OMS Blog Digital Commerce is the Future of Wholesales Businesses

Digital Commerce or Omni Channel Selling is the future of Wholesale Distribution!What was once a brick-and-mortar warehouse with a simple HTML website hosting products (if that) has become a fifteen channel fire breathing, money-making dragon (Really only 3, Amazon, eBay, Walmart/Jet, but who is counting). Not only can you have a physical store, you can now use only a mouse to customize multiple websites stylishly without knowing what an ankle bracelet is, while selling the same product on a vast array of marketplaces, in multiple countries. Even if you don't have a warehouse, inventory can be taken care of and fulfilled by third-party sources, and by individual marketplaces, (FBA, to name one). The wholesale business landscape has changed drastically, and you need to change with the times.E-commerce has come a long way since the days of the U.S Army using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for cargo information during the Korean war and the Vietnam conflict and the first book being sold on Amazon in 1995. The pioneers have battle tested the principles and processes of E-commerce, and it is going to go away. Instead it is going to grow and grow. Projected online sales are projected to reach over 600 billion USD by 2020, it is safe to say B2C eCommerce isn't going away anytime soon. Many projections state that B2B EDI eCommerce will hit 12 trillion USD in sales worldwide by 2020. The question everybody should be asking "Is what are we going to do with all the leftover commercial retail real estate?" I say convert them into luxury condominiums. In the past you only use to ship via cases, but the retail outlets are now asking you to drop ship directly to the consumer. My leap of faith is instead of just selling to the retailers, why don't you sell on the marketplaces. You already have the processes in place to handle the single order drop ship orders, why not add a little margin to that order. Wide distribution is the name of the game with multi channel selling. It is all about reaching your target audience. With an ever increasing amount of marketplaces opening and different consumers using different ones, that opportunity is very large. Distributing your product through multiple mediums assures that it is seen by more people. I will use a principle of TV to help illustrate this. The big advertisers don't just advertise on just one channel, let's say NBC. They advertise on all channels available to them NBC, ABC, and CBS, etc.. This is to get to the widest possible audience.For a successful business owner, the most difficult task for them becomes creating, publishing, and constantly updating listings in real time across several different channels, pulling down sales orders from several different channels, picking, packing and shipping those orders, and then updating all the different channels with the tracking information. The more you successful you are, the more unmanageable it seems to get.This is where Master System's OMS ERP helps your business in this new environment (grows your sales, saves you time, saves you money, and in the end saves your mind). You can manage your products, update inventory, get sales orders, generate pick list, print packing labels, ship those items, and update tracking data within one holistic system.Master System's OMS is a platform dedicated to helping clients become more effective and efficient so that we maximize profits together. It takes the busy work out of running your business, so that you can focus on the high level value added opportunities that are knocking on your door that you never had time for because you were too busy running around with your hair on fire.If you are interested in evolving your business contact Master System.By David Randall | Director of Operations | Master System, Incwww.mastersystem.com