PILLAR TALK
Retailers, help yourselves!
W Phil Zolan Executive Director fcB2B World Floor Covering Association
hen it comes to making smart choices on running your business, sending purchase orders and receiving invoices electronically is one of the easiest things you can do to save you money, time, and hassle. This is the year 2018 after all — manually calling in orders, faxing orders, and licking envelopes are all artifacts of the old days. You’re better than that. First, let’s be clear about something. You keying orders into a supplier’s website is NOT B2B, it is Person2B. You’re doing all the work, and the supplier gets all the savings. Good for them, bad for you. B2B is your computer talking directly with their computer. No typos, no rekeying, no more “I thought you said color 856 not 846”. But what if your supplier isn’t currently set up to do business electronically B2B? Demand it from them! And keep demanding it every time you see someone from that supplier. Suppliers listen to their customers. More and more retailers are requiring their suppliers do business with them B2B, or else they’ll shift that business to someone who will. The WFCA, with some great help from flooring software companies QFloors, RollMaster, CDMS and RFMS, recently surveyed their current B2B users and asked them which suppliers needed to start doing business B2B in 2018. 440 people responded with requests, and many of those requested are already actively working on adoption. There were some bigger names being requested that are not. So retailers, you can help yourselves by making your voices heard, tell your suppliers they need to move into the 21st century and start doing business B2B! Are you a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer that’s interested in starting to make more of your business transactions electronic, but don’t know where to start? Drop me an email at pzolan@wfca.org, and we’ll set a time to talk you through the steps.
The WFCA, with some great help from flooring software companies QFloors, RollMaster, CDMS and RFMS, recently surveyed their current B2B users and asked them which suppliers needed to start doing business B2B in 2018. 16 Premier Flooring Retailer | Q1 2018