Over 80% of restaurants, distributors, and manufacturers are turning to technology to help run their businesses more efficiently.
Every aspect of the eCommerce landscape seems to change drastically every single year. Wholesale is no different.
Traditional manual processes for ordering are already becoming ancient history as next-day or two-day shipping becomes the norm in just about every industry. In this cutthroat business world, you need to be able to communicate effectively. Businesses can do this by using the most current technology to ship products quickly.
One important app that more distributors are beginning to take advantage of is an order-taking app.
In this article, we’ll tell you 7 key benefits of an order-taking app and how it can help your business run more smoothly and efficiently.
1. Save Time Processing Orders
One of the most time-consuming aspects that both salesmen and customers have to deal with is the paperwork that comes with closing sales. But once you start taking advantage of order-taking sales apps, you can easily set your customers and salespeople up through automatic forms.
This means that they won’t need to keep filling out the same forms over and over again. The smart system will re-enter information automatically into your management system. This will ultimately save time and money in the process.
2. Increase Customer Service
If you utilize an order-taking app, the sales rep can easily access the information of their customer and quickly address their needs. This means less time making calls to offices and sorting through paperwork and more time face-to-face with the customers.
With more time, you can focus on giving your customers the best service quality possible. You’ll also save valuable time and energy on menial tasks that your order-taking software can automate.
This can also result in hassle-free delivery and returns management. By integrating a system that helps coordinate the sales department, warehouse, distributors, and retailers, your team can issue deliveries and returns much more efficiently.
3. Customers Get a Greater Sense of Ownership
Whenever a customer has an issue or a question about their order, they have to call the customer service center or sales rep to get help. Oftentimes, this is basic information and can take up valuable time and resources for both parties.
With an order-taking app, customers can easily access their own portal and do several things, including:
- Check the status of their order
- Place other orders
- Look up new inventory
- Get information about the status of their account
- Cancel orders
This gives your customers, sales team, and customer service team more time and freedom to take care of issues on their own. Customers appreciate having control over their accounts.
4. Reduce Accounting Costs
Doing things “the old way” takes a lot more time. And when it comes to employees, you’re losing more money by not automating processes that can change how your staff operates.
When you look at it like that, it is costing you money for someone to manually transfer information from one form to another. By using automated order-taking systems, you’re saving yourself hours of staff labor that can be allocated to more important places.
5. Increase Sales Through Enhanced Productivity and Real-Time Access
When you have order-taking software that can track your inventory in real-time, it allows your sales reps to easily access information that can help them make sales more efficiently.
Also, having effective order-taking software can help suggest product options and alternatives. This can be a huge boon for your sales. For example, if an item goes out of stock, your app can automatically suggest similar products that can fit the needs of your customer.
You can also cross-sell products that your customer may not have been aware of. Whether it’s an add-on or a substitute, having an effective order-taking system can improve sales.
6. Payment Benefits and Automation
There are several benefits to automating payments through an app. Older payment methods are often prone to errors, are time-consuming, and are inconvenient for customers. But with an order-taking app, you can easily process your customers’ payments securely with a point-of-sale payment system.
This will ultimately save time, increase customer security, and lower the potential for mistakes in the process.
You can even automate the entire payment process by automatically charging customers’ cards for several situations, including:
- Repeat customers
- Shipped goods
- According to the billing schedule
- Returns or refunds
This can save valuable time for your staff and allow them to focus on more high-level activities.
Lastly, order-tracking software can also help automate sales tax. This can boring and time-consuming task when done manually.
7. Accurate Inventory Management and Effective Production Planning
With an order-taking system in place, you can accurately monitor your inventory management. Even if your business has a large number of items, retailers, and distributors, you can drastically reduce the number of errors when inventory is automatically managed.
Doing this means you can plan out your production schedule much more effectively. You’ll have comprehensive information about all available stock as well as pending orders for delivery. This means less waste of your resources and higher revenue for your business.
Improve Your Business With an Order-Taking App Today
Businesses in the post-pandemic world need to take advantage of every technology available to make their systems more efficient. Distributors can no longer afford to choose between “keeping things the old way” and innovating — it’s becoming a necessity.
Using an order-taking app is a fantastic way to allow your business to sell smarter, faster, and more effectively than ever before. At the same time, you can improve the efficiency of your back of the house.
If you’re looking to use one of the best DSD sales automation platforms for wholesale distributors, manufacturers, and CPGs, contact us to get more information about Order Taker App today!