According to recent statistics, more than 80% of all restaurant owners shut down business operations in no more than five years. A large proportion of these includes small and mid-sized restaurants that fail to thrive because of poor order management processes.
Business-to-Business (B2B) order processing, fulfilment, and management are critical aspects of successful and streamline supply chains—for small, mid-sized, and large food businesses alike. With so many communication tools available in today’s technologically advanced landscape, it’s no wonder that wholesalers, suppliers, and retail businesses in the food industry now have to deal with a wide range of transactional challenges, especially when it comes to order management and fulfilment.
There are several challenges the contemporary food wholesalers and suppliers have to tackle on a daily basis with order management, such as:
- A sudden rise in delivery channels and orders
- The increased complexity of supply chains
- The increasing expectations of retail customers and end consumers
Technology is probably the only way wholesalers and suppliers in the F&B industry can improve operational efficiencies and thrive in a saturated market. Communicating with your retail customers via phone calls, face-to-face meetings, emails, and skype video conferences is great, but when it comes to taking care of your sales admin that manages all the orders, ensuring a streamlined process can become a nightmare, real quick.
But you can always change that by investing in an online order management system for your food supply business and your B2B retail customers.
Wholesalers Can Reduce Costs and Boost Operational Efficiencies with Online Order Management Software
With an online ordering system software, your retail customers will be able to create orders online using a web or mobile application and track them in real-time, based on their own order templates. It won’t just save sales admin’s time, but it will also ensure that individual customers’ requirements and specifications are being met.
Although, food businesses that directly deal with end consumers (like restaurants, cafes, etc.) have been using online order placement systems for Business to Consumer (B2C) transactions for some time now, they’re not as popular among B2B food wholesalers and suppliers.
If you’re a B2B food wholesaler or supplier, it’s time you integrate an order management system into your infrastructure to optimise order management and provide a better purchasing experience to retail customers.
According to a Salesforce report, 75% of B2B buyers (retail customers) will expect wholesalers and suppliers to understand their needs based on their order patterns and purchase trends. This is only possible with an online order management software that can keep track of every order made by each customer and predict their preferences, likes, and dislikes.
Ahead, we’ve elaborated on some reasons why food wholesalers or suppliers must adopt an order management system.
Quick and Easy Order Processing
A cloud-based order management software will allow B2B customers to create orders and purchase your products at any time they want and from any place. It’s best to go with a piece of software that also offers mobile order management for customers, along with a web application.
Providing your retail customers with a free and user-friendly mobile application (supported by both iOS and Android connected devices) is the best thing you could do for your wholesale business.
Your customers will be able to form order templates for recurring orders and keep tabs on order status in real-time, which will enhance their overall experience, trust, and engagement with your brand. In addition to free iPhone and Android apps and online desktop ordering, some leading order management applications like OrderTron also offer web to app messaging and multiple supplier accounts to retail customers.
Better Order Management with Reduced Data Entry and Errors
With an order management software, you no longer have to deal with voicemail orders, retype fax orders, or look for lost order emails. You will receive all the orders placed by your retail customers in one, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand format, making everyday order processing quicker, easier, and smoother for you. Reduced data entry and manual work will enable you to eliminate errors within orders, save time, take more orders, increase customer base, and ultimately boost profitability.
Easier Tracking of All Orders
Order management systems keep you updated on:
- Processed orders
- Backorders
- Cancelled orders
- Submitted orders
- Completed orders
- Returned orders
- Order refund requests
You get order status notifications in real-time wherever you are. Additionally, you can also generate detailed reports on orders by product type to keep a check on your stock, analyse demand for certain products, and make predictions on whether you should restock a product. It allows you to optimise resource usage, reduce wastage, and increase business profits.
You Get a Private Catalogue For Your Retail Customers
While most aggregator order placement systems allow retail customers to view competitors’ products, an independent online ordering system like OrderTron only shows your catalogue to your retail customers. In the catalogue, you can define the billing unit and the order unit separately, which is ideal for wholesale businesses that typically receive orders per unit, but bill based on the weight, such as vegetable, fruit, and meat suppliers.
Inventory Control
Order management systems improve inventory management and control for you, with features like stock count, stock adjustments, and stock transfers. You can also assign manufacturing dates, expiry dates, and batch numbers to all your products—all within the application—for better inventory management and real-time tracking of each product’s movement. This is incredibly useful if you have more than one warehouse for storing your inventory.
Easier Payments
With an online ordering system, you can give your customers several payment options, such as payment through debit card or credit card at the time of order placement or a credit note for payment after delivery on the assigned date.
Your retail customers will also be able to make the payment through their bank account via your online ordering mobile or web application.
Detailed Order Reports
A critical function of an order management software is detailed real-time reporting of all products, orders, and customers. You can extract live reports on orders and products via customer name, customer ID code, order status, and date of order placement.
This gives you increased visibility into how much product you need to fulfil all the orders for a specific product, improving your stock control, minimising wastage, and increasing the accuracy of your purchase decision. It will also keep your third-party partners or employees responsible for packing and shipment of products prepared, ensuring timely and accurate deliveries.
These reports further give you insights into the number of active customers, the turnover rate, and the bestselling products in terms of revenue generation. If you want, your customers will also be able to view these reports through their web application. They can utilise them to keep track of their order spending, reconcile their expenses, etc.
Increased Customer Engagement
Our order management system provides you with a user-friendly Web to App messaging feature that automatically sends push notifications about discounts, special offers, new products, new services, and other information to your retail customers via mobile application.
Invest in OrderTron’s Order Management System
If you’re looking for a reliable and cutting-edge order management system or online ordering software for small business, you’re in the right place.
At OrderTron, we provide SMEs with top-tier order management software that you can rely on for timely and accurate order fulfilment. Whether you’re a food supplier or a retail customer, our advanced software can sync with your business’s existing IT infrastructure, offering comprehensive, secure, and coherent order reporting in real-time.
OrderTron is a one-for-all software that incorporates order processing, inventory management and tracking, and order management. Connect with us at +61 2 8599 8830 for more information or fill this form to request a free trial today!