Sales and distribution (SD) within ERP software automates and streamlines order processing, inventory control, payments and invoicing, and customer relationship management. The system optimizes the entire order-to-cash cycle, from placing orders or generating sales quotes to billing the customers.
Bottled water ERP for sales and distribution management enables the practical application of sales techniques and operational management. This blog explores the features of ERP for sales and distribution management.
Features of Bottled Water ERP for Sales and Distribution Management
The bottled water ERP for sales and distribution management offers various features and functionalities that help you manage your entire operations, ensuring on-time and accurate deliveries. The features of bottled water ERP for sales and distribution management are:
Order management
The system automates order processing from receiving customer orders to generating invoices. Customers can place their one-time or subscription bottled water orders using a water delivery app. They can choose their preferred delivery frequency and schedule. Customers can modify, cancel, or reschedule deliveries from the app before the cut-off time. They can also pause and resume subscriptions based on their availability to receive orders. The system auto-generates order summaries and enables customers to access their order history. The customers receive real-time order status updates and live tracking. Benefits of order management with ERP:
- Automating order processing eliminates human errors, ensuring accurate deliveries.
- It streamlines ordering processes to improve efficiency and ensure on-time deliveries.
- Empowering customers to manage and track their orders improves customer experience and satisfaction.
- Removes the need to take orders via calls or messages.
Inventory management
Efficient inventory management is crucial to ensure that the right product is available at the right time and place to meet customer demands. The ERP system automates inventory counting and enables real-time visibility into the numbers. Inventory management in sales and distribution includes inventory tracking, demand forecasting, and stock optimization. Knowing how much you need to ensure you have sufficient stock in the warehouse. The enterprise resource planning system allows you to define your stock thresholds to automate replenishments. Benefits of inventory management in sales and distribution management are:
- Ensures you always have stock available to fulfill demands, improving customer satisfaction.
- Prevents stockouts and overstocking, avoiding product spoilage and financial losses.
- Having the right product available at the right time and place increases sales and market shares.
- Effective inventory management minimizes costs of overstocking, stockouts, and wasted material.
Delivery planning and optimization
The system helps you plan deliveries and auto-optimize routes to streamline last-mile deliveries. You can create deliverable areas, routes, and schedules, and allot routes to the drivers. ERP for sales and distribution optimizes and sequences multiple delivery addresses to form the shortest path, ensuring timely deliveries. The system empowered you to live track your delivery drivers, enabling you to implement strategies to improve delivery performance. Benefits of delivery planning and optimization in the bottled water delivery business:
- Optimizing routes enables drivers to deliver on time.
- Offering reliable and on-time deliveries improves customer experience and loyalty.
- Optimized routes reduce turnaround time, minimizing fuel consumption and delivery cost.
- Reduced fuel consumption reduces carbon footprint due to carbon dioxide emissions.
Invoicing and payments
The ERP software auto-generates invoices and sends them to the customers via email, SMS, or WhatsApp. The system accepts prepaid, postpaid, and hybrid payment models. It supports several payment gateway integrations. The system helps you to track general ledgers, accounts payable and receivable, etc. Benefits of invoicing and payments with bottled water ERP:
- Invoices ensure timely payments, resulting in better cash flow.
- Automation reduces manual tasks, facilitating accurate accounting, tax compliance, and audits.
- Streamlines invoice generation, freeing up your employees to focus on core activities.
- EDI improves invoicing accuracy and ensures valid record-keeping.
Customer relationship management
The CRM system stores all your customer details, including past purchases and preferences, enabling you to offer them a personalized experience. It combines the operational, analytical, and collaborative capabilities to help you improve customer experience and journey. CRM allows you to manage customers’ entire buying and after-purchase journey. You can automate and streamline your marketing, sales, and customer service efforts. Benefits of customer relationship management are:
- Provides access to customer history and preferences, empowering businesses to offer better customer service.
- Real-time lead tracking and management enable you to close the deal efficiently.
- Offering a customized customer experience helps build stronger relationships and promotes customer loyalty.
- CRM provides meaningful insights into consumer behaviour, allowing businesses to make informed decisions.
Analytics and reporting
The ERP system offers advanced business intelligence (BI) tools that provide meaningful insights into sales and distribution. It helps you track and monitor your business’s key performance indicators, including delivery performance, order accuracy, inventory turnover, etc., to enhance operational efficiency and productivity. This BI tool can analyze historical data and current conditions to identify patterns and trends for accurate forecasting. The benefits of analytics and reporting are:
- Enables you to make informed decisions rather than guesswork.
- Real-time reporting can help you identify disruptions and make improvements promptly.
- Advanced analytics enables you to implement strategies for increased productivity and improved customer experience.
Conclusion
The sales and distribution module aims to simplify your order-to-cash process, improving order accuracy, delivery performance, customer satisfaction, and cash flow management. Water Delivery Solutions offers an ERP for bottled water businesses that can help streamline your entire business. The ERP includes various components like finance, inventory, warehousing, manufacturing, and sales and distribution. Book a free demo to see how our ERP system works and can help your business.
He loves to explore. His passion for helping delivery industries in all aspects flows through in the vision he has. In addition to providing smart solution to make delivery process flawless, Ravi also likes to write sometimes to make it easier for people from business industry looking for digital solutions.