How to Pair Direct Store Delivery With Mobile

By Shachar Shamir

We have found ourselves in an interesting stage where we lean heavily on mobile phones to provide us a solution for anything and everything; our phones are our instruments to foster social connections, our therapists, our entertainment and our sources of convenience. But why stop there? If turning to mobile helps us in our personal lives, it would stand to reason that it could help us in our professional lives as well. For B2B sales processes, that is definitely the case.

If you have ever worked in or near a retail store, you probably know the headache of dealing with product distribution centers all too well. It is costly, time-consuming, and can function as a stumbling block within order-to-delivery channels. Cutting out the distribution center means lowering costs, lessening the potential for error, improving customer service, and upping the average order size. This direct store delivery (DSD) is the current trend SMBs are adopting in streamlining delivery operations and reducing operating expenses (usually for merchandise that has high consumer demand), to hopefully gain an edge in the ever-growing competitive market. 

However, with growing business comes a higher potential for making mistakes, which begs the solution of some sales management software to aid in the process. Thankfully, there are now mobile sales manager software services that do exactly this. For instance, Pepperi is an omni-channel commerce platform that enables brand manufacturers and wholesalers to increase their B2B sales. Sales reps are equipped with mobile order taking, mobile CRM, and mobile merchandising to sell smarter, bigger, and faster whilst engaging with the retail buyer at the point of sale. They also enable the retail buyers to order online 24x7 via a self-service web portal and mobile app, so they can top-up goods in-between sales rep visits.

There are also platforms like Octiv and Mobileframe that bring valuable assets to the table. Mobileframe is a broad mobility solution designed for business web applications, one of which being mobile DSD. Their software not only includes standard DSD services, but additional features like real-time alerts and analytics, vehicle inspections and even accident reports. Octiv is interesting in that it focuses more on the creation and distribution of sales assets, such as documents like contracts, presentations, and proposals. The software is meant to optimize these processes, so that sales reps can move off of creating these materials and better allocate their time towards actual selling. Analytic tools are of course then utilized to help gain insight into the effectiveness of these materials, helping sales reps close more deals.

Additionally, StayinFront uses mobile to combine DSD and Van Sales into one unified system. Along with shelf inventory management, sales and inventory monitoring, audits, and surveys, Stayinfront provides location services like integrated mapping to help with route planning, monitoring and management. Conventional route accounting features are at your disposal, as are unique, in-store selling tools that provide sales representatives with the necessary analytics to effectively hook customers into buying.   

Combining DSD with mobile serves is an efficient solution to consolidate sales processes and make distributing and receiving goods easier on retailers. The added component of mobile to DSD gives your retail execution that “on-the-go” advantage, translating into your team gaining access to any order-related functions or queries at any time. As you can see, there are many mobile platforms available to assist with managing delivery operations; it is just a matter of figuring out which one is the best fit for your company.

Shachar is the co-founder and COO of Ranky. He lives and breathes business, startups and marketing, and is an avid soccer fan.