In a highly competitive marketplace, wholesale and distribution companies have little room for man oeuvre. To be successful they must differentiate themselves by excelling at customer service and keeping prices competitive. Excelling at customer service involves a number of factors. Selecting the right product range is obviously the key. Apart from this, there are other key challenges which are shown below:

Empowered consumers: Excelling at customer service involves a number of factors. Selecting the right product range is obviously the key. But, beyond this, factors such as avoiding stock-outs, fast delivery, effective returns handling and proactive complaint handling are vital.

Lack of visibility: Reporting on and analyzing data is critical. Lack of visibility into your business operations due to lack of integrated ERP system hinders in getting real time data.

Supply chain efficiency: Consequently wholesalers and distributors must be constantly looking to optimize their stock holding and make their internal processes, from sales to shipping, purchasing to warehouse management as streamlined and effective as possible. Only by doing so can they both minimize inefficiency and increase productivity.

Workforce productivity: Issues with high employee turnover and variability in performance, as well as ongoing process and productivity issues.

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