Globalization, technology, and competition have changed the concept of old and gloomy wholesale and distribution markets to become innovative businesses that create exceptional value for stakeholders.
This progress towards innovation has propelled both mid and small-scale wholesalers and distributors to transform their business processes and find new methods to create competitive advantage. Transformation is never easy and brings along multiple challenges! Such challenges include shrinking margins, adapting to a shift to e-commerce, the need for variety and differentiation in product offerings, and high customer expectations.
All businesses aim for efficiency and effectiveness to become customer-centric and provide best-in-class products and services to cater to customer demands and achieve sustainable growth. To achieve this, wholesale and distribution companies must integrate business systems to provide visibility across markets, amongst customers, and even vendors. In today’s digital era, using traditional methods to manage business operations is completely inefficient, can even be considered an archaic practice. If a business wants to achieve the desired result, a cloud ERP system that integrated all aspects of business processes for greater efficiency is the appropriate choice.
Whether large, mid, or small, all businesses can improve their bottom line by implementing automated cloud-based ERP solutions. A cloud-based ERP system minimizes costs and streamlines business operations with remote access from anywhere at any time. This feature is ideal for wholesale and distribution industry workers who may need access key business data at any point in time. With a modern cloud-based ERP system, server and storage space issues are also resolved and data accessibility becomes seamless.
The Right Cloud-Based ERP Solution can Reap 9 Benefits for Wholesalers and Distributors!
A wholesale and distribution business must have the right product available, at the right time, in the right quantity, and at the right price. Overstocking raises costs and under-stocking negatively impacts customer satisfaction and loyalty. A cloud-based ERP system unifies various business departments and provides a clear picture of inventory status and inventory movement. At every step of the business process – starting from order placement to delivery and payment, can be easily and accurately tracked with an efficient cloud-based ERP system.
Let’s understand how a cloud-based ERP can be helpful to wholesalers and distributors.
1. Efficient Management of Inventory
Business operations can be more efficiently managed and costs minimized with a better understanding of inventory movements and logistics. A cloud-based ERP system allows real-time tracking of inventory data preventing overstocking or understocking thereby resulting in cost savings. It automates the ordering and delivery processes, reduces manual errors, and increases efficiency.
2. Accurate Forecasting
Modern cloud ERP systems like IBB-ERP provide advanced forecasting solutions to estimate customer demand and stock requirements based on past data and market trends. For instance, a cloud ERP system can analyze sales trends and customer behavior while forecasting sales so that businesses can maintain and optimize inventory levels, production schedules, and staffing needs.
3. Reduced Order Times
Slow fulfillment of orders can be a disaster even to top-class businesses, and this is when competitors are ready to jump in. Using a cloud-based ERP system can eliminate lengthy order times through smart automations of the manual processes. Additionally, real-time access to inventory and customer data assists businesses in quickly determining the availability of products. A cloud ERP system can generate invoices and send them to customers as soon as an order is processed and delivered. Automation of the delivery function can also reduce shipping delays.
4. Systematic Management of Warehouse Operations
A wholesale and distribution business can optimize warehouse management by keeping a close eye on inventory and shipping data enabling them to manage their warehouses and distribution centers more efficiently. As a cloud ERP system provides 24/7 access to information on inventory levels, it becomes easy to forecast the availability of products at any given time. It also aids in tracking the ordering and shipping status of the products and provides a picker management solution.
5. 24/7 Data Accessibility
One of the key advantages of cloud ERP is the accessibility of data and applications from any device with an internet connection. This improves flexibility, and wholesalers and distributors can retrieve any information they need irrespective of their location making it easier to respond timely to challenges.
6. Effective Customer Interaction
A cloud-based ERP system can improve customer service and interactions by integrating business processes into a single system.. Manual orders can sometimes be forgotten but with a cloud-based ERP, businesses can easily track customers’ order history in real-time and inform them when their order was shipped and when it will be delivered, leading to higher customer satisfaction and a better customer experience.
As repetitive tasks such as order processing and invoicing are automated with a cloud-based ERP, customer service representatives get ample time to focus on higher-value customer interactions. Businesses can also then provide a quick and timely resolution to customer queries and grievances.
7. Business Mobilization for Larger Market Share
With a cloud-based distribution management solution it becomes easier for businesses to make their product available around the globe increasing market size and allowing distributors to improve access to their products worldwide while remaining competitive.
8. No Human Errors
Automating business processes and tasks like order management, warehouse management, invoicing, etc., by implementing an efficient cloud-based ERP system not only eliminates human errors but also provides workers with sufficient time to focus on other important tasks improving the productivity of wholesalers and distributors.
9. Automated Report Generation
Cloud ERP systems are well-equipped with advanced analytics and business intelligence (BI) capabilities. These features help in better interpretation of data leading to accurate financial business decisions. A cloud-based ERP system can generate automated real-time reports on up-to-date sales, customer behavior, and inventory levels, for faster identification of business trends requiring no manual labor; resulting in cost savings, improved performance, and greater competitiveness.
Pick a Cloud-Based ERP Solution Wisely for Your Business!
Stand out in a crowd by choosing the right ERP solution provider to boost your business productivity and and garner sustainable business growth and profitability. Choose IBB-ERP as your innovative cloud partner for providing expert ERP solutions to your wholesale, and distribution business including:
- Real-time inventory management,
- Automated order management with real-time tracking facility,
- Timely information about discounts and promotions,
- An efficient picker management system,
- Point of Sales (POS) service,
- Effective customer relationship management,
- Automated shipping and delivery processes, and a lot more.
Investing in an ERP solution is the first step. Equally important is proper implementation and integrating customizations to suit business needs. At IBB-ERP, we’re ready to fulfill your business needs by providing advanced solutions and offering support services customized according to your requirements.
To defeat your wholesale and distribution challenges through cloud ERP feel free to contact us.
