Chargebacks is an ugly 11 letter word

Join B2BGateway and DSI on February 16^th for a webinar to learn how your organization can be better prepared to avoid the dreaded chargeback!

In the 1970’s there was a huge rise in the large retail chain marketplace. Retailers like Walmart, Target, Best Buy and others recognized that their future success would depend largely on moving large volumes of inventory through their supply chains with maximum efficiency. So, these box-store groups began to invest heavily in automated warehouse and sophisticated systems that allowed the product flow from supplier to store to consumer with minimal human intervention.

When a non-compliant shipment comes in from a supplier, let’s say boxes with labels that cannot be scanned correctly, it becomes an exception that requires the manual intervention of the retailers staff and naturally added cost to the retailer to sort out.

Chargebacks became the retailers answer to controlling these exceptions and keeping their supply chains running as efficiently and smoothly as possible. When a supplier does not meet the terms of a retailer’s contract and the correct procedures are not followed, retailers can issue a charge back to cover the cost of the inefficiencies caused by an out-of-compliance-shipment. These chargebacks can be as much as 15% to 20% of an invoice.

To learn how you can put best business practice in place and avoid costly chargebacks which could be detrimental to your business join B2BGateway and DSI for a webinar on February 16^th at 1pm EST. Full details and registration here

B2BGateway and Maclaren Shortlisted for a UK Supply Chain Excellence Award

B2BGateway, a leading global EDI solution provider and Maclaren, the company which introduced the world's first lightweight aluminum baby stroller over fifty years ago, have been shortlisted for a UK Supply Chain Excellence Award 2016 for developing a mobile EDI Connect App in the Technology Awards Category.

B2BGateway provides cloud based EDI solutions to Maclaren which fully integrate with Maclaren's NetSuite ERP system. The B2BGateway EDI solution allows Maclaren to exchange electronic business documents such as orders, invoices and shipping notices, etc., with customers such as Target and Amazon and removes the need for the Maclaren staff to re-key data.

This summer B2BGateway developed a mobile EDI Connect App that lets Maclaren executives check EDI orders from anywhere on their mobile devices, ensuring EDI documents are transmitting properly and that all orders are fulfilled in a timely fashion. Some of Maclaren’s EDI customers include retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond, John Lewis and Saks.The B2BGateway EDI Connect App works with the majority of ERP systems and is available on both iOS and Android platforms to B2BGateway clients.

The winners of the UK Supply Chain Excellence Awards will be announced in London on November 14, 2016. You can see a full list of all the organizations that are shortlisted for this year's awards here.

A baby stroller manufacturer rolls faster with electronic orders

By Phil Burgert on B2BeCommerce.com

Maclaren, a pioneer in strollers, is using a mobile app to check EDI orders as it also takes orders via its e-commerce site.

Maclaren is a manufacturer known for introducing 50 years ago lightweight, easy-to-use “umbrella” baby strollers made with aviation-grade aluminum. It’s continuing try new things today, including a more flexible means of managing its electronic orders from all sizes of customers.

Maclaren sells to retailers ranging from large corporations like Target Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. to smaller regional store chains and individual “mom-and-pop” stores. While the Targets and Amazons prefer to place most if not all of their orders via electronic data interchange, or EDI, many of the smaller merchants aren’t set up to exchange EDI documents and prefer to order via Maclaren’s e-commerce site, MaclarenBaby.com, which also takes orders from consumers.

In early 2015, Maclaren deployed NetSuite Inc.’s SuiteCommerce software suite, which includes Maclaren’s e-commerce platform and its enterprise resource planning, or ERP, business software applications for managing inventory, customer orders and financial records. As Maclaren receives e-commerce orders from customers across eight countries, it automatically updates data across the SuiteCommerce ERP applications.

But it can be difficult to monitor the flow of EDI orders, checking for transmission problems and ensuring enough inventory is on hand to fulfill the orders. Following the SuiteCommerce deployment, Maclaren worked with B2BGateway to also integrate its EDI orders with the SuiteCommerce ERP system, relieving the manufacturer of manually entering EDI order data into its ERP applications.

This summer, Maclaren took things up another notch by deploying B2BGateways’ EDI Connect App, a mobile app that lets Maclaren executives check EDI orders from anywhere, ensuring EDI documents are transmitting properly and that orders are fulfilled. EDI documents include customer purchase orders and Maclaren’s invoices and ship notices. Maclaren’s EDI customers also include retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond, John Lewis and Saks.

“We have an EDI team and they use the app to work with EDI transactions coming and going,” says James Ramsey, global head of technology for Maclaren, a unit of United Kingdom-based holding company Dory Ventures.

