Still using PDF order forms? Stay ahead of the competition with online wholesale ordering.

By 2021, organizations with robust, scalable digital commerce will outperform non-commerce organizations by 30 percentage points in sales growth by better using digital channels during the COVID-19 outbreak, according to Gartner.

As a wholesale distributor, you need every edge you can get in today’s competitive marketplace, but finding opportunities for growing your wholesale distribution business can be challenging. You’re already doing everything you can to maximize the efficiency of your warehousing, distribution, and shipping, so what more can you actually do?

One area that has the greatest potential for growth is the customer experience.

Why Wholesalers Need eCommerce

We live in a world where information is easier to access than ever before—from virtually anywhere—and everyone is connected 24/7 through computers and smartphones. Yet many wholesale businesses still use manual ordering processes like PDF or print-to-email order forms that are not only time-consuming but also prone to errors and delays in fulfillment. Therein lies the problem.

Your B2B customers are too busy for lengthy sales calls, flipping through pages upon pages of a print catalog, or filling out a complex order form. They want to conduct their own research, ask questions, and buy—online—when it’s most convenient for them.

When you switch to an online B2B eCommerce ordering system, you make the ordering process faster, easier, and more convenient for your wholesale customers. And when you make life easier for your customers, you greatly improve the customer experience.

Drawbacks of Using Print or PDF Order Forms in Wholesale

Whether your wholesale business is using print-to-email/fax order forms, phone orders, PDF order forms, or even online website order forms, they all suffer the same inefficiencies—they are time-consuming and error-prone.

Here are some additional drawbacks to using manual order forms:

1. They don't update dynamically.
2. Inventory status is static.
3. You can’t utilize custom price lists.
4. You can’t set dynamic discount rules.
5. You can’t establish dynamic shipping, payment, or invoicing rules.
6. They’re labor-intensive for both customers and sales reps—too much data entry required and tedious to update.

Benefits of Switching to Online Wholesale Ordering with eCommerce

Faster, easier ordering process for your customers

‍When you have an online eCommerce store, in just a few clicks, your B2B customers can quickly and easily find the products they need and place their orders. There’s no need for them to enter their personal and business details or payment and shipping information because those details are already contained in the online wholesale ordering system.

Increased sales

‍Your online eCommerce store is open 24/7/365, which means customers can buy from you any time of the day or night. And with the sales order process being fully automated, there is less strain on your staff and sales reps because they don’t have to spend time manually entering orders.

Higher customer satisfaction

‍An online eCommerce store lets you be fully transparent with your B2B customers because it always reflects real-time pricing, product information, and inventory status. And, there are no more out-of-date product sheets and complex order forms to fill out. This not only builds trust with your customers but also keeps them coming back, again and again.

Reduced order errors

With an online wholesale ordering system, the sales order process is fully automated. With no human intervention needed to review your B2B sales orders and no manual data to enter, the risk of order errors is drastically reduced.

Easy to keep your product catalog up-to-date

‍No doubt your wholesale business is growing, which means your products likely change over time and new products are always being added. When you switch to online eCommerce ordering, you can quickly and easily edit your product descriptions on the fly, using text, images, and even video, all through user-friendly, dynamic dropdowns, and buttons.

Increased productivity

‍Online wholesale ordering fully automates the sales order process, thereby freeing up the time of your sales reps so they can focus more attention on acquiring new customers.

Don’t let fear prevent you from capitalizing on the benefits of switching to online wholesale ordering!

Turning a profit is no doubt one of the top goals of your wholesale distribution business. An effective way to achieve that goal is by making your B2B customers happy, and a straightforward way to make customers happy is by making it as easy, fast, and efficient as possible to do business with you through an online eCommerce store.

B2B Wave offers a powerful, cloud-based B2B eCommerce platform that is easy to use, customizable, and affordable. Our fast rollout and unparalleled onboarding procedure also means your online wholesale ordering store can be up and running in less than 24 hours.