Digital technology is everywhere in all walks of life. We all have smartphones, most of us have laptops or computers at home, we use washing machines and TVs, drive cars filled with tech – we wouldn’t try to live our everyday lives without it because it makes things easier and improves our life.

So why would anyone want to take an opposite approach at work?

Digital methods will improve wholesalers’ operations, so the benefits are endless.

“It feels like everybody is talking about artificial intelligence (AI) right now and while that is something to stay aware of, it’s hardly new. AI – or automation as it’s often called – has been around for decades to different extents, but we just accept it as a technological development that is making our lives easier,” comments Rob Mannion, CEO, b2b.store.

“So, when we hear or read about the dangers of AI, my advice would be to take that with a pinch of salt. Instead, look at generative AI (technology that learns from past experience) as a positive that will benefit the business and should be explored.”

For example, b2b.store uses ChatGPT – possibly the most well-known generative AI technology currently – to help with several tasks, such as research, creating policies and documents, and in refining copy.

But the uses are endless and, as long as it’s done correctly, wholesalers should definitely be introducing more AI into their business as it continues to develop.

“Loyalty is something wholesalers should be aware of because it’s finally starting to have more of an impact in the industry due to the promiscuity of customers shopping around,” adds Mannion. “When even Asda, who always said low prices were their key loyalty metric, finally caved to launch their only loyalty scheme in 2022, and you can’t move for Clubcard or Nectar Prices at Tesco and Sainsbury’s, it’s clear how important consumer loyalty is currently.”

Wholesalers and suppliers are putting an increased focus in this area too, as they try to work out how they can harness that in a B2B space. b2b.store recently worked with Sugro to launch their eRewards scheme across its membership and the uptake has been really positive, with wholesalers and suppliers working together to provide money-off future purchases by creating tempting offers for retailers to fulfil.

The company’s B2B WhatsApp service remains highly popular, with wholesalers, buying groups and suppliers. The diversity of the businesses b2b.store is working with highlights how adaptable WhatsApp is, with the 98% message open rates that Meta reports across the platform enticing marketing teams to start a channel of their own. Businesses should consider adding WhatsApp as an extra string to their bow, with b2b.store’s established customers reporting 9% more spend by using WhatsApp to share messages compared to SMS.

“It’s an exciting time at b2b.store, primarily fuelled by the unique cocktail of services that we’re offering – there is no other business that touches this sector that has the same diversity as we do. The benefit of this is that solutions are more easily integrated with each other, and our customers only have to work with one point of contact – not to mention the enhanced knowledge this approach brings us too,” says Mannion.

“Investing in technology can seem daunting, especially when cashflow is so important in this industry, but it’s definitely a worthwhile project. Often people expect to see immediate results and consider a lack of instant gratification as a failure, but that’s not the case. The key is to constantly evolve and be willing to let new digital solutions establish themselves, constantly learn and hone your approach. Never stop innovating.”

b2b.store works closely with its customers to make its solutions work for them in the best possible way, with collaboration at the heart of everything it does – regardless if it’s a bespoke project or a business taking a white-label option. With more than a decade specialising in the food and drink wholesale, working with the likes of Bestway, Parfetts and Sugro, the team has an in-depth knowledge of the sector that it always applies to working with customers.

Joe Tully, Marketing Manager for Software as a Service (SaaS) firm Adventoris, comments: “We have found that many wholesalers have started adopting digital technologies but there’s still significant room for growth!

“Most of the wholesalers we approach to discuss how SwiftCloud can enhance their offering are usually very open to the idea of embracing digital solutions, however they say it can be difficult to find solutions that can effectively work around their B2B strategies and cater to specific requirements like individual pricing. Others face challenges due to resource limitations or lack of strategy, but we believe that there is a digital solution for each and every business.”

While there is still room for the sector to embrace this further, Adventoris is seeing amazing results with those who have adopted SwiftCloud. For example, when Dayla Drinks implemented SwiftCloud into their sales process, orders taken on the app were 41 per cent higher in value than the average for all orders taken. They also managed to save 184 valuable work hours for their expert team which meant that time could be spent on customer service and profitable upselling.