“All of our larger customers prefer to work through EDI so they don’t have to use our B2B e-commerce site and everything can be done through EDI with those customers,” he says. “That’s why we’re working with B2BGateway. They’ve been a great partner in getting EDI set up with all of these big accounts, which takes a lot of the load off our account executives and sales team for everything that comes in and goes back out again.”

Ramsey says considerable volume goes through EDI at Maclaren, and that that having the integration with SuiteCommerce and the mobile app make it far easier to keep it running smoothly. “The misconception with EDI is people think once it is put in place it just runs and everything is good in the world. But it never gets done, there’s always some issue that comes up,” he says.

Louisa Gooding, director of sales and strategic relationships at B2BGateway, says B2BGateway is continuing to add more of Maclaren’s trading partners into its EDI system. “We’re in the process of adding 40 more online trading partner relationships between now and December.”
Gooding described the B2BGateway EDI Connect App as primarily a reporting app. Ramsey, she says, “needs it because he wants to have a quick place to see what’s going on.”

Ramsey says he has been able to use the app to catch up on the status of trading partners while walking into the office or to get complete overviews of a day’s EDI transactions while watching his son’s soccer games.

B2BGateway launched the app last year on iOS platforms and added Android platforms earlier this year.

For further information on the B2BGateway EDI Connect App please visit www.B2BGateway.Net or email Sales@B2BGateway.Net

B2BGateway's EDI Connect App Brings Maclaren's Customer Communications Into the 21st Century!

Iconic baby stroller company uses newly developed B2BGateway EDI Connect App to manage all customer accounts with backend NetSuite ERP while on the go!

Maclaren, the company which introduced the world’s first lightweight aluminum baby stroller over fifty years ago, has announced that it has implemented B2BGateway’s EDI Connect App to help staff monitor all EDI customer accounts while on the move.

In order to improve supply chain efficiencies, comply with customer requirements and to scale for rapid growth, Maclaren enlisted the help of B2BGateway to integrate EDI with their NetSuite ERP system. Having a fully integrated, cloud based EDI solution allows Maclaren to automate the sending and receiving of standard business documents such as purchase orders, invoices and advanced shipping notifications (ASN) with global customers such as Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, John Lewis, Saks and Target to name but a few. Having B2BGateway’s EDI solution fully integrated with Maclaren’s NetSuite system removes the need for the Maclaren staff to manually re-key data; this in turn leads to reduced errors, lower labor costs and faster payments from their customers.

B2BGateway have made further improvements to their solutions offered to all clients by recently introducing the B2BGateway EDI Connect App. The App supports both iOS and Android platforms and is available to download for free on the Apple iTunes and Google Play app stores. While the existing B2BGateway platform allows users to manage their full EDI accounts, clients can now use the B2BGateway EDI Connect App on their Android and Apple devices to oversee trading partner relationships, daily EDI transactions and contact support 24/7. 

“B2BGateways’s cloud based, fully integrated EDI solution for NetSuite has greatly improved our overall supply chain efficiencies and customer communications,” states James Ramsey ICT Manager at Maclaren,” Now with this new wonderful B2BGateway EDI Connect App, I can catch up on where new trading partner setups stand on my walk into the office, or get a complete overview of all the day’s EDI transactions while watching my son’s soccer game.”

Louisa Gooding, Director of Sales & Strategic Relationships at B2BGateway adds “Our technologies are innovative because they meet the specific needs of business people around the world. Regardless of where they are, our clients will now have full access to all their EDI transactions thru the B2BGateway EDI Connect App. Our goal is to help clients increase productivity, generate greater market share and improve relationships with their customers. By downloading the B2BGateway EDI Connect App the user will now have instantaneous, up to date information regardless of geographical location or time zone.”  

B2BGateway offers organizations complete integration for all their supply chain communication needs.

B2BGateway’s cloud based EDI and automated supply chain solutions offer organizations complete integration with all their trading partners and business tools, regardless of market vertical served. Using B2BGateway’s cloud based EDI and data exchange technologies provides growing organizations with a complete ‘one stop shop’ approach to fulfilling all their communication needs.

B2BGateway offers complete supply chain automation solutions by providing full integration from the customers’ ERP solutions to Online Shopping Carts (Magento, Bigcommerce, 3dcart…), 3PL’s (Third Party Logistics), Online Marketplace (Amazon, Rakuten, Zappos...), Box Store Retailers (Walmart, CVS, Target…), Inventory Software Solutions (ACCTivate, Numbercruncher, Fishbowl), Manufacturers (Apple, Ford, Caterpillar…), Government and Financial Institutions.

To learn more about how B2BGateway’s complete communications solution removes the need for today’s modern organizations to have many, many separate solutions and touch points, please visit www.B2BGateway.Net or email Sales@B2BGateway.Net

Retail giant Target to crack down on suppliers.

