A BevAlc Supply Chain Reimagined through Open Data Sharing

A BevAlc Supply Chain Reimagined through Open Data Sharing

It has become increasingly clear that decades of disparate and legacy systems, manual processes, siloed inaccessible data, and lack of transparency and sharing between and across the three tiers of the supply chain can stunt business growth and threaten survival. But by adhering to this status quo, we are keeping the industry from being agile and advancing to its full potential.

It’s time to unlock data, share insights openly, and enable more transparent communications across the supply chain. Let’s have a look at the immediate and long-term benefits of an open sharing of data for manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and all of us, as consumers.

Manufacturers Control Their Market Presence and More Accurately Forecast Consumer Demand

• Live Retail Sales and Inventory Insights. Passing live inventory and product insights up the supply chain helps the industry understand consumer demand on a more intimate level. Ongoing visibility into what sold or didn’t sell provides time to do something about it.

• Accurate and Up-to-Date Product Information. As manufacturers introduce new products, the ability to manage how products are perceived gives them control over their brand and market presence downstream.

“We are excited to have access to aggregated distributor sales and retail inventory data to help take our demand planning to the next level. In the end, this will translate to goodness for the end consumer where we’re able to offer the freshest, best quality products, and keep shelves stocked.”

- Mauri Bartlett, Quality Manager of Yards Brewing

Distributors Attract and Retain Top Sales Talent and Maximize Sales Efficiency

• Live Retail Insights. Sharing retail sales and inventory data replaces manual processes by empowering distributors to reinvest time where it matters most: spending time with customers to make strategic decisions for mutual business growth. Retail insights also help distributors attract and retain top sales talent.

• eCommerce Marketplace. An online ordering platform streamlines the way distributors and retailers do business together. Retailers can easily explore new products and place orders on-demand. Additionally, electronic payment through the same platform is saving distributors immense amounts of time and money.

Retailers Can Leverage Innovation to Modernize Processes and Grow Sales

• POS Integration. With retail insights derived from POS integration, distributor sales reps are now equipped with insight into fast-moving products, stagnant SKUs, and product performance in various categories to help retailers make better purchasing decisions.

• Digital Invoice Management. In addition to live product information, ongoing pricing visibility and on-demand online ordering, retailers can digitally reconcile invoices and scan-check received products to eliminate outdated, error-prone, and time-consuming pen and paper processes.

“What used to take me 3 hours, I did in 5 minutes.”

- Brian Lucas, Big Bear Liquor

While the immediate effects of open data sharing are felt by the BevAlc supply chain, the ultimate winner is the consumer. Modern best practices and innovation are positioned to minimize out of stocks and reduce product waste, allowing consumers to buy the products they want, when and where they want them.

To learn more about how open data sharing is revolutionizing the BevAlc supply chain, read the full article on Brewbound by Encompass Technologies CEO, Jonathan O’Neil.

You can also visit our Connect for Distributors page to learn more about Retail Insights, DSDLink, and PayLink solutions.