How eCommerce helps wholesalers with digital transformation: part III

Digitalization is no longer optional for wholesalers. Yet, for many wholesalers, setting up an eCommerce platform is a big step. If you want to save costs, create new growth opportunities, and generate more revenue, digitalization is essential. In this blog, we will look at the challenges you encounter and how you can overcome them. 

Why wholesalers should focus on digitalization 

Wholesalers face various challenges in the digital era. To tackle these challenges, digitalization is a must. In an earlier blog, we outlined several benefits of digitalization. These include advantages over manufacturers and B2B marketplaces, offering an improved customer experience, and building a future-proof business.

Another important reason to invest in digitalization is cost savings. Digitalization is not a tool to make employees redundant but rather a way to develop new growth opportunities and generate more revenue. By automating processes and rolling out a good digital strategy, your people can focus on other tasks.

The challenges on the road to digitalization

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) indicated in a study on digitalization that 67% of large companies (more than 250 employees) experienced a somewhat positive or significantly positive impact from digitalization. The main reason for many companies is to improve the efficiency and productivity of their operations. However, in the same study, many companies also reported encountering problems.

A number of the problems from the study and in practice can be addressed with the right strategy:

• Costs: The initial costs of digitalization can be very high, especially for smaller wholesalers. However, by making this investment and combining it with a well-developed strategy, wholesalers can save costs. Automating inventory management and order processing, for example, can contribute to this. Many companies see growth by implementing an omnichannel strategy, with digitalization being an essential part of it.

• Employee resistance: Employees may resist changes related to digitalization, often due to fear of losing their jobs. Keep them involved in the processes, the choices you make, and make it clear that this is not about replacement. Your employees will spend less time on routine tasks and can specialize, offering new opportunities.

• Complexity of integrations and scalability: Starting a digitalization process needs to be done carefully to ensure that new systems are well integrated with existing infrastructures and scalable for future growth. You can achieve this by choosing a platform that works with monthly automatic releases, ensuring continuous (and accessible) innovation. APIs are a key element, enabling standard integration between different systems (such as your ERP or CRM). With the right integration, you can add new functionalities without disrupting existing systems, remaining flexible and quickly adapting to changes.

• Staff shortages: The CBS indicates that a lack of skilled and knowledgeable staff within a company is a common barrier to digitalization. Finding skilled staff remains a challenge, but digitalization can simplify and automate some tasks. A good strategy and platform choice can help with this. By partnering with a platform that supports you with implementation and maintenance, this problem can be solved. Moreover, the investment pays off in the long run, especially in addressing staff shortages: automating routine tasks means your employees no longer have to do them.

Digitalization is the means, not the goal 

Digitalization begins with the realization that eCommerce is not just about purchasing a tool but a strategy that must be adopted across the entire organization. Within this strategy, it's important to remember that eCommerce plays a crucial role in every phase of the customer journey. This means you should not only focus on cost-saving measures but also on making the customer journey easier. This way, you increase your revenue, and customers keep coming back. To help you with a good implementation, we recommend following this step-by-step plan:

1. Analyze current processes: Start by analyzing your current processes. Critically map out where there are opportunities for digitalizing customer contact, bottlenecks, and above all, where you can find a good balance between offline and online offerings of your products.
   
   
2. Set measurable goals: Digitalization is the means, not the goal. Therefore, based on the analysis, set measurable goals. These could be related to revenue or sales growth, improved customer satisfaction, or internal objectives like increased productivity. There’s no right or wrong when setting these goals as long as they are measurable.
   
   
3. Involve your team: As mentioned several times in this blog, this is an important step when rolling out a good digitalization strategy. By keeping them involved, they remain motivated to adapt to the changes brought about by digitalization. Digitalization needs to be experienced as a strategy by the organization for it to be effective. Every department can benefit from it.
   
   
4. Choose the right technology: Digitalization is a long-term investment, so choose technologies that fit your specific needs and are scalable. Consider ERP and CRM systems that streamline your processes and provide better insights into your operations. By choosing a platform that can integrate with any ERP system, you always use up-to-date data, continue working in a familiar environment, and digitalization occurs with seamless integration. Weigh functionalities and decide what is a must-have and a nice to have.
   
   
5. Use self-service options: Stick to the idea of using self-service options when choosing a system. It cannot be emphasized enough that by giving customers the freedom to handle tasks like billing, profile management, or order tracking themselves, you make it easier for them to place orders with you. In addition, companies can improve their efficiency and customer satisfaction this way.
   
   
6. Monitor, evaluate, learn, and implement: You didn’t go through the earlier steps for nothing, so monitor the results and progress. Are you on track to achieve your set goals? Monitoring and evaluations contribute to a learning organization and ensure that you can make informed decisions or implement changes. This way, you get the most out of your digitalization process.
   
   

By following this step-by-step plan, you establish a solid foundation to start working with digitalization. This investment will help you save costs, discover new growth opportunities, and generate more revenue.

Strengthen your brand with digitalization

Digitalization offers wholesalers many opportunities to save costs and work more efficiently. By addressing challenges such as high initial costs, employee resistance, and the complexity of integration and scalability, wholesalers can successfully digitalize. With scalable solutions, leveraging self-service and automation, wholesalers can not only reduce costs but also strengthen their competitive position.