Direct store delivery (DSD) is an attractive option for many wholesalers since it provides advantages over centralized distribution. Immediate store delivery (DSD) is an ideal sales channel since it expedites the delivery of products to customers and applies to all products.
In contrast, centralized distribution is best suited for products that are easy to ship, require minor special handling, and have a long shelf life.
Shops are attempting to improve by cutting costs and stock in the supply chain, speeding up delivery times, and being more responsive to customers’ needs. As a result, many manufacturers are abandoning their multi-tiered DSD distributor systems in favor of the DSD Model.
Connect your data and infrastructures
With so many field personnel making deliveries and processing customer orders, you must keep your data organized and accessible from a single platform. This necessitates adopting user-friendly DSD software that can be accessed by route employees, sales representatives, and back-office workers without requiring special training or hardware.
Here’s where route accounting software comes in handy; it streamlines invoicing customers, collects payments, and manages inventory and shipments from the field. It will provide route employees rapid and efficient access to vital information and eliminate order entry errors. Your software must interface in real-time with core systems, including your ERP, so field workers are always informed (as will your back office staff).
Keep your field workers in the loop
Not just sales reps should know your company’s offerings. It would be best to inform your drivers to make sales and answer client questions. Include an e-Catalog with graphics and product information in your DSD sales plan. Your personnel will also need sales and order history. This helps them counsel customers and recommend products that close deals.
To boost sales, offer ‘account-specific’ incentives based on client preferences and order history.
You can turn them into sales reps by giving your field personnel simple online and offline access to customer and product information. Your field workers can sell from anywhere, anytime, and even when delivering.
Intensify productivity
With so many simultaneous deliveries, manufacturers and wholesale distributors need a method for tracking field activity. Managers should also have real-time access to information regarding worker locations and completed tasks. So, they can ensure the route crew is on time, making deliveries, and reacting to last-minute sales and delivery demands.
Field personnel should access sales data, but supervisors should also oversee direct store deliveries to reduce errors. To track deliveries and sales, digital delivery and order entry technologies offer electronic proof of delivery (ePOD), invoicing, and payments, shortening the billing cycle.
Utilize your mobility to its full potential
Mobile devices coupled with route accounting software may readily deliver all the customer, product, and sales information that field employees need while in the field.
Use a DSD platform compatible with several operating systems so that your field reps can “bring their own device” (BYOD) on the road instead of buying new hardware for everyone on staff. The platform must support offline use to ensure that field employees can access data and information without connecting to the internet.
Go native for further perks
A native mobile app that works on Android and iOS can take advantage of the device’s built-in features such as the camera for scanning barcodes, calendar, push notifications, and geo-location to log places and times, allowing companies to collect valuable information on their drivers while facilitating employee ease-of-use.
Direct store delivery shouldn’t be haphazard. Using the latest DSD and Route Accounting technologies, wholesalers and distributors may optimize their DSD sales and enhance their route employees.
