Navigating through different inventory management software can be tedious, complex and time consuming. To help you save a little time, we’ve researched different options and collected what we think are the most relevant functionalities, tools and best practices.

One of the primary challenges of running your wholesale business is managing your inventory. Since you are receiving inventory from various sources and then reselling it to your retail customers, you need to have access to accurate records of what you have in stock, so you can determine what you need to forecast, order and evaluate based on informed decisions.

Wholesale operations are notably different than retail activities or patterns. Wholesale customers tend to lean towards buying in bulk; whereas retail customers manage otherwise. This difference alone creates some sharp contrasts when it comes to managing inventory as each of them is related to a different business model.

What is wholesale management system?

Wholesale order management refers to any business process related to orders placed by wholesale customers. Some of the key aspects of order management may revolve around the synchronization of your orders with the inventory in Real-time; hence the importance of being able to monitor, track and create end-to-end workflows for your ongoing sales orders.

Wholesale management system is the process of buying the stocks from the buyers and then selling them to the customers but that is a fraction from what is needed nowadays to master this craft. ChainDrive inventory management software for instance offers a full array of integrated functionalities and components to help managers tame the most complex operations:

  • Client order management, including discount rules
  • Wholesale goods catalog maintenance
  • Sales orders automatically linked to PO’s
  • Lock and unlock prices
  • Client account status and analysis
  • Real time open-to-sell (OTS)
  • Vendor management software and inventory status reporting
  • Agent and sales representative productivity reporting, including commissions management
  • Automated invoicing, including credit alerts

How do you manage wholesale inventory?

Inventory management is one of the biggest challenges of running a wholesale business. As a distributor, you’re going to dealing with huge number of stock and it’s essential that this stock is managed as efficiently as possible. Failure to do so will hurt the business in the long run.

So, lets dive in to see how you can track, monitor and fuel your overall productivity in 5 easy steps. Yes, 5 simple moves which could give could lead to a tenfold ROI:

Tip no: 1- Take Advantage of the latest Retail Technologies

It’s the right time for B2B and B2C industry to move beyond archaic spreadsheets and manual inventory management practices. There are plenty of smart W software tools available in the market that will help you scale up your retail or wholesale operations, increase overall efficiency, across channel activities and help you harness collective intelligence in very user-friendly ways.

The important benefit of the new generation of retail software solutions is that they are geared towards helping companies become leaner and more agile. They provide inventory management capabilities that are user-centric which helps its adopters to enhance the entire customer experience while providing them with more freedom to place orders, track shipments across the value chain; let alone helping them focus on the entire customer journey, engagement and overall satisfaction.

While acquisition costs of a sophisticated of 3.0 ERP systems might look high at first glance, the return on the initial investment is tenfold higher. the annual cost you’ll be paying is minimal compared to the benefits or rewards you would reap in the long term.

Tip no: 2- Team Work and Collective Intelligence

Inventory management is a collaborative effort by all employees and stakeholders within the organization. It only works when everyone understands what’s required and which best practices or processes must be implemented in the retail chain and ecosystem.

If you are an owner of a retail or a wholesale operation, you need to foster an organizational culture which harnesses collaborative intelligence, communication, empowerment and leadership across the spectrum. Therefore, you need a wholesale management system like ChainDrive which was designed to harness teamwork efficiency, system thinking and information sharing in seamless fashion.

Tip no: 3- Replenishment Automation & Predictive Management

When your stock starts to deplete, you’ll need to replenish your supply accordingly. Don’t wait for traditional inventory counts or manual inventory audits to figure out when to take an action. Replenishing your product should be a preemptive measure that is based on data driven indicators, notifications or metrics.

Smart inventory management means increasing operational efficiency and reducing bottlenecks in your retail or wholesale business.

If you automate the inventory tasks, it gives your employees plenty of time to concentrate on other important areas of optimization. This way, you will significantly add more value to your virtuous circles.

Tip no: 4- Smart Inventory Planning and Orders

Since you are doing wholesale business, you are ordering products in bulk–because you’re selling or moving big volume orders. As result, you need to keep your inventory at bay with your stock requirements, traffic or thresholds.

In order, to keep the stock at the right level, you need a Warehouse inventory management software that is smart enough to let you track your inventory levels according to tangible and measurable parameters. This helps you track and monitor the inventory according to the pent-up demand, seasonal or consumer trends on-time, on budget and on-target.

Tip no: 5-Allocation of Products

it’s essential to allocate the right quantity of each product to each point of sale or distribution center. Goods which move fast in one location may not necessarily sell well in other geographical locations. Retail business cycles, consumer behavior trends and changing buying patterns at each retail store area are essential ingredients of good contingency planning and forecasting.

Once again, the easiest way is to rely on a smart wholesale inventory system which give you real-time information on the inventory status from the big picture till the last SKU; hence, the importance of good business intelligence tools. Having the right dashboards is mission critical otherwise it will be difficult for your management team to make informed decisions.

Conclusion:

 Whether you are an apparel, footwear, jewelry, sporting goods, department store, home decor or specialty distributor, ChainDrive Wholesale Inventory System will certainly help you ramp-up significantly your game plan and growth strategies.

ChainDrive Inventory Management solution is very comprehensive as it comes with a fully loaded tool cabinet inventory management, warehousing, and purchasing capabilities that streamlines supply-chain processes, reduces costs, and improves profit margins. Thanks to its built-in real-time demand planning tools, you will have more artillery to cope with most daunting challenges; as you will have an end-to-end visibility over the entire landscape and product life cycle.   

Last but not least, what you really need to step-up your business operations are to implement a smart ERP system that knows how to mirror your inventory workflow, improve your overall efficiency; and mostly knows how to translate your needs, management processes, environment and expectations in the most intuitive way. This is what sets ChainDrive apart from the rest of prepackaged, pre-bundled products sold through third party vendors and resellers.

If you still have more questions on how to ramp-up your wholesale inventory management operations or want to see for yourself how ChainDrive can help you accelerate your transformation, please contact our retail management experts or log on https://chaindrive.com/free-live-demo/ to book a live simulation. Till then, take a look at this video https://youtu.be/0TeAmUZusXo