How Technology Can Bridge Operational Gaps in the Wholesale Distribution Industry?

Over the last couple of years, technology has transformed various industry verticals as the businesses have realized that sticking to the legacy systems will stifle them in the upcoming years. Some have embraced the disruptive technology to gain a competitive edge, while some are still adamant about taking the big move and the wholesale industry is the one among the latter. The wholesale sector, with a little changeover, is slow in accepting the innovative technological transformation.

The modern, skilled wholesale distributers can play an influential role in changing the way the wholesale businesses operate. For today’s talented minds, success is the synonym for handling the fears of implementing new technology and overcoming obstacles by figuring out innovative ways to accomplish daily operations efficiently.

No matter how big or small your business is, Microsoft dynamics 365 services implementing enterprise technology will help overcome the challenges. Also, by incurring one-time implementation costs, the companies can save hugely on operational costs in the long run.

Let’s understand what these challenges are.

Technological Challenges in the Wholesale Distribution Industry

InaccurateProfit Margins Hinders Growth & Revenue

The main motive of wholesale distributors is profit earning. What if there are discrepancies in the margins that you have calculated and what you have incurred. Mostly, manual calculations and human errors are the reasons for this data entry redundancies. If it repeats frequently, the business will face inefficient workflows and low revenues. Having an automated tool in the IT infrastructure will help wholesale distributors to stay competitive.

Lack of Business Intelligence Capabilities Due to Absence of ERP

Distribution sectors are still following the traditional paper-based procedures for accomplishing business processes. Although if several wholesalers have adopted some technology in their premises, there’s always a lack of an integrated system for comprehensive data storage and quick insights into business information. Moreover, the paper-based processes are time-consuming as they involve multi-level permissions and manual signatures from various authorities and departments.

Lack of Collaboration among Internal Teams & Disparate Resources

In the competitive era, technology acceptance is essential to lead the competition. When companies are not ready to keep pace with industry transitions, they fail to meet the rapidly evolving requirements of their customers. Inconsistent inventory management that arises due to inaccurate forecasting can result in lost sales and lost customers in the long run. Even if the wholesalers and distributers deny the fact, it will remain a truth that an online inventory control system is the only solution that can raise the bar.

A Point of Sales software helps businesses in making more strategic buying decisions as it gives clear insights into the most popular product categories and the most profitable items. A good CRM and ERP can help to manage various wholesale and distribution tasks automatically with minimal human intervention. Moreover, an automated, integrated business solution will minimize inventory risks and reduce supply issues.

How Wholesalers & Distributors Can Overcome these Challenges?

Though the challenges that wholesale distributors face are enormous, both in terms of intensity and volume, it’s crucial to overcome them with immense endurance. A simple and straightforward solution to fill up all intensive gaps is technology disruption. It might sound impractical to some wholesale enterprises at first, but the bitter fact is that you have to lead the competition.

These challenges are not difficult to handle or hard to resolve. Such obstacles are the byproduct of lack of business farsightedness, improper planning, and indecorous management of operations. Wholesale distributors maintain a strong chain and bridges the gaps between manufacturers and retailers. Disruptive technology can bring an essential change in the industry if implemented and used correctly.

B2B2C online marketplaces are shredding the workload of manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers as it gives a platform where they can directly contact each other to maintain transparency. It eliminates unnecessary paperwork and provides a comprehensive solution for better collaboration.

Join Hands with Technology to Optimize Business Operations

To overcome the challenges, the wholesalers need a solution that can provide and transparent, clear view of warehouse and distribution operation without many functional regulations. It must allow the industry operators to deliver goods on time, optimize inventory, manage distribution, and maintain excellent customer relationships to gain more leads.

Though siloed programs offer useful features and help organizations in organizing their day-to-day operations, there are extensive business areas where these solutions fall short in delivering the optimized functionality and companies need a robust, more connected integrated system.

As a wholesale distributor, if you face any of the challenges mentioned above, it’s time to leverage wholesale distributor business technology for transforming your organization’s operations. Due to ever-rising competition in the industry, a consistent shift can be seen in the wholesale sector – both in terms of technological and behavioral aspects.

A comprehensive ERP system such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 services can help you respond effectively to the changing market trends. A wholesale distribution process expert with a good understanding of in-depth industry operations can help to implement disruptive technological solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 services for optimizing business processes.

What You Can Do with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations

If you are a wholesale distributor, you might be facing numerous challenges in handling day-to-day operations. To stay competitive in the industry, you need to improve your business agility and maintain collaboration across various departments. Not only you need to act as per the changing industry dynamics, but you need to drive efficiency across the entire value chain for sustainable growth.

By leveraging Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, you can achieve an optimal level of operational excellence to ensure business continuity.

Increase Profit Margins

Acquire access to more business opportunities with a customer-centric approach and manage reimbursements effectively with structured pricing.

Efficient Supply Chain

Streamline goods ordering process, and leverage improved forecasting levels for improving the inventory management tasks.

Better, Informed Decision Making

Real-time visibility into the wholesale distribution value chain allows for optimized financial reporting and help to make an informed business decision.