Before we jump into the meat of the article, I want to make a point — ecommerce solutions that are built for B2C businesses, in most cases, are not an appropriate fit for a B2B business.
Order processing is a seemingly simple, common business practice that wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, and importers deal with every single day. If you’re using QuickBooks, you’ve likely learned very quickly where the issues in your ordering process are, and you’ve also probably realized that QuickBooks alone isn’t going to be the solution to those issues.
With the Holiday season just over the horizon and Black Friday peeking at you from behind the curtains, now might seem like the exact wrong time to try to implement an ecommerce option for your customers. However, setting up an ecommerce option for QuickBooks has never been easier for manufacturing and wholesale businesses.
When the holiday season is here, and as a supplier, you’re probably already deep in the weeds as your customers start stocking up in preparation for the biggest shopping days of the year. You need to be prepared so that you can get your books as far into the black as possible before the end of the fiscal year.
Any business experiences slow times, and that’s true all the way up the supply chain. One of the essentials for supplying restaurants, for keeping them coming back for more, is taking advantage of their slow season. Use it to help them improve their technology and get their employees trained and ready for their busy season.
Whether you have a physical warehouse for supplying your customers, or you’re an entirely digital drop-shipping distributor, you’ll run into the same problems business owners have had for hundreds of years. Management, inventory, keeping customers coming in the doors or visiting your website.
When clothing distributors are looking for wholesalers and manufacturers to partner with, they’re generally looking for someone who has a clear record of success, someone who has partnered with plenty of retailers and who can reliably, and continually, fulfill new orders and keep product flowing out the door.
Though I can give you a list of inventory management best practices, the reality is, not all of these practices are going to be the best for your business.
Many established B2B businesses are stuck in a rut. They’ve offered the same things, the same ways, for years – sometimes decades – and they don’t see why they should change.
B2B ecommerce is no longer “cutting edge” or “the latest craze.” For manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and importers who haven’t made the jump to digital yet, I only have one thing to say:
