9 trends and 3 strategic considerations showing the way forward in distribution and multichannel

19 July 2017 | BlueBridge One

Insights for wholesale and multichannel businesses

Keynote speaker R “Ray” Wang, Principal Analyst and CEO of Constellation Research at SuiteWorld 17 earlier this year provided some interesting insights. They highlight the need for wholesale distributors and multichannel businesses to make sure they keep up with new technology and continually review what they do and how they are doing it.

The choice is to adapt, or fall into decline, fail or get swallowed…

Firstly, referencing the US Fortune 500, Mr Wang noted that 52 percent of companies in the Fortune 500 have either gone bankrupt, been acquired or merged or fallen off the list since 2000. He stated these organisations failed to respond quickly to the change.

Consider how this period over the last 17 years or so, incorporates the 2001 dotcom bubble and the overheated market relating to technology stocks and shares; it becomes clear that the failure to respond to change illustrates the deeply disruptive effect which new technology may have.

Nine trends happening right now

Secondly, Mr Wang identified nine trends that he sees happening right now which reflect new realities of business models.

1. Shift from product margins to services margins

  • Leveraging value added services to improve profitability

2. Develop post sale business models

  • Designing after sales services to drive growth

3. Invest in direct to consumer

  • Cutting out middlemen in the channel to increase margins

4. Forecast precision demand

  • Better inventory management to be Just in Time

5. Move back to domestic production

  • Repatriating manufacturing to local facilities

6. Maximising equipment value

  • Sweating assets to maximising cost/benefit analysis

7. Streamline order to cash

  • Reduce drag on cash inflows from sales

8. Increase automation and robotics

  • AI-enabled software automation and robot devices

9. Improving uptime and optimization

  • Greater systems resilience and more efficient processes

Key considerations for succeeding in a multichannel mobile world

There are a few unifying principles that link these trends and which serve as key considerations for distribution businesses already pursuing a multichannel strategy, or those planning to diversify operations and execute one.

1. Investing in the right technology

  • Make sure the right systems are in place to execute the strategy that incorporates these trends

2. Aiming to achieve operational excellence

  • Appropriate technology should be able to support efficient supply chain operations and the supporting workflows

3. Providing seamless mobile and multichannel

  • For end users customers and channel partners, as well as internal teams and departments, systems should provide seamless experiences

Execute your business strategy more effectively with BlueBridge One

Do you worry that the ERP technology in your business doesn’t perform well, is too costly and doesn’t provide value, or simply past its sell buy date?

BlueBridge One specialises in integrating NetSuite ERP to provide the flexibility, agility and capability today’s distributors and multichannel businesses need. To sustain growth or to re-boot operational processes and workflows, we have worked with 100’s of businesses, enabling them to adapt and succeed as technology disrupts markets and creates opportunities.

To see how our cloud ERP solutions help you execute a business strategy that incorporates the key considerations that link the nine trends, simply get in touch today.

Click here for the article ‘Full Speed to Next: SuiteWorld Reveals the Future for Manufacturers and Distributors’ at netsuiteblogs.com

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