CDS Global, Inc. is a

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

based in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moine ...

, that provides

business process outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

and customer data management to various industries worldwide. They handle 710 million consumer

sales promotion Sales promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix. The primary elements in the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations. Sales promotion uses both media and non-media market ...

s, 65 million

customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. Each industry requires different levels of customer service, but in the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that ...

interactions and 1 billion transactions annually, including 180 million payments totalling $7.1 billion, through 16 facilities in the U.S., and the

U.K The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. CDS Global is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst Corporation and is the largest magazine fulfillment house in North America.

History

In 1971, ''Look'' magazine built a computer system that, for the first time, stored the names and addresses of their customers on magnetic tape. Two months later, when Look ceased publication, six employees took this new fulfillment service to

Edward Downe, Jr. Edward Reynolds Downe Jr. (born 1929) is an American businessman and socialite. Biography Downe graduated from the University of Missouri's Missouri School of Journalism in 1952. He worked in a variety of capacities at two Virginia newspapers ...

, publisher of

Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In ...

and The American Home. He agreed to be their first client, and owner, opening Downe Computer Services April 1, 1972, with 172 employees. In 1977, the Charter Company in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, bought out Downe Communications’ stock and renamed the company Charter Data Services (CDS). Hearst Corporation acquired two Charter Company properties in 1982, ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the " Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publication as of January 2019 and now operates an article-compris ...

'' and CDS, which they rechristened Communications Data Services and then, in 2007, CDS Global. The number of magazine titles served increased as CDS Global acquired other fulfillment companies, including Tower Publishing and Optima in the U.K. and INDAS in Canada. Electronic payment capabilities were expanded when CDS Global acquired PayDQ in 2011.

Divisions

CDS Global supports 1,141 brands with

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to empha ...

, order management, order fulfillment, payment processing and document presentment services.

Media

CDS Global is the largest magazine fulfillment

service provider A service provider (SP) is an organization that provides services, such as consulting, legal, real estate, communications, storage, and processing services, to other organizations. Although a service provider can be a sub-unit of the organization t ...

, managing more than 1,000 print and digital magazine titles.

Non-profit

CDS Global provides donations processing, donor acknowledgements, marketing services and customer service to non-profits.

Higher education

CDS Global provides gift processing, donor/alumni acknowledgements, fulfillment services and customer service to higher education institutions.

Consumer products

CDS Global provides

ecommerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manag ...

and

web store Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...

solutions, including cross-selling and conversion marketing.

Utilities

Public utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...

use CDS Global’s

electronic billing Electronic billing or electronic bill payment and presentment, is when a seller such as company, organization, or group sends its bills or invoices over the internet, and customers pay the bills electronically. This replaces the traditional met ...

and

payment services A payment service provider (PSP) is a third-party company that assists businesses to accept electronic payments, such as credit cards and debit cards payments. PSPs act as intermediaries between those who make payments, i.e. consumers, and those ...

, with additional support for

resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or i ...

cash flow A cash flow is a real or virtual movement of money: *a cash flow in its narrow sense is a payment (in a currency), especially from one central bank account to another; the term 'cash flow' is mostly used to describe payments that are expected ...

and regulatory compliance.

Services

Customer service

Customer care agents deliver mail, online, email, chat and phone support, for billing, sales and level-one technical issues.

Data

CDS Global manages 159 million customer files for nearly 60 percent of the publishing industry and advises businesses on transactional, communication and service best practices.

Ecommerce

Client-branded web stores are supported by order management, payment processing,

warehousing A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, ...

, fulfillment, distribution and

Mailing

Services include printing, personalization and presorting of acknowledgements, bills and renewals.

Marketing

710 million personalized print and digital communications, delivered via email, mail and phone. 95,000 online marketing pages managed.

Order management and fulfillment

In addition to physical product delivery, CDS Global handles subscriptions, recurring billings, digital accessRaphel, T.J.
"Seamless Integration Is An App Must-Have"
''Audience Development'', July 13, 2011 and account services.

Payment

CDS Global supports paper, electronic, mobile, walk-in and

interactive voice response Interactive voice response (IVR) is a technology that allows telephone users to interact with a computer-operated telephone system through the use of voice and DTMF tones input with a keypad. In telecommunications, IVR allows customers to interac ...

options with: * Electronic bill presentment and payment * Lockbox and remittance processing *

Online banking Online banking, also known as internet banking, web banking or home banking, is an electronic payment system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial inst ...

and bill payment consolidation * Bill printing and mailing services *

Data capture Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering them directly into computer systems, without human involvement. Technologies typically considered ...

and image archive

Warehousing and distribution

Facilities in the U.S. and the U.K. provide

inventory Inventory (American English) or stock (British English) refers to the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying the sh ...

management, kitting and assembly, integration and

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cds Global Companies based in Iowa Companies based in Des Moines, Iowa Business software companies Business process outsourcing companies Payment service providers Outsourcing companies Marketing companies of the United States Customer relationship management software companies Hearst Communications assets