The main benefits to wholesalers of adopting digital methods include increased efficiency and automation, improved customer experience, data-driven decision-making, and scalability. Digital tools streamline operations, enhance customer interactions, provide valuable insights, and support growth without proportional cost increases, in fact SwiftCloud can lower costs whilst increasing order volume and value. Adventoris’ clients have experienced savings of over 50 per cent in ordering time and have seen basket sales increasing by 15 per cent.

AI and machine learning are huge trends that we’re seeing in the wholesale sector. These are being used for demand forecasting, personalised marketing and customer experiences.

“It may seem like a world away at the moment, or something that can’t really integrate well with B2B processes, but the truth is AI is going to make the B2B sales process incredibly smooth,” adds Tully.

“Product recommendations, personalised marketing, guided shopping utilising chatbots and virtual assistants, and voice activated shopping are all things that are on the horizon that will utilise AI. Brands must embrace this technology, or for the time being understand it, in order to futureproof their operations and stay ahead of the competition.”

Key consumer trends include a growing demand for sustainability, a shift towards smarter e-commerce, a desire for personalised experiences, and a preference for convenience with faster delivery and seamless shopping experiences. While these may just be seen as consumer trends, these shopping habits will feed into business trade. People like to be able to save time and money in both their work and personal lives. If they can order a book on their phones at midnight and have it dispatched and delivered quickly, they will and they expect the same level service when shopping B2B.

Adventoris’ best-selling product is first and foremost the SwiftCloud B2B app, followed by the Web Portal which syncs with the mobile app. Another popular module is Email Ordering which uses the latest OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software to read the orders as an image before converting to text and placing in your ERP system.

“We find that lots of B2B processes were relying heavily on taking orders via emails which, as a business scales up, can become unmanageable and time consuming,” says Tully. “This cutting-edge software ensures that there are no entry errors and no time wasted keying orders in manually.”

Adventoris continually invests in new product development to address market needs and leverage technological advancements, including developing enhancements to existing products and creating new solutions. The company is currently engaged in a comprehensive upgrade of the entire system. This infrastructure migration signifies the most substantial upgrade Adventoris has ever made, surpassing any initiatives undertaken in the past decade. Following this, a brand-new desktop portal, and new mobile app will be launched.

SwiftCloud is performing strongly, with a solid reputation for reliability, innovation, and customer satisfaction, consistently receiving positive feedback and recognition as a sector leader. 75 per cent of Adventoris’ customer portfolio operate in the wholesale sector, most recently it launched an app for Bartons Group.

“Wholesalers should embrace digital transformation and prioritise customer experience,” advises Tully.

“The world is changing fast. As every day, B2C platforms, such as Amazon and eBay, are rapidly developing and evolving, the customer is becoming more and more accustomed to new, intelligent app shopping experiences, and this is something that will not only be expected but demanded in B2B over the coming years. This is happening now, so brands need to take note and act or risk getting left behind their more tech savvy competitors.”

Adventoris has a dedicated customer success team who assist clients in launching their apps, facilitate customer onboarding to the platform, and provide ongoing support, including monthly reviews and marketing tips from proven strategies, to help them effectively communicate the change with their customers.

“To maximise sales, wholesalers should invest in technology, enhance their online presence, leverage data analytics and focus on building strong customer relationships. The world is digitising whether a particular business is or not, so learning to adapt and grow with these advancements will only help,” suggests Tully.

“Listening to customers is key; find out what pain points they have with ordering and address them through tech. For example, are they restricted to only ordering during certain hours when your sales team are in the office? Or do they need to book site visits to place orders? All these issues can be resolved and made profitable through the technological solutions available, brands just need to say the word ‘go’ to get started!” BCP’s Expert Andy Pratt, Business Transformation Specialist, comments: “In the rapidly evolving wholesale world, digital technology is no longer just an option—it’s a necessity. As businesses strive to stay competitive, adopting innovative digital solutions can make all the difference.

