Dedicating your business model to Direct Store Delivery as your distribution method of choice requires significant investment and ongoing commitment to operational excellence. As your products gain traction and you start to win more business – competing for shelf space, market share, and customer loyalty will lead you to start thinking about utilizing a fully integrated DSD solution. The safest way to ensure sustainable business growth for your distribution business is through a robust DSD solution but pinpointing the right time to implement such a solution is central to your success in the short- and long-term. Here are 4 signs that it might be the right time for your business to move into the world of DSD.
1. You’re seeing serious exponential growth across your business
If people love your products so much, they’re lining up to get it – or you’re selling out from time to time, that’s excellent. You’ve cracked it. But if you always seem to be hearing from your customers about your products being out of stock, that’s a bit of a problem.
Building a local, regional, national, or global brand takes a huge amount of planning, hard work, and determination. Making sure your customers have access to the right volume of your product from day to day or week to week is crucial to not only building that strong brand but maximizing brand awareness and encouraging brand loyalty. That’s the key to sustainable growth and automating your processes through a DSD solution is the way to do it. Fail to keep up, and you’re sending your customers to the competition.
2. You’re still working with siloed data
If you’re not working with a Single Source of Truth (SSOT), you can bet your competitors are. Every version of the truth – the big data behind your business – that you keep under your roof creates a fresh opportunity for confusion or errors. Data silos should be a thing of the past, and no digital transformation is truly complete without creating a single, trusted source of business-critical truth.
From giving your customers visibility on real-time inventory numbers, to restocking the warehouse in a timely manner, to adding new customer profiles, and beyond, accuracy and good timing are vital. DSD solutions – particularly those fully integrated with your ERP and SFA – bring an entire company together.
3. Your manual processes seriously outnumber your automated processes
Can you count the number of manual processes in your organization on one hand? If not, it’s probably time to consider making automation priority across your business, starting with DSD. Daily route accounting, inventory reconciliation, payments by warehouse and/or driver, handling of returns and undelivered goods – these are all processes that can be automated with the right DSD solution.
4. You’ve noticed a few weak spots in your legacy solution
Harnessing the power of a robust DSD solution can enable your business to create dozens of fresh routes and free up reps without having to bring in any additional warehouse or logistical support. Results show that a modern DSD solution will allow organizations to optimize delivery, increase sales, and strengthen customer loyalty.
Orbis DSD Route Accounting & Planning
Orbis DSD Route Accounting & Planning extends Acumatica Cloud ERP with functionality that is tailored for the Direct Store Delivery (DSD) industry, helping DSD companies increase customer service while reducing errors, payment disputes, and administrative costs. Contact us for more information on how Orbis can help control the entire wholesale distribution and financial operation.
