Suppliers and distribution channels. Rebate program.

Rebate program

is a sales tool which is to increase customers interest in buying bigger quantities in each of the periods. These are just two parameters to be set: the buying threshold, and the rebate (% of price) for exceeding the threshold.

Distribution channels (only distributors)

As a distributor you should primarily ensure effective and wide distribution, to maximum possible number of retailers. There is on general rule applicable to the distribution channels/suppliers management. The sales transactions can take place if both, the selling, and buying business agree to cooperate. You might see the decisions of your potential customers in this view. However, even if they decided to (generally) buy from you - they still do not have to buy from you all the products.

In case of major retail chains you might see they are willing to buy directly from manufacturers as it would be more cost-effective. However, the fragmented market of independent retailers should be supplied by distributors to a great extent.

Suppliers

In order to optimize the buying process, it is advisable to have wide range of suppliers, and potentially concentrate on buying at the product level (see supply sources). The exceptions might be cases of suppliers having continuously high prices on wide assortment, or any kind of exclusivity contract you'd have with any supplier. Similarly to the distribution channels - choosing suppliers does not guarantee, that there would be any transaction. You need to be among the buying customers specified by the supplied in the distribution channels.

Supply sources

This tool is very useful for retailers, as they can potentially buy the same products from a number of suppliers. This decision module also reports the price lists of our suppliers, and summarizes their rebate programs. To concentrate on a narrow domain of the price offer you might use the filters. Using the checkboxes helps you configuring selection of suppliers of individual products.

For distributors this module is primarily information on the buying prices, and it's the basic information for tailoring the selling prices (as different manufacturers cannot offer the same products). You should not use this module to switch products off your assortment. It's better to use assortment management for this purpose, otherwise you'd leave shelf space allocated to the product, and still wouldn't sell anything.