If you run a company and make physical products, you probably know you must get them onto store shelves quickly and easily whenever possible. If you experience delays, a competitor can grab your spot. Nearly every industry has competition, and you must thwart other companies that want your market share.
Retail supply chain planning matters a great deal, and that is why you need modern tools. Retail supply chain software should be on your radar. If you get some and use it, you should do better in your niche in no time.
Let’s discuss this software and what it does for you and your company.
What is Retail Supply Chain Software?
Supply chain software sometimes gets the abbreviation SCS. Retail SCS works by letting you track your products as they leave your warehouses and move around the country via trucks and planes.
This software also watches over your products in the warehouse, seeing how much you have left when you must check a particular item’s availability.
This software usually gives you analytic reports you can use for business streamlining. It can suggest insightful ways you can improve your productivity.
How Can You Get This Software?
Several companies make retail supply chain software. Some let you buy it. You can purchase it and use it for the chores we just mentioned. However, more companies get this software through a SaaS model.
SaaS means software as a service. In essence, you rent the software suite. You do not buy it, and you pay for a monthly subscription service instead. You might also pay quarterly or yearly in some instances. These payments can be captured via a payment processing service such as exactly.com to make things easier and managed externally.
SaaS makes sense for many companies because when you use the software, the parent company or creator updates it for you. They also handle all the security features that come with it.
That saves your IT department money and time. They can do other things rather than constantly updating the software and making patches for it that block potential hacker attacks. When you rent retail supply chain software, you get the latest technology that tracks your shipments, and you get the best online security measures as well.
What Do You Want to See from Your Retail Supply Chain Software?
With the ideal software package, you want analytic tools that can reveal insights and trends. You should notice what items move fastest and which ones do not sell very well.
You can see where certain items sell and which ones don’t. Maybe some do well in one geographic region, but others do better elsewhere.
You can see what’s happening with your shipments in real-time. If necessary, you can reroute them due to traffic and other unforeseen events.
You also want customer service from the company supplying your software. You might ask them questions 24/7, and they should respond immediately. As someone running a busy company, you can’t wait when you need answers.
What is Their Reputation?
If you find a software package that tracks your shipments and does everything else supply-related that you need, you should check out its industry reputation. Does the company that makes it have many five-star reviews, or is the response tepid? Online reviews tell you a lot.
When you visit the software company’s website, they should have customer recommendations. Have they worked with companies that you know? If you see several reputable names, you’ll know you’ve found a company that has high-profile clients.
Do They Work Well in Your Particular Niche?
Ideally, you want retail supply chain software that does well in your specific industry. You’d think the software would do well with all niches, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Maybe you have frozen food products you must ship. Perhaps you have office supplies or medical supplies. Maybe you have supplies you keep at a certain temperature.
If so, the tracking software you use becomes even more crucial. You must make sure your products stay at the right temperature, or the end user might not feel satisfied with what you’ve provided.
You Should Use the Software Easily
Finally, you should only get retail supply chain software that your employees can easily use. It should have intuitive features. Even if you don’t have a tech background, you should access the software features easily and master them with no issues.
Businesses need this software now. It’s not a luxury but a real necessity. Without it, you can’t track and monitor your supply chain, and you will quickly lose ground within your niche.