Find out how technology adoption is helping alcohol distributors carve out a competitive edge.
As new consumer trends have led warehouses to stock large and more diverse quantities, alcohol distributors are dealing with more producers than ever before. This shift contributes to a more complex supply chain, as well as retailers, who also need to ensure shelves are fully stocked to meet customer expectations.
Fortunately, automated alcohol payments are helping to keep things simple. By adopting electronic billing and payments, trading partners have more visibility into their inventory and cash flow. These systems connect partners in a cloud-based platform that facilitates electronic payments, including access to product, dispatch, routing, and delivery data for a better performing supply chain.
The results of technology adoption, such as automatic payments between trading partners, are beneficial for all involved. Let’s take a look at why.
Outdated legislation in some states can make it difficult for trading partners to comply with volume, packaging, transport, and payment regulations. For national distributors, things get even more complicated when dealing with multiple states that have different legal requirements. By making payment compliance simple (electronic payments comply with all regulatory requirements for all states in the U.S.), alcohol distributors and retailers can focus on improving the value chain.
Automatic payments free up resources for both distributors and retailers—no more paper invoices, cash, checks, or money orders. By making payment data available on demand, partners can query deliveries, payments, credits, and discrepancies without interrupting deliveries. Technology adoption, in the form of automatic payments, helps achieve much higher efficiencies by eliminating the reams of paper that typically accompany deliveries.
Logistics managers need to make routing decisions quickly, which is challenging without the right data in hand. Transaction data from electronic payments provides insight into more cost-effective warehousing and routing plans for drivers. Automatic payments also reduce the time it takes to complete deliveries.
Digital payments keep everyone in the information loop, right from their mobile devices. Historic and live payment data enable operations teams to analyze retailer, route, product, and sales information so that they can strategically load every pallet that leaves the warehouse. This means better forecasting for high and low periods.
As electronic B2B payments are widely adopted throughout the alcohol industry, those that incorporate it early are set to thrive. Electronic payments hold many benefits that alcohol distributors simply can’t ignore. They help players throughout the supply chain operate more efficiently, while significantly reducing the financial overheads and risks that are intrinsic to alcohol distribution and sales.
To learn how iControl is helping the alcohol industry meet the demands of a fast-changing world, contact us today.
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