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Answer a question: do you, as a retail company, have a good relationship with your suppliers? If you've come this far, you must believe that your answer is no or that you still don't quite know how to answer it. And don't worry, this is the right place to learn everything about retail supplier management .
After all, there are several factors that explain the importance of maintaining good management work and relationships with suppliers.
Business success today is defined by relationships. And for the retail segment , this is also a reality. Each company is in the middle of a chain of relationships formed by suppliers and customers: it acquires products and services on one side, it adds value to generate profit on the other, all around financial operations .
That's why here we're going to explain everything about the importance of managing suppliers in retail, what can't be missed at this stage and which tool can help in this process. Check out!
Why is retail supplier management so important?
In addition to the obvious importance of a good relationship with those who are your business partners, retail supplier management is also essential to ensure the productivity of your finance department .
This is because one of the major challenges faced by the accounts payable team when processes are uncertain or too manual is the constant demand from suppliers, who need to request information at all times.
The absence of automated processes , which allow suppliers to access up-to-date information such as, for example, an overview of all securities with expected payment dates and applied discounts, directly impacts business productivity, which ends up wasting a lot of time with excess calls and email responses .
In the same sense, when the financial department has difficulty controlling cash flow and having an overview of future payments, there is a risk of financial debts arising that could have been easily avoided with a less bureaucratic and automatic process.
With Skyone Marketplace , a financial services platform from Skyone , you can simplify the day-to-day operations of the accounts payable sector, optimizing your team's resources, while your suppliers have access to information that allows you to simplify the reconciliation process.
4 tips for retail supplier management
1. Define a communication flow
In any management process, communication helps to create transparency on both sides of the channel and avoid errors such as incorrect order receipt counting or the issue of missing products on purchase orders.
To develop communication in the best possible way, it is necessary to establish channels and a structure that facilitates effective communication . Creating innovative ways to further strengthen the relationship, using shared tools, can be one of the options.
It is worth getting in touch with your suppliers and scheduling an appointment with the aim of mapping out what is working well and what is not.
2. Map failures and optimize processes
Mapping flaws and points of improvement is essential to increase productivity in retail . Allowing your accounts payable team to lengthen payment terms and optimize cash flow is a huge advantage.
How much time is being wasted due to lack of clear processes and performing repetitive tasks that could be automated?
Find the bottlenecks and act in order to facilitate the achievement of your business objectives and goals.
The visualization of processes and information also contributes positively so that everyone can follow the progress of demands, hence the importance of having software that makes available all the necessary and integrated information for making assertive decisions.
3. Evaluate the relationship with suppliers strategically
It is also important to evaluate the performance of your suppliers and check whether this partnership is really beneficial for your business.
Pay attention to price competitiveness and more favorable payment terms
It is important to assess how the partner suppliers are impacting the financial area, as well as the other sectors involved in this relationship, in order to always make the most strategic decisions for business growth.
- Are the prices fair and competitive?
- Could the payment terms be improved?
- Are deadlines properly adhered to?
- Is communication clear and effective?
4. Count on technology to automate your retail processes
As we said, supplier management goes beyond nurturing a good relationship with its partners, it is also very important for the financial department to be able to act with high performance and deliver the expected results.
Do you have any technology to automate the management of suppliers in your retail and facilitate the financial routine?
With Skyone Marketplace, you automate and concentrate all payable bills issued on the same screen, guaranteeing your suppliers updated information on each bill in real time , which greatly facilitates your management process.
Go further in your relationship with your supplier by offering, through the Skyone Marketplace Supplier Portal, options so that you can both be more efficient and have better cash flow.
Supplier Portal:
- Automatic import of accounts payable from your Retail ERP;
- Information portal for your suppliers;
- Simplified supplier title management;
- Alerts for the inclusion of new titles or changes to existing titles;
- Detailed export of securities and payment history;
- Optimization of your team's resources;
- Full access control and security layers
- A platform that automates the anticipation of titles to suppliers with super competitive rates, even for minors;
- Full control over the titles that are released for anticipation;
- 100% digital process and without bureaucracy;
- Registration approval within 24 business hours;
- Account credit within 6 working hours.
Know the details of this solution:
Learn more about Skyone Marketplace here !
