If you’re successfully running a wholesale business, it’s likely that you have a lot of orders coming in. With an increasing number of orders, there will be more invoices and a need for invoice management. As a result, there will be more data entry, information transfer, and forms. That’s where wholesale ordering software will come in handy in wholesale distribution.
Wholesale ordering software is designed for wholesale businesses, and it’s possible to integrate it with eCommerce accounting software. This way, you can keep your business organized and running smoothly.
Streamlining your order management process through wholesale business software is essential for any wholesale business, especially those in the hospitality industry. This includes restaurants, cafés, bars, and hotels.
Wholesale Ordering Software: What Is It?
Wholesale ordering software refers to eCommerce systems that increase the accuracy of accounting, order fulfillment, and communication between different business channels. This software will allow your wholesale business to have increased efficiency.
As a business owner, you’ll want to speed things up in your business while streamlining operations and eliminating the risk of human error. All of this is possible with a wholesale ordering system.
Not only will wholesale ordering software improve business processes, but it will also help to provide a great customer experience. Such order systems are smart systems that provide customers with various information and ease of use. This way, they can find and order products, see what discounts are available, review stock levels, and check expected delivery dates.
Whether you follow a B2B business model or run a DTC business, providing excellent customer service is essential. Wholesale ordering systems are technological solutions that help businesses grow sales while saving time and streamlining daily operations.
Key Takeaway: Using wholesale ordering software will allow businesses to increase the accuracy of their order fulfillment processes, accounting, warehouse organization, and communication between various business channels.
5 Benefits of a Wholesale Ordering System for Restaurants
Wholesale ordering systems provide many benefits for businesses, especially those in the restaurant industry. This is because many restaurants will order wholesale products to meet customer demand and save money when buying in bulk. Such products include wholesale meat, wholesale seafood, wholesale produce, and wholesale dairy items.
These are five benefits of investing in a wholesale ordering system for your restaurant business:
- Reduced administrative tasks. Online ordering for restaurants is one of the latest types of restaurant tech. This is especially true when it comes to back of house ordering. With wholesale ordering software, all orders will go through the system, so you won’t have to deal with any paperwork. In fact, all invoice processing data and order confirmations will be automatically generated and sent to their respective parties.
- Convenience. Restaurants have the ability to order products at any time during the day, including after office hours. This makes it easy for them to replenish inventory when necessary and stay on top of inventory control and wholesale inventory management practices.
- Product Display. Whether you’re one of the wholesale food distributors or buyers in your area, wholesale ordering software allows you to see and display entire product lines. This digital catalog ensures that both buyers and sellers can find what they’re looking for along with the necessary visuals.
- Order management. Businesses can view and manage their orders through a single platform. They also have access to use reports and data. These insights will make daily restaurant operations seamless.
- Ease of use. Most wholesale ordering software is easy to use. It’s ideal for both wholesale distributors and buyers.
5 Features to Look for In Your Wholesale Ordering Software
Wholesale ordering software is one of the latest restaurant technologies used by buyers and suppliers. This software ensures efficient sales and business operations. However, in order to do this, the software you invest in needs to have the right features.
Five features wholesale ordering software needs are:
1. Quick Searching and Ordering
In both the retail and restaurant industry, things happen fast. In order to keep up, you need to invest in software that can handle the pace. This is especially true when you need to find and purchase exact products.
The ideal ordering software allows users to condense their searches based on product attributes. This expedites the ordering process since it takes less time to place the order.
Having efficient ordering capabilities is also essential. It’s important for wholesale ordering software to support different ordering methods including duplicate orders. This will reduce the time it takes to input orders while sustaining high levels of purchases.
2. Quality and High-resolution Digital Catalog
As a buyer, you want to know what products are available to purchase. If you’re a seller, you want to have your products neatly displayed so that customers can easily purchase what they’re looking for.
When it comes to your digital wholesale catalog, you want to ensure it’s quality and high resolution. This will entice customers to buy your products. You may even consider using digital catalog software, such as a catalog creator, for a custom and functional design.
Being able to find items quickly is important for both sales representatives and customers. This means that your digital catalog should allow users to sort products into categories in order to speed up the ordering process.
3. Offline Capabilities
The ideal wholesale ordering software should have functions that are available offline. This will ensure that operations run smoothly, even without the proper connection. Once the connection restores, any orders made will sync and records will update automatically.
4. Detailed Product Information
With high-quality product images comes the need for thorough product information and descriptions. Each product in your digital catalog should have an easily accessible description that answers customer questions and accurately describes the item. This makes the searching process easy, encourages sales, and engages with customers.
5. ERP Integration
ERP for wholesalers is essential for managing core business processes. Integrating ERP functions with your wholesale ordering software allows you to access all information from one platform.
Such integrations will help businesses make informed sales and purchasing decisions. You’ll have insight into which items are in stock, how much stock is left until a product reaches its reorder point, and what needs replenishing. It also helps ensure that customers are ordering items that are in stock.
The wholesale ordering system should also be able to record order information and sync it with your ERP system. Be sure to understand the difference between ERP and MRP by familiarizing yourself with “what is MRP?”
Frequently Asked Questions About Wholesale Ordering
Wholesale ordering software is essential for businesses in the wholesale and restaurant industry. Regardless of whether you’re a supplier or buyer, online ordering systems will ensure that all operations are running seamlessly and with maximum efficiency. If you still have questions about wholesale ordering systems, read through the following commonly asked questions and answers:
What Are Some Challenges of Supplying to the Hospitality Industry?
Wholesalers that target the hospitality industry, including restaurants, cafés, and hotels, face the following challenges:
- Ever-changing food trends require businesses to keep up with various products
- High demand for locally sourced products, including produce
- Customers expect fresh ingredients in customized packing slip
- Seasonality affects customer demand and the availability of specific products
- Different restaurants and establishments seek different product qualities and prices
Wholesale ordering software helps hospitality industry suppliers and buyers address some of these issues. The software makes ordering easy and transparent for both parties.
What Should Wholesale Ordering Software Include?
Wholesale ordering software should include the following features:
- Quick searching and ordering functions
- Quality and high-resolution digital catalogs
- Offline capabilities
- Detailed product information
- ERP integrations
How Can Restaurants Benefit from Wholesale Ordering Software?
Restaurants can benefit from wholesale ordering software by:
- Having more control over the order management process
- The convenience of ordering additional inventory when necessary
- Fewer administrative tasks and paperwork to handle
- Improved product displays of their inventory
- Easy to use and integrate with other business software systems