June 2020 — The Problem
Given the difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, I start helping out at my dad’s wholesale business. The first thing that I notice is that it’s run almost entirely offline: orders come in by phone, fax, or email. As the days go by, I find out that our more technologically advanced clients send us a spreadsheet — which at least saves the time of having one of our employees transcribe the order.
When I talked about it with my dad, he didn’t just see that it was a problem — he knew it was a problem, had known for years. And it’s not just a problem for his business. He walked me through all the pains it created for his customers:
- Customers spend a lot of time and effort placing an order (looking up and copying references by hand).
- Customers struggle to know the price they’ll pay for any given item and, therefore, the whole order.
- With over 300,000 references, lots of mistakes creep in, even with the vast amounts of time that go into the ordering process.
- Customers have no way to see their order’s status, follow up on it, or modify it after sending.
November 2020 — The [beginning of a] Solution
There aren’t many places in today’s digital world where people sing the praises of a spreadsheet. But in the wholesale business, a spreadsheet is often the one piece of technology that is already being used within the company.
And even though most people wouldn’t think about it, a spreadsheet is actually a bit magical: with the right code, it can be used to structure and display its contents, easily modifiable and synchronized across the entire business.
Enter OrderCast: a turnkey solution to generate an easy-to-use e-commerce site that upgrades the wholesale ordering experience by 1000%.
November 2021 — The Results
Ok, the “1000%” is just a made up number.
But what isn’t made-up number are the results: one year after we started using OrderCast with my father’s wholesale business, 95% of his customers place their orders using Assabban Shop.
Completely changing people’s habits in that amount of time could seem surprising, but honestly, looking at the before and after, it really feels like a no-brainer. Why?
Sophisticated, robust search.
Mobile/desktop-compatible barcode scanner.
Full product lists for easy color, size selection.
Dynamic pricing that fits various customer profiles.
Order monitoring, with modifications able to be made at any time.
Getting clients to buy in is pretty straightforward: as the saying goes, “If you build it, they will come.” After all, wholesale clients are wholesalers during the day, but they’re out there using Amazon, Netflix, Google in their personal life. They know the benefits — they even demand them! — of using a well-made app or e-commerce site.
OrderCast gives them that great digital experience at work.
Want it for your business? Reach out at info@ordercast.io ❤️
