Utilizing Cutting-edge Technology to Overcome the Challenges of Channel Management

Distributors have long played an important role in streamlining the operational lines between manufacturers and end-users. While they have been responsible for the distribution and flow of goods in a seamless manner, the challenges that they face today are no longer limited to delivering intact goods and in-time. They now face modern and unprecedented challenges. With the global marketplace becoming highly competitive, customers demanding faster fulfilment and the ever-evolving omnichannel markets, many of them now struggle for sustenance, let alone profitability.

Increasing competition and the demand for seamless eCommerce operations have led too many distributors to rethink their strategies for channel management.

Let us discuss some of the most pertinent problems faced by distributors in their channel management operations and viable solutions.

Achieving Faster Order Fulfillment

The majority of eCommerce customers demand two-day or same-day delivery. Distributors are now faced with the tremendous pressure of providing faster fulfilment. If they fail to do so, customers will simply look for other options where their demands can be met easily. Faster fulfilment not only helps to expand the customer base, especially those who are time-sensitive but also helps to increase the geographic reach and reduce order expediting fees.

For distributors, in order to stay relevant and maintain their profitability, efficient and quick order fulfilment service is the way to go.

Once the distributor has recognised the demand of the customer for faster fulfilment, the real challenge is to actually provide it.

1. Opt for the right technology

Multi-channel selling software consisting of an OMS (Order Management System) lets distributors optimise all their orders and their processing on a single unified platform. It helps them lower their order processing costs and time along with maintaining an accurate account of all orders. Faster order processing and accuracy in accounting speed up the fulfilment process significantly.

2. Connect with multiple fulfillment companies

Another important functionality offered by sophisticated SaaS-based products is the ability to connect with multiple fulfilment companies through a single click to offer an asset-light distribution. This expedites the entire process of order fulfilment. Decreasing the order fulfilment times and increasing the efficiency of the process through the use of such automated systems will save those precious hours, reduce manual intervention and in turn expedite the entire fulfilment process.

Managing real-time inventory

Aligning inventory levels with real-time supply and customer demands is paramount to any distributor. Accurate knowledge of inventory movement and keeping tabs on the stock levels for real-time updates is a highly important task. Doing this task physically leaves a huge margin for human error. After all, taking a real-time update of the inflow and outflow and knowing the replenishment levels is an activity that can get out of hand quickly. Any error in the accurately recording these levels can affect the profit margins significantly.

1. Stay on top of inventory management

Manual intervention in inventory management can result in discrepancies and inaccuracies that ultimately lead to overstocking or inadequate inventory. A well-managed inventory ensures that customer service targets are always met and avoids overburdening the supply chain with overstocked goods and tight cash flows.

2. Maintain end-to-end inventory control by tracking sales

This entire task of inventory management has turned even more complex with multi-channel selling becoming the norm. Tracking sales effectively across all these channels so that you can restock your popular products in time is the way to achieve that customer happiness that you have your eye on. For example, consider this, who do you think the customer will choose to buy from:

A seller who has the stock ready to be shipped or a seller who has to stock his products first before shipping, thus causing a further delay in delivery?

3. Maintain balanced stock levels

Distributors often walk a tightrope while maintaining the delicate balance between excess stocking and stock-outs. Excess stock takes up unnecessary space in the warehouse and ties up the cash flow. On the other hand, inadequate stock can result in consumer dissatisfaction and loss of sales.

4. Use tools that assist in inventory management

Inventory management systems assist you to optimize the process while achieving operational efficiency and maximizing your profits. A multi-channel selling software consisting of an IMS (Inventory Management System) allows you to have real-time updates of all your stock, manage product and batch expiry dates, get analytics and reports about your top-selling products and reduce human error through automation. By providing real-time information about your stocks, you know exactly where a product is and how fast it can get to the customer.

An Inventory Management System will also provide the additional benefit of integration with back-office systems such as accounting tools to process all your stock related data. Improved order productivity, increased customer satisfaction along with a significant reduction in human errors and enhanced supply chain visibility are some of the primary benefits that you can derive from a highly optimized inventory management system.

Attaining efficient warehouse management

Losses in inventory, decreasing profitability and customer service limitations are some of the biggest concerns that distributors face today. The Distributor mark-up (profit margin) is usually around 20%, however, depending on the industry can range from 5% to 40%. Given the margins, when losses in inventory, slower fulfilment rates and customer service limitations threaten to cut into the profits, distributors are bound to struggle for survival. Today, distributors find themselves in a world of integrated logistics, same-day delivery, and eCommerce fulfilment.

1. Choose technology tools to empower operations

A full suite eWMS (e-Warehouse Management System) is the most powerful tool that a distributor can be armed with. It can empower the distributor by improving the visibility in the supply chain, raising the inventory accuracy, reducing labour costs and augmenting the flexibility and responsiveness towards the customer. Tracking the flow of the system in an efficient manner is the need of the hour.

2. Explore the benefits of an eWMS

A warehouse management system restricts the movement of the inventory, thereby enhancing the authenticity of the reports and reducing the requirement of buffer stock that ties up the capital. It also improves the efficiency of space allocation in a warehouse. An eWMS can also exactly pinpoint the location of products in relation to receiving, packaging, and shipping areas, thereby increasing productivity. It also increases the transparency in operations by auto-syncing the orders received and inventory with the seller’s marketplace account.

This helps in achieving a clear understanding of the orders received, processed and the inventory available, thereby avoiding any discrepancies.

Streamlining multi-brand selling management

Managing multiple brands across multiple sales channels/marketplaces is no easy feat. It requires accurate inventory records, effective order management, invoice generation and a perfectly managed warehouse. Achieving all this for all these different marketplaces is not an impossible task, albeit it is a complex one.

A multi-channel selling software lets you access all this information and more through a single unified platform. Offering a seamless integration of all your field sales, inventory management, logistics, invoicing and payments, it ensures that all your sales representatives are armed with precise information at the stroke of a mouse. This becomes especially important when you want to scale your business.

With increasing demands from customers and retailers and manufacturers asking for more at reduced costs, distributors today find themselves under tremendous pressure to survive and stay relevant. As they face the struggle to stay afloat, adopting cutting edge technology that offers them relevant solutions in a few clicks of a mouse will help them thrive not just survive.