Retail giant Target is cracking down on suppliers as part of a multi-billion-dollar overhaul to speed up its supply chain and better compete with rivals including Walmart and Amazon.

The sixth-largest U.S. retailer by sales plans to tighten deadlines for deliveries to its warehouses, hike fines for late deliveries, and could institute penalties of up to $10,000 for inaccuracies in product information, according to a letter sent to suppliers recently.

The new rules and penalties are detailed in a letter sent to suppliers. They will start to take effect on May 30 and will be rolled out over the next 60-90 days. In the letter to suppliers, Target said the goal was to keep products stocked to help eliminate out of stock situations and therefore missed sales. The new rules, detailed in the letter, call for domestic suppliers to give a single-day arrival date for shipments to Target's warehouses. Domestic suppliers constitute the majority of Target's vendor base.

These suppliers will no longer have a "grace period" to ship a few days after the promised date without penalties, the letter says. Suppliers said the current grace period for shipments is two to 12 days depending on product category. Target will also hike fines on late shipments to 5 percent of the order cost, according to the letter, which adds that the retailer is considering "escalating charges of $5,000-$10,000" for suppliers who fail to provide complete and accurate product information.

Household, paper, pet products and center-store grocery suppliers have to comply with the rules in June; health and beauty vendors in July and divisions including apparel, home and electronics in August.

If your organization would like help to meet Target’s new rules and deadlines, please contact B2BGateway today on +1 401 491 9595 or email Sales@B2BGateway.Net

Target selects B2BGateway’s EDI solutions to help improve its communications process with 3D printer Shapeways.

Target Corporation has selected B2BGateway to provide seamless EDI communication between Target and Shapeways, a premier online 3D printing marketplace and service.

 

For sale through Target’s retail channels, Shapeways will provide a unique collection of charms, rings and ornaments – developed by Target’s design team that can be personalized by the consumer and brought to life using Shapeways’ unique 3D printing solutions. The collection will be greatly enhanced from mid-July 2015, when renowned accessory designer Eddie Borgo will offer Target customers the ability to personalize some of his collection through the Target-Shapeways 3D print collaboration.

 

In order for Target and Shapeways to deliver both an excellent product and excellent service to the consumer, they quickly realized that they needed a highly efficient and error free communications process. After looking at viable solutions in the marketplace and with a tight deadline that needed to be met, Target chose B2BGateway to develop a cost effective, efficient and error free communication process, using B2BGateway’s award winning cloud based EDI technology.

 

In a very tight timeframe (5 weeks), B2BGateway was able to develop a cloud-based, fully integrated EDI solution that allows Target and Shapeways to exchange Purchase Orders, Shipping Notices and Inventory Updates. Using B2BGateway’s EDI technology allows for seamless communication between Target and Shapeways removing the need to re-key data, thus greatly increasing efficiencies and drastically reducing errors.

 

If you would like to know more about B2BGateway’s cloud based EDI solutions please visit www.B2BGateway.Net or email Sales@B2BGateway.Net

Multi-Channel Vs. Omni-Channel Explained

I recently came across a great article by Linda Bustos of Get Elastic who describes the differences between “mutli-channel” and “omni-channel”. Linda also expands on these terms and predicts what the store of the future will look like.

In the early days of e-Commerce, traditional brick-and-mortar and catalog retailers added transactional websites, becoming “multi-channel” retailers. For many, the online “channel” functioned as its own entity with its own systems, even with its own P&L competing against the box store or mail catalog retail division. Some even outsourced e-Commerce – notably Target and Borders, who let Amazon run their online stores for years before taking control in-house. Regardless of the model, online and in-store customer experiences were completely separate.

In recent years, the “multi-channel” concept has morphed into “omni-channel,” these buzzwords often used interchangeably – but they’re not exactly the same concept. If you want to get etymological, multi means “more than two” and omni means “every.” You can operate in as many “channels” as you want, but you’re not an omni-channel business unless there is interconnectedness between every touch point you offer from the perspective of the consumer.

Omni-channel isn’t about pushing in-store customers to buy more online. There’s a myth of the uber-profitable “multi-channel customer” that splurges wherever you accept a credit card. It is about supporting the customer’s shopping needs and preferences, with the online channel as much of a customer service tool as it is an option to purchase from.

Accenture found 73% of North American consumers have show-roomed at least once in the last 6 months, and 49% think integrating stores with online and mobile touch points is where retailers need to improve the shopping experience most.

Today, having a website with transactional capabilities isn’t an option for retailers – it’s an expectation. And having a mobile-friendly site is now table-stakes too, not just as a complementary touch point to the ecommerce site, but as an in-store shopping aid. You can read Linda’s full article here including her predictions on what stores of the future will operate.

