Retail distributors and wholesalers network is something that hasn’t seen much digitization in the past several decades. Most operations in retail distribution and wholesaling are entirely manual work. It involves finding manufacturers as well as buyers, coordinating with delivery and logistics, managing sorting and segregation of goods, and ensuring that a steady supply chain is maintained.
All this requires a distributor or wholesaler to interact with a large number of people and make sure there is proper coordination among all processes. But because all this has to be done manually every single day, it can prove to be quite tedious.
SocialEpoch provides distributors and wholesalers a robust communication channel in the form of a messaging app. SocialEpoch can help them manage communication with upward as well as a downward hierarchy with ease and simplify the entire process to a great extent.
Understanding The Different Layers of Hierarchy of Distribution System
A typical distribution network is made up of three main levels of hierarchy which maintains the basic supply chain flow.
1. Manufacturer/ Supplier
The manufacturer or Supplier forms the first layer of the hierarchy and is the producer of goods. The goods produced by the manufacturer are then sold to the distributor which forms an interface between the manufacturers and the retailers.
2. Distributor/Wholesaler
A distributor or wholesaler is the main point of supply for retailers or end buyers(online business). They to find manufacturers that can supply the products and retails can buy them. A distributor is responsible for keeping the demand and supply cycle running at all times.
3. Logistics
Another level of hierarchy that a distributor has to deal with is the Logistics and delivery agents. This group of people is responsible for picking up goods from one location and delivering it to another on time. As a distributor, one has to ensure that both incoming goods, as well as outgoing orders, reach their destination on time. A slight irregularity or delay from their end can disrupt the whole process.
4. Retailer/Buyer
Retailers are the final selling points of the supply chain cycle. A retail owner makes sure that the products are available in physical stores for the consumers. Retail owners heavily depend on distributors and logistics agents for products for their physical stores.
7 Ways SocialEpoch Can Prove to be an Advantage for Distributors and Wholesalers
Since the distributors and wholesalers form the middle layer of the supply chain hierarchy, they need to involve in extensive calling and communication exchange with both the upwards and downwards hierarchy.
Whatsapp Business API-based SocialEpoch can help distributors build a strong network and manage them effortlessly.
1. Multiple accounts
SocialEpoch allows you to create and manage 10 WhatsApp accounts simultaneously. For you as a distributor or wholesaler, it gives you the option of creating separate accounts for manufacturers, logistics, and retailers. This will make your conversation easier to manage, as compared to a single account where all kinds of contact in a single page and it gets difficult to identify which is which.
2. Contact label
With SocialEpoch, you can create unique labels for your contacts. This helps in keeping your contact list more organized and helps you in identifying each of your contacts quickly. Imagine you have a list of 100+ manufacturers on your contact list. It won’t be possible for you to identify each one of them by name. You can simply add a label with the product they sell. This will make it easy for you to find them in the list when you require them.
3. In time response
SocialEpoch gives you the advantage of in-time response which as a distributor or wholesaler can be crucial for ensuring that all operations are synchronized. Sharing important documents and data and receiving instant responses can make the entire flow much smoother and ensure that there is no communication gap or unnecessary delay.
You can also share multimedia files such as images, videos, documents, and location information within your team or beyond and get responses from them instantly.
4. Contact profile
For each contact you have on your WhatsApp contact list, you can create a contact profile with all kinds of information about them from their name and birthday to the last conversation you had with them up to their current payment status. These informations are vital in shaping your future conversations and maintaining a constant follow-up schedule.
5. Visual Analytics Report
Getting a visual analytics report of daily sales and purchases can help in analyzing daily operations and planning for future strategies.
With SocialEpoch, you can get a visual analytics report on a daily basis through its dashboard.
6. Security
As a distributor or wholesaler your client list and data is a very valuable asset for your business. It is something you cannot afford to lose to worse have an unauthorized person have access to it.
With SocialEpoch, you never have to worry about your data because SocialEpoch is based on WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption policy and automatic data backup. It makes sure that your data is safe and secure in all respects.
7. Task Delegation
While working in a middle layer, distributors and wholesalers receive tons of queries, issues, and grievances. Handling all of them may not be possible for you alone. With the ‘task assign’ feature of SocialEpoch, you can assign queries and messages to different teams or individuals who are best suited for it.
The distribution and wholesale system is a section of the supply chain that needs a high level of time efficiency and synchronization and SocialEpoch helps it achieve just that. By providing a centralized communication channel, it allows several teams to work in coordination and make sure there is no communication gap in the system. If you feel you need to have SocialEpoch for your organization you can download it for free. To explore more about its features and uses, click here.
