In this final part of the webinar about multi-warehouse needs in eCommerce software, Chris Reddick and Ron Halversen discuss shipping to retail locations in addition to direct shipping.

Part 4 of a 4-part series (Return to Part 3)

CHRIS: Now, this can occur with multi-location, multi-warehouse facilities as well that are just retail locations. So some of our clients have retail locations and need to transfer items between those physical locations and represent that within their ERP system. We can certainly do that, too. The other thing that you were mentioning, Ron, this idea of being able to transfer the inventory and represent that when it's on different transportation methods. 
 
And this is really interesting because a lot of companies, especially those that have retail locations, will do inventory runs. So they have a truck or a train or some form of intermodal transportation that's happening no matter what. And that just happens weekly or monthly. So if we can hitch a ride onto that transportation method and not have to pay extra, well, that's really useful information to a buyer as part of a buying group. So, if we're already transferring inventory anyway, and we can reduce the cost of fulfillment for a particular large item or a large set of items, that's a really interesting thing to be able to take advantage of. And so these are a lot of complex details.

what is hipaa

CHRIS: What we want you to take away from it is that, ultimately, getting accurate rates gor group purchasing organizations, getting accurate quotes on timeline and inventory and being able to break kids apart, being able to transfer information inventory specifically between locations...these are all capabilities that will lead you to be able to further take advantage of your inventory and provide a lot more value in your space.

 Ask questions like, “How can you use this? How can you use some of these ideas and these concepts within your buyers group?” And probably one of the most important things, Ron, is, “How do we present this? How are we going to show this to the users so they can understand?” It’s great that you have all these capabilities, but how are we going to simplify this down? And I think that's another key aspect here for the users as well.

what is hipaa

RON: OK, yeah, the UX/UI aspect is sometimes the most difficult part. It's one thing to be able to understand and manage the complexity of integrating all these different buyers group platforms and the data. But the behind-the-scenes optimization is really where the magic happens. All the magic happens behind the scenes. 

But up front, if we don't make it—what is it, “KISS”? Everybody says, “Just Keep It Simple, Stupid.” If you don't keep it simple and make it easier for them to buy from you, it's very easy to lose customers just from a buying experience. Now, hopefully with the buying group platform capabilities and the discounts you extend them. It might be a little tougher to lose a client. 
 
But then again, Sam's Club came along, how much business did Costco lose to Sam's and vice versa? Why did Sam's even become a thing if Costco was already there, and everybody had this membership, and there was already a specific price, and there was already a deal...how did Sam's Club even come to be?  

And they seem to be doing pretty well. I mean, we just had a new Sam's open two miles from my house here, and I hadn't seen a Sam's forever. And now there's one much, much closer to my house than Costco. We even talked to some friends the other day about going, and I'm like, I never even thought about it before. I've been a Costco member for decades, so same thing. You want to make sure that competition doesn't creep in.  

So, the technical capabilities of group purchasing websites ...I love every time Chris talks, I am always impressed. Because I'm always so worried about the UI/UX, I always forget about the three-to-five-year plan. And he always thinks about the three-to-five-year plan, which is brilliant, right? Think about the three-to-five-year plan. What do I need to do? Dream big. Figure out where I'd like to be. I may not be able to start or even be able to afford to start today. I might have to give my vendors the ability to manually bulk import their inventory. But over time, I would love to be able to get feedback and automate the entire system.  

You want to make sure, when you're making these decisions upfront, to get with a B2B eCommerce vendor like Clarity and sit down and talk about the three-to-five-year plan. Where could we go, where could we be? What happens if we fall into success? You try to plan for it, but what happens if you go out, you launch, and all sudden [unexpected] success happens? Did you pick a platform that can get you to your three-to-five-year plan in six months? If something happens and you become wildly successful? Or do you drop the ball and lose all that momentum and all that potential? 
 
That's one of the reasons why Clarity offers an upfront, free technical consultation. You can go to our website, Clarity-Ventures.com, request a meeting, jump on the phone with me. We'll throw some time on the calendar. We'll talk about your project. If we need to get in more detail, I'll bring a business analyst in and we'll spend a few hours and go through your requirements, talk about the project, talk about the three-to-five-year plan, and figure out if we have a solution for you. 
 
If not, we'll help you define what your solution is that you need. And then maybe we can help point you in a direction. We've done this for over sixteen years, have a lot of experience in this area of buyers group multi-warehouse eCommerce, would love to help you out, would love to sit down and chat with you about your project. Chris, do you have anything else you want to add before we tie off today? 
 
CHRIS: No, I think that was great. Thanks again, everyone, for listening and watching, and we will look forward to seeing you in the next video. If you would, Like and Subscribe, and until next time...bye for now. 

RON: Bye for now.