Expert knowledge for digital decisions
What Software Does the Wholesale Trade Need?
Short answer
Where Standard Suffices
Inventory management, order processing, and invoicing are well covered by many inventory management systems. Rebuilding these from scratch is rarely sensible.
Where It Gets Custom
Price Logic. Customer-specific prices, tiers, promotions, framework contracts, minimum order quantities – here, almost every wholesaler deviates from the standard.
Customer Portal. Ordering with custom terms, own product numbers, order history, real-time availability.
EDI. Electronic exchange of orders and delivery notes with large customers. Frequently a prerequisite to being allowed to deliver at all.
Reporting. Contribution margin per customer, product, and region – usually the question the standard system cannot answer.
The Most Common Bottleneck
Product master data. Different descriptions, missing dimensions and weights, inconsistent units. Every portal and EDI integration immediately exposes these gaps.
Anyone planning a customer portal should start with master data, not the user interface.
A Realistic Fit
Retain inventory management, customarily enhance with a portal and price logic, connect via interfaces. This is almost always more economical than trying to replace everything.
Key facts
- Custom Development Is Worthwhile For
- Price Logic, Customer Portal, EDI
- Most Common Bottleneck
- Quality Of Product Master Data
Sources
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