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Marketers often spend so much time identifying their target market, selecting the right message, and designing the perfect piece of collateral, that the actual task of program execution fails to make an impact. While effective collateral is important, successful marketers know that proper inventory management is what really makes or breaks their bottom line.
More marketing departments are turning to online inventory management portals, ore-stores, as an essential component to their marketing execution programs. An e-store is a portal that allows marketing departments to manage their order and fulfillment processes in real-time to help alleviate excessive costs and poor inventory management. An e-store gives partners, sales force members or retail stores online access to order marketing materials, POS/ POP, samples and any other sales support tools they might need, when they need them.
An e-store is a portal that allows marketing departments to manage their order and processes in real-time to help alleviate excessive costs and poor inventory management.
And, in today's economy, marketers are looking for ways to do more with less - with an end goal of receiving and disseminating information faster, streamlining existing processes, and most of all, reducing operational costs. Implementing an online inventory management portal can help marketers accomplish this and much more.
On paper, inventory management looks easy. Simply keep enough products on hand to fill orders as they come in. But in reality, having the right amount of product available requires a highly coordinated effort involving online order entry and processing; forecasting and demand planning of production quantities; customer knowledge and support; strong channel relationships; as well as reporting and analytics to help evaluate performance and plot future strategies.
During the best of times, inventory management requires balancing the right amount of materials going in versus the amount of materials going out. However, a study conducted in January 2009 by IBM and Oracle reports that one in three sales and operations planning (S & OP) professionals believe the recession has caused inventory levels to increase in excess of 25 percent. In addition, more than 49 percent indicate a uniform slow- down across all product lines when asked what impact the recession has had on product demand. These statistics demonstrate the huge inequity that can occur when it comes to supply and demand, especially during more turbulent times.
Being able to respond quickly when issues arise make it critical for organizations to invest in tools that offer complete visibility into inventory. Further illustrating this point is a March 2009 survey conducted by Capgemini Consulting, where more than 65 percent of the 300 supply chain managers interviewed cited the country's financial crisis as the most pressing business driver today. One strategy companies are using to help them cope with the economy's effect on their businesses is inventory management. According to the survey, 48 percent of respondents claim that implementing inventory optimization programs have become their first priority when it comes to handling current market conditions.
Additionally, in a separate report released by the Aberdeen Group in May 2009, surveyors found that inventory reduction is the top action companies are taking in response to the recession. In Aberdeen's survey of 170 companies, 54 percent stated that stricter inventory control was the best strategy for adapting to economic instability.
Reports Show There is Room for Improvement: • The recession has caused inventory levels to increase by over 25 percent
- More than 49 percent of S&OP professionals surveyed indiciated a slow-down across all product lines
- More than 65 percent of respondents cited the country's financial crisis as the most pressing business driver today
- 48 percent of respondents claim that implementing inventory optimization programs have become their first priority
- 54 percent of surveyors indicated that inventory reduction is the top action they are taking
- Reseach shows most companies scrap approximately 30 percent of their printed materials annually
- For poorly managed programs, it is estimated that for each dollar spent on marketing collateral another $6 is spent on related services, such as warehousing and archiving, creative services, management and review, fulfillment and distribution as well as other administrative costs
As demonstrated above, online inventory management, or e-stores, can offer stability to your organization during uncertain times. Not only do e-stores drive present marketing programs, but they provide a roadmap for future initiatives.
If your marketing department has ever wondered what marketing materials are being used, by whom, and with what effectiveness, an e-store can provide answers to those questions. Having a single, centralized e-store drives communication between corporate offices and the sales force. An e-store also gives marketing departments an effective vehicle for promoting corporate marketing messages and branding standards, while the sales force can rest assured that they have the most current materials available.
As a marketer, visibility and flexibility into your total marketing program also is critical to keeping expenses under control. The biggest waste of your marketing dollars comes from inaccurately forecasting production demand, resulting in either obsolescence/scrapping because of overproduction or short-run reprinting because of underproduction. Although material obsolescence varies by industry, most companies scrap approximately 30 percent of their printed materials annually.
In fact, some companies waste millions of dollars every year because of their inability to accurately forecast print demand.
Although material obsolescence varies by industry, most companies scrap approximately 30 percent of their printed materials annually.
The money spent procuring print is only part of the total cost of your marketing collateral. It is estimated that for each dollar spent, another $6 is spent on related services, such as warehousing and archiving, creative services, management and review, fulfillment and distribution as well as other administrative costs - so it pays to look at your marketing expenditures in a holistic manner and plan accordingly.
A Recipe for Success
A leading food producer is an excellent example of how to leverage an e-store to get maximum results. The client wanted an order and inventory management system that gave their sales force access to the food samples and marketing collateral they needed for retail/food service initiatives, customer development and retention efforts.
The client customized e-store solution to help meet their business requirements. The e-store's reporting function helps the client save money in three ways. First, it allows them to assign budget levels to individual sales representatives to ensure they are not ordering unnecessary materials or hoarding collateral. Second, the e-store's forecasting ability enables the client to better predict inventory quantities, which saves on printing, production and shipping costs. Finally, by using one centralized system to manage its inventory, the client has greatly reduced its technology spend.
In addition, value-add services, such as inventory aging reports; assessments of abnormal inventory depletions; product quality inspections; and notification of inferior packaging, all help theclient maintain quality and brand integrity while significantly controlling costs.
Marketers view e-stores not only as a means to display and distribute an organization's marketing collateral, but as an excellent tool to help with demand planning, forecasting, auto- replenishment, vendor management and more. However, not all e-stores are created equal. To realize the maximum benefit from your e-store, make sure the solution you choose can be customized to work the way you do.
Today, e-stores are helping marketers deliver more marketing programs, more leads and more sales tools while still eliminating excess overhead, waste, inventory and fulfillment costs. Doing more with less requires marketers to make sound choices when it comes to inventory management, eliminating the least effective methods and shifting their focus toward solutions, like e-stores, that deliver the most bang for the buck.
Improve Your Marketing Efficiency with Archway
Fortune 500 companies are turning to Archway Marketing Services to help them manage their marketing operations. After doing this for more than 55 years, Archway has perfected outsourced marketing operations management and has leveraged its knowledge across a variety of clients and industries. Allowing Archway to do what it does best frees up companies to do what they do best - grow their bottom lines. Archway offers end-to-end marketing operations management and fulfillment services that are providing streamlined processes with automated technology to eliminate unnecessary costs, speed time-to-market, and improve brand experience. As a business partner, Archway provides the decision support tools that executives need to gain instant access to data that determines the overall effectiveness of a marketing initiative. Archway's marketing operations management services include:
- Business Assessments
- Market Planning
- Sales Portals
- Product Procurement
- Vendor Management
- Fulfillment Services and Product
- Logistics Management
- Reporting and Analytics
• Decision Support Tools
For more than Five decades, Archway has helped some of the largest companies in the world develop and implement marketing operations strategies with the highest efficiencies and effectiveness. As modern marketing continues to evolve, Archway will stay at the forefront of business trends and technology to ensure that your successes become their successes. For more information, visit http://www.archway.com or contact us at info (at) archway.com.
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