webinarsbuying-groups-chapter-9-part-2-multi-warhouse-ecommerce Chris Reddick and Ron Halversen talk about integrating the data when moving to a platform that allows multi-warehouse shipping options. Part 2 of a 4-part series (Return to Part 1) RON: Now we have to talk about integrating the data and managing the inventory data. This could be internally right? So, if you're Costco, and you have your own warehouses and you're trying to keep that inventory, there could be a significant amount of inventory management. And that's really what the other inventory webinar covered. This one is really talking about the vendors and the supply chain and having multiple locations. This could be internally having different warehouses (multi-warehouse), very similar to the example I just gave you where the client themselves had 11 different distribution centers across the US. RON: But this one really gets technical when it starts talking about the different vendors. So Chris, if you want, I want you to dive in and start talking about the technicality of implementing these vendors with a group buying platform. How do we connect to them? How do we allow them to manage, how do we notify them if there's low stock? How do we keep this thing all copacetic between multiple vendors and them having multiple locations when it comes to not only accurate inventory counts, but drop shipping and the logistics of everything? CHRIS: Yeah, it's really a big challenge. And some of this works really well with EDI, which we talked about in a previous segment of this series. Ultimately, the big thing that you want to think about is, first of all, getting to a point where you, as a buying group, a group purchasing organization, have a clear picture of exactly how things work now. And then, exactly how you want them to work, at least as you see it in the near- to mid-term with the optimization that you would like to get to. The reality is, you're going to want to hold an idea in your mind and have a vision for the business for three to five years out, possibly longer, that everyone is working toward. And some of the eCommerce group vendors simply will not be able to comply with some of those capabilities or requirements or aspects of that vision. Now, what do I mean specifically? Whenever you're doing integrations—typically there is some level of programing or some level of integration interface that has to be set up if it isn't already available. And if a vendor doesn't already have a capability for something like having REST APIs, having EDI endpoints, or having some form of interaction between your system and theirs, you may have to either help facilitate that or collaborate with their team to help them get something set up. A lot of the vendors that you may work with may be at different points in their lifecycle and different capabilities—a spectrum of capabilities—that are possible for being able to integrate seamlessly. Typically, as buyers groups, you're going to want to be able to facilitate, at the end of the day, great pricing, great deals, great products and capabilities for your members. What this means is, there may need to be some additional consideration for having to work with vendors that require manual integration. Most of the time, manual integrations can be heavily optimized by setting up consistent processes, even though they may be manual. CHRIS: For example, we can help establish a process where the vendors are updating their inventory daily, or possibly even more often than that, using an interface where they can update and make their changes. They can, in real time, make their changes in this interface. They can bulk upload using standard templates, or they can use our different API endpoints for the integrations. So we give them a menu of options, and then set up some form of governance and some form of encouragement that is very directly financial, and very directly going to give them more revenue if they comply further on that spectrum toward heavier, custom integration. So you're dealing with an adoption issue here. If we can incentivize them through our governance to go ahead and do a more robust integration and invest in that, either upfront or very quickly, what is this going to do? Well, this is probably pretty obvious, but it will give us the inventory data. It's going to ensure that it's updated regularly. Everyone's going to be on the same page about what the rules are within this marketplace, buying in groups, and the group purchasing organization, the power of this overall group is pretty substantial. So in order for these different B2B eCommerce vendors to get access to the group, they have to meet certain criteria. If they want more exposure, or if they want more access to higher quantities and more consistent orders from the members, they need to meet certain criteria. So they're promoted and recommended, and these things. This is a way to put some of that expense into, essentially, a mutual, shared area for these vendors so that you, as a buying group, aren't having to chase them down. You want to think of it like, “We are going to provide you access to this marketplace, and we're going to help you. And we have standards that we will promote that you progress through from individual updates through our interface to bulk updates and bulk uploads through templates, and then eventually through EDI or API endpoints, or even integrating the systems to each other even more directly.” These are some of the scenarios that we've seen that work really well, basically giving the vendors a menu of options and then establishing governance and benefits to progressing down that spectrum toward more and more automation. Continue to Part 3 discover the importance of inventory transfer.
Chris Reddick and Ron Halversen talk about integrating the data when moving to a platform that allows multi-warehouse shipping options. Part 2 of a 4-part series (Return to Part 1)