The second answer is more subjective and depends on who you are asking. A manufacturer or distributor may say their company website allows dealers to view products, check stock and place orders. That’s great for them, but it is a manual process for your dealers and slows them down unless you are their only vendor. fcB2B provides the common language that allows a dealer’s computer system to speak directly to their supplier’s computer. This reduces errors, speeds up the process of checking stock, updating and verifying the correct price, placing orders and most importantly reduces errors. An added benefit for the dealer is the integration of other software packages like measuring or estimating software. There are different options available based on the software used by the dealer. They typically use the product specifications available on the fcB2B catalog to estimate the amount of product needed for a job. The length and width of the product, along with the minimum order quantity, are used to estimate the job and the quantity needed to be ordered. When this basic information is missing, the dealer is not able to use the software to automatically generate an estimate for the job. This requires manual intervention and potential errors or placing the order and ending up with a shortage or overage of products.
fcB2B helps automate business functions for independent retailers that have told me they prefer to only do business with suppliers that provide fcB2B. Others have said they will refuse samples until the products get loaded in their software via fcB2B. Are you a supplier looking for ways to grow your business? Talk to your customers and see if they use fcB2B and would be more inclined to do business with you if you took part. You might be surprised. We estimate that around 2500 to 3000 retailers across the country are at a minimum using , the price catalog and seeing tremendous benefits. Visit our website at www.fcb2b.info and click on the Resources tab to learn more about fcB2B. Review the industry Champions who are providing their customers fcB2B on the Members > Champions tab. If you want to become an fcB2B Champion contact Lewis Davis, 706-217-1183 ext. 132 or ldavis@wfca.org and find out how.
“ fcB2B helps automate business functions for independent retailers, reducing errors and speeding up the process of checking stock, updating prices, and placing orders.”
Premier Flooring Retailer D3 | 2024 25
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