Which is the Best Software for a Wholesale Business

Which is the Best Software for a Wholesale Business?

As a wholesaler, you manage the inventory, meet the ever-changing consumer demands, forecast sales, undertake logistics processes, handle fluctuations in the supply chain
, and anything in between. Running these processes can be challenging.

Luckily, there’re software solutions that simplify the complexities of your business operations, increasing efficiency and fuelling your business’s growth. However, choosing the right software solution and determining the functionalities your business needs from the software program are key to enjoying its benefits.

What Is Wholesale Distribution Software?

Wholesale distribution software is a solution that runs your business processes, such as financial management, payroll, shipping, inventory management, logistics, and purchase and order management from one location where data is shared.

The software allows you to automate your business operations, increasing your speed and accuracy in order fulfillment. The result is increased productivity and improved customer satisfaction. When inventory is optimized and inefficiencies removed, you will enjoy lower overall operational costs.

So what should you look for when shopping around for wholesaling software?

Features of a Wholesale Business Software

Understanding the features you need before buying is key to making the right choice. Some features to look out for include:

Inventory Control

Besides tracking goods as they enter and exit the warehouse, a software’s inventory control function performs serial counts, tracks serialized items, handles complex shipments, manages bun and shelf locations, checks stock levels, reverses supply chains, etc.

Proper inventory control
involves knowing what’s in your warehouse, transit, and back-order. So with this software function, you can determine your stock levels depending on the demand and supply and even account for lead times and seasonal fluctuations.

Batch/lot and serial tracking

This functionality is essential for wholesalers dealing in perishable commodities or potentially harmful products. The software tracks expiration dates and has a recall functionality to show greater accountability for compliance. The lot recall functionality will quickly identify the affected commodities and inform the concerned customers if there’s a recall.

Barcode scanner

The scanner increases the accuracy of your stock data by reducing the amount of error when you scan a product during the packing and receipt process. It also decreases the time it takes to unload shipping items, besides ensuring you ship the right things to the right customers.

Inventory kitting

Software with an inventory kitty automatically links products if combined as part of a set, assigns a product variant for batch tracking, checks stock levels, and updates the system. A wholesale software with this feature makes tracking the combining and selling of a kitted set fast.

Accounting

The accounting feature is found in all-in-one solutions with inventory management, accounting, and warehouse operation features.

A good warehouse inventory system also includes tools for tracking accounts receivables and payables, purchasing, invoicing, order entry, and processing and managing the financial processes.

Reporting and analytics

As a wholesale business, you need the correct information at the right time to make purchasing decisions and negotiate rates with suppliers and customers. The report and analytics functionality gives you an outlook of your business’s health besides identifying patterns and trends. These reports are also crucial in decision-making.

Forecasting capability

The sales forecasting
capability helps you predict the future demand of your product using information such as historical data and future conditions, like seasons. Therefore, you’ll know what to stock and at what time.

Supply chain management

This package enables the tracking and analysis of crucial business relationships. For instance, if your wholesale software can consolidate information into one place, you’ll have what you need to negotiate deals and contracts. It also allows you to stay in touch with your manufacturers.

Purchase ordering

Software with this feature monitors the supply chain and connects your system with that of your partners. The functionality can send out low stock alerts and auto-generate relevant order purchases, automatically increase purchase orders when price and reference are set, etc.

Order management

The package is suitable for those shifting to the omnichannel business model
as it collects customer data from any channel. It then gathers this data into a single catalog to provide a clear view of sales. Therefore, you can connect your front end to the back end to ensure your customer doesn’t purchase what you haven’t stocked.

Types of Software Buyers

Most software buyers are categorized into:

Enterprise buyers
. They work for big organizations that have a wider range of selling models. Their goal is to integrate their software solution with their business partners.
Channel buyers
. They work for big businesses that sell using a wide network of channel partners. They prefer a software sales program with specialized functionality for registering leads, monitoring their partner’s performance, etc.
Direct sell buyers
. These can be individuals working for organizations that sell through their sales teams, direct field reps, telesales, etc. Direct sell buyers have a specific requirement for buying a software solution.
Small company CRM buyer
s. They work for starting businesses that want beyond contact tracking capacities of commercial goods.

Benefits of Wholesale Software

Below are some benefits of using wholesale software.

The software streamlines and simplifies complex processes, reducing the turnaround time for order fulfillment and increasing efficiency and sales.
Automating and streamlining processes frees time, allowing you to focus on decision-making and increasing productivity.
Automating your system allows you to track your stock levels in real-time, making it easier for you to keep a steady inventory level and prevent shortages and overstocking.
Software solutions simplify your sales process by helping you focus on qualified leads and channels that easily convert.
Wholesale software gives you real-time insights that are important in making accurate forecasts and decisions.

Best Wholesale Business Software

Some of the best wholesale business software you can consider when shopping for software include:

Acumatica

The software solution centralizes essential business functions like finance, field service, manufacturing, distribution, and CRM. The software is available for deployment through the cloud and on-site, making it popular among small and medium-sized businesses.

Some industries it serves include ecommerce, retail, distribution, manufacturing, and technology software service.

Netsuite

Netsuite is a cloud-based software that centralizes many business operations to automate and streamline their processes. The solution is suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries.

It has over 16000 customers from over 200 countries making it an effective option for global businesses.

QuickBooks Commerce

This cloud-based distribution software is best-suited for accounting in small and medium-sized wholesale businesses. Its mobile app provides a visualization of data to help you monitor inventory levels, manage orders, and contact customers.

The software solution has four levels of support, i.e., Founder, Lite, Small businesses, and Businesses, and the cost starts at $39/month per user.

SYSPRO ERP

The solution best suits companies with large manufacturing and distribution components in daily operations. It is modular and enables businesses to create a program that suits their unique needs.

The software solution is the best fit for businesses of various sizes. It’s also available for deployment both on-site and through the cloud.

The system has customers across six continents that span across industries. It also offers access to more than 1600 channel and support partners.

Erply POS

This is a cloud-based retail solution built for small and medium-sized businesses. Key features include point of sales (POS), customer database, and inventory management. Erply POS
can run independently from web access and data is auto-synced upon connection. Its plan starts at $39 per month.

Conclusion

The benefit of cloud-based software is that they have low set-up fees. This allows you to try out different software before finding the one that fits your needs perfectly.

However, you can save yourself time and money by learning what features you need and narrowing down your search to few software that you can use. Try them out and choose one that works for you.