“The adoption of digital technology has been growing across the wholesale industry, but there is still much untapped potential. This is because many wholesalers still see digital transformation as an added cost rather than a strategic investment. To truly see the benefits of digital technology, wholesalers need to develop a robust digital strategy and invest in solutions that create unified commerce. That means dismantling software siloes and enabling successful integration throughout every facet of the business.”

Embracing digital technology is a game-changer for wholesalers because not only can it transform business operations within, but the value-added benefits it gives customers are crucial.

For example, ecommerce offers customers the convenience of placing orders anytime, anywhere, which is a huge plus in today’s 24/7 economy. Similarly, Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are revolutionising mobile commerce. Although users access a PWA through a website URL, they still get an app-like feel without requiring businesses to invest in costly development and maintenance.

Moreover, digital-first platforms like Oporteo have the tools to enable businesses to provide more personalised customer experiences. For example, it uses data analytics to offer targeted product recommendations and promotions that can increase revenue through cross-selling. In addition, self-service functionalities allow customers to access information more quickly and solve issues independently. All of these factors boost sales and increase customer loyalty.

In short, digital tools are key to streamlining business and customer processes by automating repetitive tasks and enabling staff to focus on more strategic activities.

“Wholesalers can take advantage of several exciting new solutions and trends. AI-enabled platforms are one of the most impactful,” adds Pratt. “This game-changing technology can analyse large volumes of customer data more easily, provide more personalised product recommendations, optimise pricing strategies, and predict future sales trends.”

Similarly, there is an increasing prevalence of Voice Search, which can enhance a wholesaler’s digital platform by incorporating voice-friendly features.

This can simplify purchasing, especially for busy professionals who prefer hands-free interactions.

Augmented Reality (AR) will also be a transformative solution for wholesalers. By leveraging the power of AR, businesses will be able to provide buyers with a virtual inspection of products, instilling confidence in the quality of their purchases and creating a positive buying experience.

As customer satisfaction remains at the forefront of success, implementing multi-channel customer support allows businesses to cater to diverse preferences. Whether through live chat, phone support, apps, machine-to-machine communication, website or social media, creating accessible and responsive customer service channels is pivotal for building lasting customer relationships.

Most people like the convenience, speed, and user-friendly interfaces of consumer ecommerce platforms. Consequently, they expect it in their professional purchasing activities. They want to interact with suppliers in the easiest and most convenient way for them, whether via online stores, mobile, sales representatives, or even social media. Therefore, creating a unified experience with the help of seamlessly integrated systems is crucial.

“Wholesalers must invest time in developing digital ordering channels and ensure they integrate across all businesses and customer-facing functions. That way, businesses are more likely to meet and be able to adapt to evolving customer expectations. Digital ordering is becoming the norm, and customers expect it. Therefore, having a dedicated team ensures that these digital channels are maintained and continuously improved is crucial,” says Pratt.

“Additionally, it’s essential to have a forward-facing digital strategy. Businesses should stay up to date with the latest technologies and have the capabilities to integrate them across the businesses quickly and easily. In the long run, a solid digital strategy will enhance customer engagement and, ultimately, maximise those all-important sales.”

From ecommerce platforms to Product Information Management (PIM) systems, Oporteo designs, develops, and delivers solutions that meet the unique needs of food and drink wholesalers. The company helps them embrace the power of digital technology so they can maximise sales, streamline operations, improve data quality, and enhance a business’s online presence. However, BCP also recognises that all businesses are different and will have differing levels of digital skills. Therefore, the company provides various digital support services to help wholesalers deliver a successful online shopping experience for their customers, including digital strategy consultancy and customer experience optimisation.

Damien Corcoran, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Gander, comments: “Gander is a world-first, award-winning platform, created to reduce food waste and transform the spending habits of shoppers. Launched in 2019, Gander has since expanded across the UK and Australia with more plans in place for ongoing roll-out. To date Gander has helped hundreds of retailers to successfully reduce their food waste, improve their bottom line, enhance their sustainability credentials and is saving millions of food items from going to waste.”

