Buying Groups

Bulk Ordering for Buying Groups: Benefits & Optimizations

Published August 30, 2022  |  6 min read
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How Is Bulk Ordering Useful for Buying Groups?

Bulk ordering is useful for buying groups because it’s often more efficient to order large quantities of items when there are multiple businesses involved. In fact, buying groups are well known for their bulk ordering strategy.

Bulk ordering allows buying groups to benefit from the discounts that come with ordering in bulk. In addition, they can get just one shipment of the items rather than waiting for multiple shipments to come in.

Buying groups in various industries can benefit from bulk ordering. Therefore, it’s important that your platform has bulk ordering capabilities and that the process has everything buyers need.

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how bulk ordering can help

How Bulk Ordering Can Help Buying Groups

Having bulk ordering features on your eCommerce platform will not only increase customer satisfaction, but it will mean they won’t have to go elsewhere to order lots of the same product.

These are just a few reasons why bulk ordering can increase the competitiveness of your business, especially if you deal with buying groups. And if you’re in a buying group yourself, there are numerous advantages to bulk ordering for you as well. Let’s explore those together.

Benefits of Bulk Ordering for Buying Groups

  • Cost Efficient – Making a bulk purchase means getting those items at a lower rate. Plus, shipping costs are often lowered or waived. This also makes bulk ordering profitable for businesses that are reselling the items.
  • Time Efficient – Bulk ordering allows users to place a single order for many items, instead of having to place separate orders for each item. If there are a hundred items being purchased, that means just filling out one form and adding it all to the cart at once, rather than filling out a hundred order forms and adding each one to the cart individually.
  • Environmentally Friendly – Some bulk orders can package things together rather than individually, which means less packaging material overall. Plus, delivering several items at once rather than one at a time results in less carbon emissions from transportation.
  • Assured Quality – When businesses bulk order the same items from the same business each time, they can be assured of the quality and consistency of those orders based on past experience with them. Some companies let businesses order a smaller sample of the items first to test them out before completing a large bulk order.

Group Bulk Ordering Solutions

There are multiple ways to set up bulk ordering for your buying group eCommerce platform. Here are some examples below.

Example 1: Template Order Form

  • Manual Entry vs. Document Upload – The user can either manually enter the details or upload a bulk order document.
  • Doc Upload Review – If the user chooses Document Upload, they then review their import results in a grid-view ordering form. From here, the user can see the items and change order and quote amounts.
  • Additional Options – The order form shows different options for fulfillment locations based on catalog and inventory data. There are also discount options.
  • Dynamic Display – The order form dynamically displays or hides fields for items based on whether or not they’re available to order right away. There’s also a dynamic subtotal as the user goes through the form, including quotes that need to process.
Key Takeaways:
Self-Service

For best results, give the user as much self-service capability as possible.

Dynamic Presentation

The bulk order form can dynamically present multiple locations or fulfillment centers and different lead times and costs.

Templates

Templates are helpful for users and allow for quick and easy bulk uploads.

Punchout Catalog

Users can complete a bulk upload through a Punchout Catalog.

Multiple Options

Punchout Catalogs and Templates can be combined, and the user can use flat files on their system too.

Example 2: Quick Order Form

  • Easily Add Items – This is a simpler form where users can quickly search for and add items to their order.
  • Account-Related Items – Users can add items that are related to their account. This is especially helpful for recurring maintenance items.
  • Directly Input SKU – Users who know exactly what they want can add items directly by typing in the quantity and SKU information in the form.
  • SKU Verification – A verification process ensures that SKUs are recognized by the system. If not, an error message displays so the user can correct it.
  • Shopping Lists – Users can add items to Wish Lists, Shopping Lists, and Favorites. With these, users can easily re-add items to their cart.
  • Recurring Orders as Subscription – Users can subscribe to get items automatically purchased and delivered at set time periods.
Key Takeaways:
Offer Convenience

Give users multiple ways to add items to the order form so they can do what’s easiest for them.

Simplify the Process

Quick order forms and subscriptions offer a streamlined way for users to order and reorder items.

Utilize Shopping Lists

Wish lists and shopping lists benefit your users and increase client satisfaction.

Discover Your Best Options

There are lots of different ways to set up bulk ordering for your buying groups eCommerce platform. We encourage you to evaluate each of these possibilities to find the best one for your business. It’s a good idea to have conversations with experienced vendors so you can understand the potential options.

 

Clarity Can Help

We offer a complimentary discovery process to help you evaluate your options and find the best solution for your business. Click below to contact us—we look forward to hearing from you!

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Written by Autumn Spriggle
Autumn Spriggle is a Content Writer at Clarity Ventures with experience in research and content design. She stays up to date with the latest trends in the tech industry so she can write content to help people like you realize the full potential for their business.

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