Broadleaf Unveils Powerful New Telco Merchandising Features

Written by Elbert Bautista

Published on Jan 06, 2025

Introduction

Broadleaf has unveiled a suite of powerful new features designed to revolutionize how telco providers manage and merchandise their product offerings. Developed in close collaboration with industry experts, these enhancements empower telco businesses to rapidly adapt to evolving market demands, deliver a seamless customer experience, or, as some might state, move from telco to techco.

Broadleaf's business product types are at the heart of these new capabilities. They are a no-code and low-code solution that enables admin users to customize and extend the platform's product management functionalities without developer involvement. This flexibility is a key differentiator, allowing telco providers to quickly adapt their product catalogs to meet their customer's unique requirements. This ensures faster time to market and improved customer engagement.

By incorporating feedback from telco partners and conducting thorough testing, Broadleaf has developed a platform that balances customization with usability. This platform empowers businesses to thrive in a dynamic and competitive industry.

Key Features of Broadleaf’s Telco Merchandising Capabilities

1. Business Product Types: No-Code Customization for Maximum Flexibility

One of the standout innovations is Broadleaf’s business product types, designed to offer unparalleled flexibility in managing diverse product offerings:

No-code, low-code customization: Admin users can create and update product administration screens without developer assistance.
Custom attributes: Unique fields and attributes can be defined based on the product type (e.g., technical phone specifications or service-level agreements for subscription plans).
Tailored merchandising: Supports a wide range of telco offerings, from physical products like phones and accessories to digital and subscription-based services like streaming plans, SIM cards, and data bundles. In addition, Broadleaf also supports the enablement of "cross-channel" bundles for providers with multiple products or services.

Why It Matters: Traditional product management often relies on developers to implement changes. With Broadleaf’s no-code approach, telco providers can make real-time updates, accelerating their ability to meet customer needs and launch new products faster.

The ability to define attributes and tailor product types based on specific business needs simplifies catalog management while ensuring consistency across multiple sales channels.

2. Advanced Product Characteristics Management

Broadleaf’s product characteristics management system enables greater control over product data and leverages industry best practices, drawing inspiration from the TM Forum's TMF 620 open API. This system provides the following capabilities:

Global and local attributes: For more granular control, characteristics can be created and shared globally across multiple product types or defined within specific product types.
Configurable options: Settings such as cardinality (the number of values a characteristic can have), validation rules, and custom input types ensure that data is accurate and aligned with business rules.
Dynamic data fields: Admins can create dynamic fields for complex specifications (e.g., warranty details, device colors, and usage limits).

Example Use Cases:

For Phones: Configure product characteristics like battery life, screen resolution, and camera megapixels to inform customers of key technical specifications.
For Plans: Add commitment periods, data allowances, and service-level agreements to differentiate subscription packages and upsell premium options.

This level of customization helps telco providers present product details in an organized and consistent manner, which improves the customer shopping experience and reduces errors.

3. Term-Based Pricing Engine: Sophisticated Pricing Models

To complement the enhancements to product types, Broadleaf has introduced Term-Based Pricing—a powerful new pricing engine that supports the creation of complex pricing models, such as:

Upfront costs: For device purchases or one-time fees.
Recurring charges: For subscription plans with monthly or yearly fees.
Usage-based fees: For data overages, call minutes, or additional features.

This pricing engine allows telco providers to:

Set up financing options and installment plans for high-cost devices.
Offer tiered pricing that adapts to customer behavior and commitment levels (e.g., discounted rates for customers who sign up for longer-term plans).

Why It’s Important: Competitive pricing strategies are key to customer acquisition and retention in the telco industry. Broadleaf provides a flexible framework for telco providers to create transparent and competitive pricing structures that build trust and loyalty.

4. Multi-Step Purchase Journeys

Broadleaf allows you to create your own custom product types, for example, Product Types that represent complex customer journeys that are ubiquitous and common in many Telco flows:

Step 1: Choose a phone or device. Customers start by selecting their preferred smartphone or accessory.
Step 2: Select a compatible plan. Once the device is selected, the user is prompted to select a corresponding data, voice, or subscription plan.

This guided experience ensures customers select compatible bundles, reducing post-purchase confusion and cart abandonment.

Key Benefits:

Increases upsell opportunities by offering add-ons like warranties and accessories at the right time in the customer journey.
Provides a smoother experience for complex purchases, such as phone upgrades and family plans.

5. Enhanced Search and Inventory Management

To improve product discoverability and availability, Broadleaf has implemented powerful enhancements to its search and faceting capabilities:

Search by characteristics: Customers can search for products based on specific attributes (e.g., "phones with at least 12 MP cameras" or "plans with unlimited data").
Faceted navigation: Helps customers filter search results by key criteria such as price range, product type, and brand.

Additionally, the inventory management system has been upgraded to support:

Pre-orders and back-orders: Ensuring customers know when popular devices will be back in stock.
Real-time inventory updates: Providing accurate product availability information across multiple channels.

This ensures that telco providers can handle high-demand product launches efficiently and keep customers informed about delivery timelines and availability.

Collaboration and Customer-Centric Innovation

Broadleaf’s approach to platform development prioritizes collaboration and customer input. The team addressed real-world challenges by engaging with telco industry stakeholders throughout the design process and delivered tailored solutions.

During development, Broadleaf actively sought feedback from partners to refine key features such as product attributes and multi-tenancy configurations. This collaborative process has resulted in robust and easy-to-use features for admin users and customers.

The platform's enhancements are a testament to Broadleaf’s commitment to helping telco providers move from being a CSP (communications service provider) to a DSP (digital service provider), streamline operations, improve agility, and offer a superior customer experience.

Looking Ahead: Driving Telco Success

Broadleaf’s latest innovations set a new standard for telco eCommerce platforms by combining no-code customization, advanced pricing capabilities, and robust product bundling features. These tools empower telco providers to rapidly adapt to changing market conditions and offer tailored experiences that meet their customers' unique needs.