The tech integrates directly with retailers’ POS, which has enabled its retailers to automatically display to shoppers in real-time, all reduced-to-clear food on the shelves within their local store. Furthermore, Gander does this automatically, meaning nothing changes in-store at all and no additional staff training is required. The platform allows the customer ultimate control over what reduced priced goods they search for, whether it is by location, favourite stores, reduction, food type and even dietary preferences.

A proprietary analytics platform developed by Gander, Ganderlytics empowers retailers to access and probe their data on all aspects of wastage at store, area, or head office level. The platform provides a comprehensive insight into reduced to clear stock, wastage, store compliance, redistribution, and customer engagement. Shoppers who engage with the platform are seeing an average saving of 56% on their weekly food shop, according to Ganderlytics.

Gander was shortlisted in the SME of the Year category for Edie Awards 2023 and made it onto the list of contenders for the esteemed Earthshot Prize 2023, following nominations by NGO WRAP and Cranfield University, and this year has been renominated for the 2024 Earthshot Prize.

Gander is a world-first, award-winning tech platform, created to reduce food waste and transform the spending habits of shoppers in independent convenience and forecourt stores.

As specialists in preventing food waste, Gander has become one of the fastest growing retail tech innovators since launching in 2019.

To date, Isle of Man based Gander has helped hundreds of retailers to successfully reduce their food waste, improve their bottom line, enhance their sustainability credentials and is saving millions of food items from going to waste.

Furthermore, Gander does this automatically, meaning nothing changes in-store and no additional staff training is required.

The platform allows the customer ultimate control over what reduced priced goods they search for, whether it is by location, favourite stores, reduction, food type and even dietary preferences.

Corcoran adds: “Data from our Ganderlytics analytics platform, which is available to all independent forecourt and convenience retailers, has shown that, on average, consumers save around 56% on reduced items they have spotted on Gander.

“Having sustainability as a key business driver will lead to a better brand image and competitive advantage, reduced business costs, higher productivity than other waste prevention solutions, reduced waste whilst also meeting future compliance and regulations.

“We ensure our technology not only drives efficiency but enables more people to access perfectly good food, pay less for that food, and prevent it from going to waste. In doing so, businesses will minimise their losses and gain more customers, whilst doing their bit to save the planet.”

Alex Rimmer, Head of Communications & Marketing at Jisp, comments: “Wholesalers are starting to embrace technology more and there are a lot of opportunities out there. We’ve seen a number of wholesale buying groups launch technology recently and those instances are only going to grow. Most digital tech developments are designed to increase efficiencies, not only in process but also profitability. As wholesalers become more accustomed to adopting digital technology, they will see very quickly the benefits it brings to them and their customers.”

Most digital technology is about driving efficiencies in the wholesale operation, whether that is through purchasing, loyalty, distribution or warehouse management. As digital technology brings in more efficiency, operations begin to benefit, and the rewards are soon seen by the user in terms of performance and profitability.

“I think wholesalers need to look to loyalty and rewards tech,” adds Rimmer. “We’ve been in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis that stretches back to Covid. Retailers and food service customers, just like anyone else, are looking for the best possible price to enable them to buy and sell more efficiently. It’s a question of how I can get the products I need to serve my customers and how can I get the best possible margin to cover my rising overheads.”

Loyalty and rewards for the wholesale sector, through app-based solutions such as Confex Savings Club powered by Jisp, are very new. Previously a retailer needed to be part of a buying group and rely on getting rewards through rebates, based on them achieving a minimum criterion, but through Confex Savings Club the savings are applied at the point of purchase and the loyalty payments go straight into their virtual account to be spent only in the cash & carry or depot they’ve earned the rewards with. This builds loyalty with the wholesaler by encouraging revisits, but each redemption through the platform also rewards the wholesaler with additional earnings.

Matt Sherwen of Sherwen Studios, comments: “The explosion of AI and automated software has been one of the most significant transformations in technology for decades. The ease of use, plus the accessibility and affordability of these new plugins and programmes, are transforming the wholesale sector. This is because these new tools offer almost instant benefits for very little investment.

