The opportunity for food companies to sell product online are exploding and forward-looking manufacturers are building an integrated plan to deal with these emerging markets. Do you have a consolidated plan for handling all your non-traditional orders and fulfillment?
B2B e-commerce sales in the United States are projected to hit $1.8 trillion, and most of the major foodservice distributors in the industry like US Foods, Sysco, and Gordon Food Service have put their online e-commerce strategies into high gear. Amazon is now a sales option for many food manufacturers in addition to their own e-commerce websites.
How is your company managing the complexity of all these alternate channels? E-Commerce Website, Distributor Drop-Ship Programs, Amazon & Third-Party Websites, Operator Samples, Sales Samples, PR Launch Kits.
Many companies are rolling out these different programs in a piecemeal fashion requiring the management of multiple sales processes, product inventories, fulfillment systems, and reports. This lack of cohesion is less efficient and can lead to increased costs, distressed product inventory, and additional management time.
Unfortunately, many food manufacturing plants are not set up to handle small orders, manage e-commerce inventories, assemble kits, add literature to purchases, accept credit card payments, develop specialized reporting, or put digital sales strategies in place. To consolidate all these opportunities into a single order, fulfillment, and customer service platform, manufacturers are turning to outside companies to manage the complexity and fulfill the shipments.
Finding the Right E-Commerce Partner
No matter which foodservice e-commerce partner you ultimately choose, there are a few things you will definitely need. These include finding a company that can:
- Demonstrate experience with handling and shipping food and has a current food safety certification
- Handle multiple fulfillment programs from a single inventory
- Ship orders across all temperature classes
- Provide your company with favorable shipping rates
- Create and manage a custom e-commerce website including accepting credit card payments
- Centralize order processing, payments, inventory, and fulfillment for a broad range of channels
- Scale to whatever level of sales you achieve
- Manage multiple fulfillment options
- Provide options for sales tax collection and reporting
- Repack product into smaller, higher-margin pack sizes
Beyond these considerations, it's important that you find an e-commerce partner that is reliable and flexible. That partner can help you manage the inventory, give you notifications about when new inventory is needed, and provide you with real-time order information online so you have 24/7 access to all activity.
Want more information about finding your e-commerce partner and how IBI Data can handle this critical segment of your business? Call us at 877-424-8725 or fill out our contact us form to learn more.