If you would like to know more about how B2BGateway can help support your omni-channel requirements and improve your supply chain call +1 401-491-9595 (North America) / +353 61 708533 (EU) or email Sales@B2BGateway.Net



Integrate your Omni-Channel Logistics with cloud based EDI solutions from B2BGateway.

 

To fulfill goods and services for the ever increasing world of Omni-Channel Retail, suppliers have to create excellence in their Omni-Channel Logistics operations. Omni-Channel Retailing is best described by Wikipedia as the evolution of multi-channel retailing, but is concentrated more on a seamless approach to the consumer experience through all available shopping channels, i.e. mobile internet devices, computers, bricks-and-mortar, television, radio, direct mail, catalog and so on. Retailers are meeting the new customer demands by deploying specialized supply chain strategies and software solutions.

The major challenge for suppliers, in order to meet the retailers’ new omni-channel needs, is to get their goods and services to the correct channel as quickly and as accurately as possible and, needless to say,  in the most cost effective manner.

In order to help suppliers achieve excellence in Omni-Channel Logistics, B2BGateway has developed full end to end seamless connectivity between the supplier and all parties in the supply chain from box store retailers (Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, etc.) to online retailers (Amazon, Buy.com, etc.), to manufacturers, third party logistics providers (3PL) and even the suppliers own online shopping carts (which may be powered by online platform providers such as 3dcart, Volusion, Magento, etc.).

 

Through specially developed, cloud based EDI software, B2BGateway’s Omni-Channel Logistics solution fully integrates the suppliers ERP software with all parties in the supply chain, thus allowing fully automated and seamless connectivity for the exchange of all business documentation needed such as Purchase Orders (EDI 850), Invoices (EDI 810), Inventory Updates (EDI 846), Warehouse Shipping Orders (EDI 940), Advanced Shipping Notices (EDI 856) and so forth.

  

As there is full automation and no need to re-key data, the supplier benefits greatly from increased speed, increased accuracy, greater visibility and reduced labor overheads.

 

If you would like to learn more about B2BGateway’s fully integrated Omni-Channel Logistics solution please call +1 401-491-9595 or email Sales@B2BGateway.Net  



 

B2BGateway to attend NRF's Retail's BIG Show

B2BGatewaywill be attending the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 101st Annual Convention and EXPO which takes place in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York form January 15th-18th, 2012.

The National Retail Federations’ Annual Convention & EXPO was nicknamed ‘Retail's BIG Show’ many years ago and because the name was so appropriate, it stuck. Today, ‘Retail's BIG Show’ is NRF's flagship industry event and is held annually in New York City. The four day event offers unparalleled education, collegial networking, and an enormous EXPO Hall full of technologies and solutions. Over 22,000 attendees from 82 countries and 500 exhibitors attended last year’s event.

B2BGateway has been providing cloud based fully integrated EDI and supply chain solutions to suppliers of large retailers such as Walmart, Target, Michael’s, Amazon, Buy.com, etc., since 1999. B2BGateway is a GS1 Accredited EDI Solution Provider offering supply chain solutions such as Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Supplier Portals and Warehouse Support Sites (WSS) with ASN and GS1-128 capabilities. B2BGateway also offers outsourced trading partner Testing & Validation solutions to large retailers, manufacturers and distributors who wish to cut down on costs and free up resources in their IT departments.

If you plan on attending the NRF ‘Retail’s BIG Show’ in New York, make sure to look out for the B2BGateway.Net team and say hello!

Target DVS

In early 2010, Target.com announced a transition from Its Channel Intelligence TargetVantage Platform to an in-house solution for DVS vendors. At B2BGateway.Net www.b2bgateway.net,we took early initiative by contacting Target and letting them know we were prepared for the migration. As Target moved closer to starting the migration, they kept B2BGateway in the loop by providing updates and copies of the new EDI mapping specifications. One of the changes that came with the migration, was new requirements to their packing slip. B2BGateway was able to create the packing slips according to Target’s specifications and we are able to offer this service to our clients. As we head into September, we will be reaching the tail end of the migration and should have all vendors moved over to the new platform. If you are a current Target DVS vendor and need an EDI solution, please visit www.b2bgateway.net or call us at 401-491-9595 for details about our services.

Label in Large Retailer

I was at in Target recently and they were stocking the shelves with a product that is supplied by one of our clients. I took a closer look at the box the products were coming out of and right there was a UCC 128 Label created by B2BGateway.Net’s Warehouse Support Site. It happened to be a setup I worked on and it was really rewarding seeing the label in use. I wanted to share my joy with the person stocking the shelves but stopped myself – they probably would not find my UCC 128 Label story all that interesting. If you need an EDI or UCC 128 Label solution, please visit www.b2bgateway.net

Riona