Why NetSuite Makes Sense for Wholesale Distribution
A wholesale distribution company has to balance a broad network of clients, many products, and the complications associated with procuring and managing inventory. With NetSuite ERP, you can automate much of your workflow, simplify your processes, and discover new business opportunities—all within one platform.
Read on to learn what NetSuite can do for your wholesale distribution business, including automating processes and revealing opportunities.
Better Inventory Management
NetSuite for wholesale distribution enables you to track the movement of all inventory in real time. You can also keep track of transactions as they happen. In this way, you’re confident all your warehouse operations are supporting your broader business goals.
NetSuite gives you the visibility you need to make adjustments to your inventory in response to customer demand. For example, if NetSuite identifies a drop in inventory due to increased demand for a certain product, you can leverage this data to:
- Choose when and how to restock inventory
- Adjust sales figures
- Reallocate funds for inventory
More Streamlined Procurement Process
The procurement process for a wholesale distribution company can be time-consuming, but with NetSuite for wholesale distributors, you can keep track of your relationships with suppliers and vendors during all phases of the purchasing process.
NetSuite’s procurement tools allow you to quickly identify ways to save money and time, as well as bolster strategic relationships with suppliers. You can check how each of your suppliers are performing using concrete metrics, connect with them in real time using a Supplier Portal, and facilitate payments.
For instance, suppose you're looking to cut costs and you have two suppliers that can both produce the same component. With NetSuite, you can analyze:
- The costs involved in the various phases of the supply chain for each vendor
- Which vendor offers the best deals based on volume purchased
- The reasons why one may cost more than the other
More Efficient Demand Planning and Supply Management
With a NetSuite implementation, you can account for fluctuations in demand according to seasonal or other factors. You can take this data and use it to adjust the kinds of purchases you make, the products you stock, and which suppliers you choose to work with.
For example, the data NetSuite gives you access to makes it easier to run a leaner business, avoiding unnecessary purchases and the time it takes to manage them.
Better Warehouse and Inventory Control
Your warehouse, as a wholesale distributor, is a key component of your business, which makes it a great place to identify ways to run your operation more efficiently. With NetSuite, you’re able to:
- Ensure your warehousing process is in compliance with federal and other regulations
- Find ways to reduce the amount you spend on fulfillments
- Provide support even to wireless warehouse systems
You can also reduce the amount you spend on purchasing, storing, and managing your inventory, significantly improving your overall profit margin.
Tighter Control Over Shipping and Fulfillment
Wholesale distributors need to optimize their shipping and fulfillment systems to keep customers—and investors—happy, and with NetSuite, the process is straightforward. You can use NetSuite’s fulfillment tools to reduce the number of picks you have to make, prioritize which items get picked based on when carriers will be coming to get them, manage changes to orders, and reduce the amount you spend on shipping products.
NetSuite gives you control over many aspects of the fulfillment process, enabling you to analyze your current system and then fine-tune it, in turn discovering more efficient ways of managing your processes.
Easier Customer Management
NetSuite provides you with tools that make it easy to give your support team what they need to earn five-star reviews again and again. For example, you can use NetSuite to give team members a full view of customer information, including their history with your company.
You can also use NetSuite to keep track of support tickets and monitor recurring defects so you can pinpoint problematic products. Additionally, NetSuite's customer management tools can help you design self-service options for customers, giving them control and freeing up your support team to work on business-critical projects. These tools can give customers access to order information, knowledge bases, and FAQ content so they can find their own answers to pressing questions.
More Effective Marketing
Centralizing your marketing efforts empowers you to analyze the success of campaigns and design more effective strategies, and NetSuite streamlines this process for you. You’re able to:
- Focus your communications towards the optimal customers and demographic groups
- Keep track of your marketing results
- See the kind of ROI you’re getting in real time
You can also use NetSuite’s marketing tools to enhance your relationships with new and current customers, as well as choose whether you want to target individual customers or entire market segments and then strategize your next marketing move accordingly.
Get the NetSuite Advantage With GSI
GSI is an expert in NetSuite implementation, consulting, managed services, and many more. With GSI, you get professionals dedicated to boosting your wholesale business using NetSuite’s range of proven tools. GSI's NetSuite managed services give you dedicated, experienced pros to help you through the process of deciding how your business will benefit from NetSuite, allowing you to hone in on success instead of wrangling with your infrastructure.
When your NetSuite processes are managed by an experienced provider like GSI, you can set your goals and we'll show you how NetSuite can help you reach them. To learn more about how GSI can help you optimize your wholesale distribution processes with NetSuite, connect with us today for a free consultation.