“But as digital transformation specialists with a track record of working for some of the UK’s largest wholesalers, we know that your operational technologies are only ever as good as the platform that you’re working from. We think that there are some significant areas of improvement where wholesalers could learn how better to improve their efficiencies.”

Embracing the latest digital methods isn’t just about improving immediate efficiencies and aiding productivity. It’s about being able to enhance and futureproof your business. Having the right technical infrastructure allows wholesalers greater agility and flexibility, so they can bring in the latest plugins and software solutions quickly and easily.

Right now, automation and machine learning are having a huge impact on the wholesale market, because it makes it much easier to bring products to market. Wholesalers can reduce manual workloads, which frees up time to develop other services and areas of the business. By streamlining productivity, it makes it much easier to focus on communication across other areas of the business, as well as your wider supply chains. “We think that there are three distinct ICT trends that wholesalers need to be aware of,” adds Sherwen.

“Firstly, there’s the issue of one-size-fits-all vs custom platforms. For years, many retailers and wholesalers have invested heavily in specific sales platforms that offer one-size-fits-all capabilities. These platforms come with a wide variety of bells and whistles and are incredibly intuitive and agile. But often, they are costly, especially if you’re a smaller business or you don’t need to make use of every single feature. You could be paying significant sums for technology that you do not need.”

Sherwen Studios are advocates for the new style of composable or headless commerce. This is where you invest in a specific platform but use third-party plugins and software to build the technical infrastructure that you need. This allows you to direct your budget specifically to the operational technologies that you need. You can tackle specific problems and find the right solution to those exact issues rather than trying to match your systems and processes to the built-in software within your current sales platform.

Of course, headless commerce may not be appropriate for every wholesaler. If you’re operating across reams of data or liaising with hundreds of supply chain systems, a cloud-based architecture may be better suited. However, it’s always important to periodically review whether you are working from the right initial infrastructure. That will be essential to enabling any investment into AI to flourish.

Secondly, wholesalers need to understand how to implement operational technologies or AI into their business efficiently.

“Although it’s tempting to look at what makes your systems and processes more manageable, we recommend viewing your recommendations through a holistic lens. Ultimately, your wholesale business depends on your customers being able to find what products they want and when they want them,” says Sherwen.

“We challenge wholesalers to focus on AI solutions or operative technologies that are reactive to what customers are looking for. For best practices and an enhanced return on your investment, we believe that your key priority should be understanding the end-user experience. This could be tackling issues with your ordering system, reviewing your UX design or overhauling your search functionality. When you know where the pressure points or external bottlenecks are, you can find the specific technical solutions needed to tackle those priorities.”

Thirdly, it’s about understanding the growing importance of digital accessibility. There is just a year to go until the implementation of the European Accessibility Act. This is a landmark EU law which requires everyday products and services to be easily accessible for persons with disabilities.

Wholesalers may need to review their platform to ensure that their customers are able to readily order their chosen goods through a lens of physical disability or neurodiversity. For example, is your website set up to integrate with assistive technologies? Or can users with neurodiverse needs find the information that they are searching for quickly and easily?

This may be an EU legislation, but if your wholesale business works with clients across the EU, you will likely have to comply with the directive.

“Our primary advice right now is to prioritise digital accessibility above everything else. It’s important to reframe the way that we think about online platforms. We’re so used to prioritising UX integration without considering that accessibility is something quite different,” continues Sherwen.

“Focusing on useability will almost certainly make it easier for the majority of your users to easily find what they are looking for. But focusing on accessibility will improve the overall experience for all of your users. Too often, disabled customers or those with additional needs are seen as a niche audience, when the reality is that if you improve the experience for those users, you’ll naturally be improving the experience for everyone.

“Once you’ve improved your platform so that it’s easier to use for every customer and every stakeholder, you’re almost certain to improve your reputation and brand awareness. This will have a long-lasting effect on your sales and your profitability.”

 

Comments are closed.

Over 18


Agreement

To use this website, you must be aged 18 years or over

This will close in 0 seconds