management system to protect your data against unlawful or unauthorized processing and/or against alteration, accidental loss, disclosure or access or unlawful destruction of or damage.
We also run a full-fledged Security Operations Center (SOC) that monitors security alerts and addresses relevant mitigations in our rebate management system. We use several open-source and commercial-level Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) resources, researching and understanding industry-specific threats and implementing appropriate measures to mitigate the risk of advanced cyber threats.
The backbone of our customer data security strategy is the Vulnerability Management Program, which detects and mitigates all detected vulnerabilities in the environment on an ongoing basis. This comprehensive program includes a continuous internal Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) and annual, independent VAPT exercises to address vulnerabilities.
Single sign-on (SSO)
Implemented as the de facto sign-in mechanism, SSO negates the need for our rebate management system customers to maintain different credentials for different environments. This helps strengthen our password management practices.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
The usage of a VPN encrypts traffic between your machine and the remote source being accessed, ensuring a private, secure connection between Tredence Rebate management system users and client infrastructure.
Encryption (at-rest & in-transit)
Best-in-class encryption solutions protect your data at rest and in transit. We also use opportunistic TLS to encrypt all inbound and outbound emails.
Multi-layered email anti-virus and anti-spam filtering
These advanced technologies improve our email security by detecting and preventing threats.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
A couple of notches above the traditional anti-virus protection system, EDR capabilities provide data loss protection by adopting a prevention-first approach and using AI-enabled multi-layer inspection.
Information Security Management System (ISMS) ISO 27001:2013 certification
SOC2: Type 2 attestation
We have completed the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Trust Services Criteria for internal controls relevant to security, availability, processing integrity, and confidentiality.
Why upgrade to The Dashboard 2.0
According to a McKinsey survey of more than 100 organizations from various sectors, companies that collaborated with suppliers on a regular basis experienced lower costs and increased growth and profitability.
A reliable, automated rebate management tool handles the end-to-end processes of rebate management with agility and accuracy. It reduces ambiguity in rebate programs and earnings and serves as an equal opportunity provider for all members of the rebate ecosystem.
Some significant benefits IMARK Plumbing has realized with Rebate.ai/The Dashboard include:
Facilitating business growth
When your business goals align with your stakeholders, your rebate schemes can drive the expected behavior from your trading partners. This means you can seamlessly tap into business opportunities, power mutual growth and reach revenue targets.
Fact: suppliers sell 21% more and members earn 25% more when actively using The Dashboard—statistics from 2022/Rebate.ai
Supplier Dashboard displaying current purchasing trends by member:
“The supplier dashboard from The IMARK Group allows Sloan Valve Company to have aggregated data for Sloan’s product categories on outside purchases which allow us to track market share changes monthly and identify trends over time. It is the best data available in the industry.”
John Koegel – Director of Analytics and Pricing, Sloan Valve Company
Optimizing cost
Collaboration reduces communication errors, eliminates data redundancy and ensures prompt information exchange. Streamlined operations cut down expenses due to supply delays, conflicting contract terms, inaccurate inventory, missed shipments, and misleading product information.
“The electronic rebate creation and documentation allows
IMARK Plumbing to have 99% of the rebate programs
finalized in a timely fashion.”
Ted Havel – V.P. Marketing and Supplier Relations, IMARK Plumbing
Improving efficiency and building trust and loyalty
When suppliers and group members work with a single source of truth, the entire rebate management process becomes more efficient and accurate. It enables all stakeholders to review deals, track payments and monitor programs and procedures in a single pane view. This capability improves transparency and visibility, winning the trust of all members involved.
Harmonizing partner relationships
Working together on a common platform creates in-depth awareness of your trading partners’ requirements, preferences and business goals. These deep, long-term relationships enable you to strike mutually rewarding deals with minimal disagreements. It also prevents minor issues from escalating into major roadblocks.
Managing trading partner relationships
The IMARK Plumbing group handles hundreds of rebate programs, each corresponding with 150+ different suppliers. Will you be able to track and manage them all manually and efficiently? The answer is no.
The Dashboard can do that for you. It manages the rebate programs and extracts contextual insights based on historical data and rebate performance. With such real-time data inputs, you can indulge in a collaborative decision-making process with fellow stakeholders such that everyone’s investments get rewarded with maximized ROI on purchases. Similarly, it benefits other stakeholders, too, in an unbiased and transparent manner.
Providing data quality management
Our AI-powered rebate management system leverages data to offer business and revenue benefits. Functionalities like data cleansing, validation and enrichment curate the massive volume of rebate data. It equips all users with clean, trustworthy data that empowers them with actionable insights to boost their decision-making intelligence.
“The leadership team can have fact-based analytics on
how the group is performing allowing us to make informed
decisions for the future.”
John Aykroyd – President, IMARK Plumbing
Providing equal growth opportunities for all stakeholders
One of the unique capabilities of The Dashboard is that it is an equal opportunity provider for all stakeholders.
As a distributor member, for your convenience, our interactive dashboard maps all purchase’s you made to each supplier’s growth rebate programs to track achievement of each tier threshold by clearly identifying the ROI on your future purchases. This helps you identify relevant opportunities and converse with potential Suppliers to strike rewarding deals supporting mutually beneficial market share gains.
If you are a supplier, your customized dashboard provides you with a hunting list comprising the top distributors who purchase competitive products available in their product category. You can target these conversion opportunities for the highest return on your sales expense.
“Between the hunting list and the outside purchase
conversion data available to the members, ’The Dashboards’
are like having additional people on the sales team.”
Barry Walter – Owner, Barry E. Walter Sr. Company
As a decision maker of IMARK Plumbing’s leadership team, our platform empowers you with advanced features like auto-rebate governance, group health tracking, auto-group compliance, a unified product catalog and external trade insights.
The Dashboard 2.0 is IMARK Plumbing’s commitment to bringing “world-class” multi-dimensional intelligence and clarity to the complex ecosystem of rebates providing a competitive edge for all members and suppliers in the group.
For more information, visit: www.Rebate.ai.