» Back to User Support
Technology Talk
| technologyTALK |
|
A monthly column from Andrew Talbot of Industry Software reviewing how technology is changing the way our industry works
|
Are we ready for electronic orders?
Major suppliers are now prepared to offer distributors rebates of up to 2% for placing their orders electronically – is this the incentive the industry needs to start using electronic orders?
|
|
|
|
Most industries now use electronic ordering as a key way of reducing the cost of doing business but until now the Promotional Products industry has not really adopted these principles.
It is common practise for the main supplies in the Office Products Industry to offer between a 1-2% rebate to distributors who place orders electronically.
|
|
Possibly the main barrier to companies not using electronic ordering has been the lack of a dedicated software package for the industry. Over the past 12 months this has changed with the emergence of PromoServe which is now used by more than 250 distributors and over 50 suppliers. PromoServe uses proven technology from the office products industry to enable distributors using the software to place orders electronically with suppliers.
The project is very new but has so far been received with a lot of enthusiasm from suppliers with over 20 suppliers now signed up to offer up to 2% Rebates for Orders placed electronically via PromoServe, including the following leading suppliers below:
|
|
This makes the financial argument very persuasive for most distributors as all you have to do is multiply your annual purchases by 2% to calculate the potential benefit to your business.
Key suppliers such as PF Concepts have been trying to push electronic ordering via their website / extranet for a while but with people having to log into another system to place the order the volumes have not been significant. However with distributors now able to place orders electronically by just clicking a button it is expected that the volume of business being done this way will increase dramatically during 2007. As PromoServe is now used by many of the larger distributors we estimate that about 20% of the industry purchases are now made by companies using PromoServe – a good starting point for electronic orders.
If electronic orders take off as expected there are a whole series of other time saving benefits that could be enjoyed such as:
- Electronic Delivery & Stock Confirmations on Orders Placed
- Electronic Purchase Invoices
- Automated Product Updates with customer specific prices
What would be interesting would be to hear from suppliers and distributors with some feedback on the electronic order debate. Interesting feedback will be published in next month's column.
Please email me at andrew.talbot@industrysoftware.co.uk with your comments on this topic or any other technology issue facing the industry.
Please click here for more details.
|
Next Month – We Review Remote Working via the Internet or your PDA
|
Delivering Technology to the Promotional Products Industry
|
|
