In Wholesale Distribution, The Return Is Your Best Opportunity for Sales & Customer Loyalty!
Frequently when speaking with operational managers in Wholesale Distribution, I ask, “What is your most important process to digitalize?” They respond, “The return process.” The distributor’s customers are continually concerned about the urgency of providing much-needed product and don’t want to lose time in sourcing additional orders in fear of lost business. For the specific case of spare parts, and due to the urgency of repair, when multiple solutions for the repair exist, customers prefer to order all the possible parts to save time, and then return the unneeded parts afterwards. Eventually, excess stock decreases their available treasury on hand and valuable shelf space. The new generation of wholesale customers do not like to keep materials or parts in stock without immediate use which negatively impacts their cash flow and inventory turnover. Therefore, the return process is still a traditional process, but remains complex, requiring multiple