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In the chain of supply, wholesalers are an
important intermediary between the retail store and the manufacturer.
While most manufacturers
will take orders from retail stores and deliver the product, wholesale
distributors greatly simplify the logistics when more than one product
is needed from more than one manufacturer. Wholesalers contact the
manufacturers of all the products needed in the store and maintain
inventory. They rely on sophisticated software to manage the complex
logistics of inventory and sales.
It can be difficult to find the right wholesale software. It should be
selected with great care. When shopping for wholesale software, you can
download a trial version and actually try it out to see if it meets your
needs. You don’t want to get stuck with software that wasn't designed to
do what you want it to do. This isn’t fun or profitable. Be especially
careful when considering discount software, as it might be an older
version or it might not do everything it claims to do.
What Wholesale Software Does
Take customer orders. Retail software can automate the order-taking
process by either providing your staff with an easy way to take and
process orders or by providing a web interface customers can use to fill
out their own orders.
Place orders to the manufacturer. Depending on the distributor,
wholesale software can be used to place orders to the manufacturer. This
reduces staff time and the personnel needed to maintain inventory.
Provide quotes. Wholesale software can provide an easy way to give
printed or e-mailed quotes. They can even be transfered to orders.
Enable remote order entry. Some wholesale software is set up to enable
salespeople to access it from anywhere in the world over the Internet.
This can be an effective way to manage a large sales force or allow
customers to place orders themselves.
Provide wireless capability. Often, wholesale software has the
capability of interfacing with handheld wireless devices that are used
to track inventory in the warehouse. This allows the wholesaler to go
paperless and saves time on data entry.
Manage inventory. It’s difficult to track inventory by hand. With the
right software, computers can tell you with much greater accuracy what
is in the warehouse at any given time, what orders have been placed, and
what merchandise has arrived. Wholesale software tracks inventory
efficiently.
Generate reports. Wholesale software can generate concise reports in
easy-to-read formats on just about every imaginable aspect of a
business.
Increase profits. By improving efficiency, wholesale software cuts costs
and increases profits.
Be upgraded, customized, and modified. Wholesale software is modular,
which means that features can be added or modified according to the
changing needs of the business. The software can also be customized to
fit the requirements of a specific business.
Print, e-mail, and fax information. Wholesale software can be programmed
to automatically print, fax, and e-mail invoices, orders, and quotes.
Enable RFID tracking. With RFID, the use of small radio transmitters on
packages, a company can track inventory through every step of the supply
chain.
Optimize slotting. The software uses complex computer algorithms to make
warehouse slotting easy and efficient.
Wholesale software effectively reduces costs for distributors. When a
company looks for software, it should consider the features needed for
its type of business and management style. A company should explore
several possibilities to determine which one will fill its needs.
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