Just like all of us, wholesale buyers are also experiencing the ever growing convenience of the B2C eCommerce platforms. Hence, they expect the same kind of ease while buying for business. Within last five years, B2B industry has grown a lot in terms of providing a better wholesale buying experience with the help of technology. However, it is still just the start. Most of the distribution industry is still functioning the old way, missing out all the benefits that can be provided by the technology. Let’s understand in detail why wholesale management software is important for the distributors.

Importance of Wholesale Distribution Platform

Convenience First

In a survey it was found that B2B buyers are comfortable paying 30% more for the same product in exchange for better experience. The same review stated that 60% companies experienced increased revenues and more customers with the help of technology. 61% distributors experienced more loyalty from their customers. All this eventually leads to the larger profits.

Increased Productivity

B2B eCommerce makes your sales representatives’ job far easier along with other benefits; resulting in increased productivity. Time consuming traditional systems cost a lot of opportunities along with time. In a study at a wholesaler’s enterprise, it was assessed that the sales reps were wasting approximately 2 hours every day in data entry and paper work. This blog will help you understand it better: Decoding the Business ROI and Impact

Your Sales Reps Need Help

Just like your customers, they are also experiencing the convenience of B2C eCommerce and then they get back to filling order forms for you like a machine, visiting stores all day and then re-entering all the orders in your backend system. You might think that they won’t be able to adjust with the technology fast enough, but B2C eCommerce has already giving them enough exposure. If you want more details on how you can introduce technology to your sales team without making them insecure about their job, read this blog: How B2B e-Commerce and Field Sales can work together

Competitors Know This Too

Believe it or not, around 66% of your competitors know that technology is important; and many of them are already either using it or in the process of implementing it. Technology has been changing our world at a very rapid pace. We cannot avoid it because the change is happening with or without us.

Wholesale Buyers Know What They Want

Given the rising expectations of the buyers, they know what they want from you. Some of the things are:

1. 60% B2B buyers expect advanced searching mechanisms.
2. 58% want to get updated with latest brand information and promotion schemes.
3. 50% expected better product personalisation.
4. 40% want to buy using online methods like UPI, debit card, credit card.

These are just some of the expectations directly told by the buyers. Technology gives you ample opportunity to make your B2B customer happy by constantly improving the convenience. Some of the inspirations that you can take from B2C eCommerce platforms are:

1. Recommendations: Buyer would love it if the search results are shown as per the search history and interests shown by the buyer. These recommendations can also be used by your sales representatives in one-to-one conversations to suggest the products as per the interests of the buyer.
2. Provide Better UI/UX: There is nothing wrong with taking inspiration from the convenient features of the B2C platforms because your buyers are already comparing your platform with the likes of Amazon.
3. Integrate Channels: Integrate all your channels including online, customer service, telesales, field sales, etc to provide omni-channel customer experience. In B2C, customers can make a purchase online and then pick it up from a nearby store; or order an out-of-stock item in the store to be delivered at the doorstep later. Similarly, in B2B, customer interactions should be streamlined and touching all points consistently. All the orders must be processed and tracked in your system for complete visibility of the total sales, inventory levels, etc.

If you have not already taken a step toward technology, please do it now because your competition is already moving ahead of you. It is not just about the competition but about many other factors such as ease of business, more transparency, more clarity, better ROI, happy employees, happier customers, and many more. You won’t miss your old ways at all once you embrace the wholesale distribution software. The better your system is, the better your business will be. Do not hesitate to contact us to know details about leveraging wholesale management system to grow your wholesale business.