Improving Efficiency with Wholesale Software
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Author: Justin Grover
Article source: http://www.articlealley.com/. Used with author's permission.
In the supply chain that drives the retail industry wholesalers are an important intermediary between the retail store and the manufacturer. It is true that most manufacturers will take orders, and deliver the product right to the retail store but wholesale distributors greatly reduce the logistics of contacting the manufacturers of all the products in the store and maintaining inventory. Wholesale manufacturers rely on sophisticated software that manages all of the logistics of inventory and sales.
The right wholesale software can be difficult to find and should be chosen with care. When shopping around don't be afraid to download a trial version and actually try the software out to see if it meets your needs. Getting stuck with software that wasn't designed to do what you want is not fun or profitable. Be careful when buying discount software as it might either be an old version or it might not do everything that it claims to do.
What can wholesale software do?
Take orders - retail software can automate the process of taking orders either by giving you staff an easy way to take and process order or provide a web interface so that customers can fill out their own orders.
Quotes - Wholesale software can provide an easy way of giving quotes. They can be printed or emailed and they can even transfer to orders.
Place Orders - Depending on the distributor wholesale software can even place orders to the manufacturer. This reduces the man power needed to maintain inventory.
Remote Order Entry - Some software can be set up so that sales people can access it from anywhere in the world via the internet. This can be effective when managing a large sales force or when customers want to place orders themselves.
Wireless Capability - Wholesale software often has the capability of interfacing with handheld wireless devices used to track inventory in the warehouse allowing the wholesaler to go completely paperless.
Inventory Management - Inventory is difficult to track by hand. Computers can tell you much more accurately what you have in the warehouse at any time, what orders have been placed and what merchandise has arrived. It allows accurate and efficient tracking of inventory.
Reporting - Wholesale software can spit out reports on just about anything imaginable in concise easy to read formats.
Increase Profits - With improved efficiency computers can cut costs and increase profits
Be Upgraded - Most software is modular meaning that features can be added in according the needs of the business.
Print, Email, Fax - It can print, fax, and email invoices, order and quotes. Usually this can be set to be done automatically.
RFID - RFID allows companies to track inventory through every step of the supply chain using tiny radio transmitters on packages
Slotting Optimization - Complex computer algorithms make warehouse slotting efficient and easy.
Customization - Most wholesale software packages allow customization to meet the specific and individual needs of the company.
Wholesale software is an effective way to reduce costs for distributors. As a company looks for software they should consider the features that they need for their line of business and their management style. Companies should investigate several possibilities to see which one will fill their needs as a company.
Justin Grover is a Client account specialist for 10x Marketing. To get a free quote for wholesale software go to Comcash.