What is the best ERP for wholesale? What is the best ERP for distribution? What are the best Cloud ERP software for wholesale and distribution?
These are just some of the questions we get on a weekly basis at ERP Research. In this article, we'll answer these questions as well as cover some of the most important ERP functionality for wholesale & distribution companies.
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ERP software can help distribution and wholesale companies to get greater visibility over their business and create new efficiencies in the process. So which ERP modules do wholesale & distribution companies use within ERP software and why are they important?
ERP for distribution and wholesale companies needs strong financial management and accounting capabilities to provide real time margin and profit analysis to support these typically low margin, high volume businesses. If your wholesale or distribution company is operating in multiple countries and accounting jurisdictions then your wholesale and distribution ERP software also needs to be able to support multiple localizations and the ability to manage intercompany transactions.
Feeding sales data into your ERP system for distribution and wholesale efficiently is key to running a profitable business. Sales orders need to be captured properly, intaking all key product and order information, preferably supplying your sales agents with real time stock availability and/or lead times to keep customers happy.
Many wholesale and distribution companies are moving to online sales models using e-commerce platforms. This means that having a strong wholesale ERP software is more essential than ever, to be able to coordinate fulfilment and provide automatic logistics information to your customers. This requires tight integration between your e-commerce portal and distribution ERP software.
The core of every wholesale ERP software is a robust stock and inventory management module. Distribution companies need ERP software that can manage multiple locations, hundreds of SKUs and variants and other needs depending on the setup of their business and the amount and types of products being sold.
If you are managing multiple warehouses and facilities, then your wholesale & distribution ERP software will need the capability to manage this. ERP for distribution and wholesale enables you to manage warehouses and complex stock handling.
Transport management software enables wholesale & distribution companies to plan, organise and execute complex logistics for both inbound and outbound deliveries. Having integrated transport management capabilities within your ERP for wholesale enables you to easily pass data between your stock, finance, sales and logistics personnel.
What are some of the most popular ERP software for distribution and wholesale businesses?
SAP Business One is a mature ERP platform for small and medium-sized SMB wholesale and distribution businesses.
Oracle ERP Cloud is a popular ERP for distribution and wholesale businesses in the large enterprise space.
Some of the largest distribution and wholesalers run SAP S/4 HANA.