We all know that retail is a huge market. However, when it comes to the way companies are managing their retail operations it seems like they are stuck in the 18th century. The way a retail sales team collects orders and sends them for fulfillment is something that should be seriously considered as it impacts the effectiveness of their sales team. Therefore, implementing an ordering system for retail sales must provide an easier order taking process thus increasing the productivity of the sales staff.

In this article, we will look at the best practices of retail order management for companies who have sales teams, to improve their operations.

 

What is an order?

An order is when you begin selling your company’s products by taking / registering orders from retail stores through  your sales team. The orders your sales team receives from shopkeepers are documented in an order book.  Then the company delivers the products written in the orderbook to that particular store or outlet.

What is the significance of taking orders?

This allows your company and retailer to integrate into a system of money transactions. Your dealer / distributor supplies the product there and the shopkeeper pays you for  that product. This keeps your cash flow moving.

What is order paper?

Your salesperson goes to the retail store and writes down the products ordered by the store keeper in the order paper which is basically known as invoice, then the invoice is submitted to the distributor and the company.

What is involved with an order?

There are mainly several procedures that are involved in an order taking process. In traditional order taking, the salesperson writes down the name, address, number, and the number of items the customer ordered.

Why do you need an automated order system?

It is quite a hassle and time-consuming process to take orders on paper and deliver them to the dealer. It not only is a waste of time but also a financial loss due to human errors and mistakes. In order to speed up supply chain operations, automated order and billing are essential.

• All your retail sales data is automatically stored in a specific online location, so that order history from stores can be easily retrieved.
• Automated order eliminates the flaws and errors of manual ordering. For example, often customer data is entered incorrectly because of manual ordering. The order management process can be affected by this, such as sending the wrong order or delivering it to the wrong address.
• If you want to increase your brand’s presence in the market, you need to deliver your product to retail stores more quickly. This can be accomplished through automated order processing, which delivers orders directly from the closest dealer to retail shops. So, each stage of the process, from ordering to processing to shipping, moves along quickly.
• To ask each sales person about his daily sales is not an effective way to manage the sales team. A order management dashboard makes it easier to check real time sales team orders is the perfect solution.

How does an automated order management system helps retail businesses:

Retail order management is a powerful tool for increasing profits. One of the main benefits is that you can track each order of every retail shop. As a result, your sales team becomes more organized and order management becomes better than before. Here are some of the core benefits of automated retail order management: 

– Keeps track of all products ordered and sold in a particular period.

– Generates daily, weekly, monthly and yearly sales reports.

– Controls inventory levels by tracking actual shipments as well as through forecasted demand.

– Enhances customer service by providing accurate information about the products ordered and where they are located.

– Improves communication with retailers owing to prompt notification of order changes or delays.

-Furthermore, all orders would be controlled by one operator, thus reducing error chances such as duplicate orders and false orders

 

Advantages of ordering system:

It’s a new way to automate the order process that requires saving time and effort of your sales person. The implementation of a smooth retail order management system can digitalize the company’s order fulfillment process. So the order is completed much faster, along with other tasks related to it. Automated Order management offers the following advantages:

 

Reduces business costs:

According to the conventional system, salesmen take orders from outlets using order books they carry with them. Each time they finish one book, the company gives them a new one. As a result, after a year there are tons of order books and if you need any data from there, it’s almost impossible to find them. If you order through the app, these problems are mitigated very easily and companies do not need to spend on order books as well.

At the same time, since automated order management is integrated with inventory level, there is no need for any other means to calculate inventory separately. Consequently, you can check live stock status through the app.

 

Speed up operations:

Delivery process can be easily expedited through an automated order management system. Orders are delivered directly to the dealer through the app. As a result, the dealer can prepare the delivery as soon as the order is taken. You don’t need to submit order books via manual submission to warehouses or any other point.

Introduces Automation and Eliminates Manual System:

Manual order taking on paper & pen ends up cutting lots of erroneous orders, resulting in incorrect product deliveries. The products are then returned to the warehouse. This disrupts supply chain operations and wastes vital time. With an auto-ordering mechanism, these problems can easily be avoided. 

Increases customer satisfaction:

Using the Auto Order system, orders are handled free of various errors and hassles. It allows for the right product to be sent at the right time to the right place. 

In this way, a product’s presence in the market is almost always assured. Moreover, a look at the previous order history can provide an idea of how much goods will need to be stored at the same time.

 

How does Sokrio help in digitization and automation?

The Sokrio app makes ordering easy and seamless. All your product’s detail and retail outlets information is already provided in the app. The salesperson goes to the store and collects the order through the app. This way orders can be taken without an order book in retail outlets and thus reducing the use of paper and pens by up to 100%.

 

How does auto ordering and invoicing benefit your business?

• Taking orders from retail shops is super easy through apps.
• You can see the exact amount of money and amount of items/products for every invoice.
• Orders are automatically sent to the dealer, so that the order can be processed quicker.
• Every order can be monitored in real-time through the app. From which outlet it was ordered, when, and how many orders are taken per day by each sales reps, everything is included in the reports and dashboard.

• You can also determine the average number of products per invoice and analyze the average invoice size from different perspectives.
• You can integrate it with your inventory for an automated order management system. Consequently, the inventory is updated at all ends as soon as the order is delivered.

 

Final words: 

The main purpose of a company’s retail sales team is to sell products in retail stores, so it needs an ordering system that is reliable. For this,  Sokrio is a great app for handling orders throughout the entire enterprise. All details regarding the placing, payment and delivery time are stored in the Sokrio app that enables you to place orders quickly. Organizing your ordering system by creating a central database of all products, prices and retail locations makes the ordering process much simpler and smoother, which enables supply chain operations to run smoothly.