Dropshipping is a way of sending goods directly from the manufacturer to the retailer or consumer but billed through the distributor.
Dropshipping is an excellent way for distributors to fulfill customer orders faster while reducing inventory storage and shipping costs. Rather than keeping stock in your warehouse until orders come in and then sending them out, dropshipping allows you to pass the purchase orders along to the manufacturer, who will ship the goods directly to your customer.
You can also establish an online portal with item prices reflecting your handling costs. Customers can self-serve their ordering.
The Advantages of Dropshipping
There are specific advantages to this method of handling merchandise.
- It’s an excellent way for start-ups to get off the ground without the need for extensive inventory.
- It can decrease the warehouse space required for large or bulky inventory items.
- Distributors can offer a more extensive selection of products.
- If your company serves multiple regions or countries, dropshipping allows you to dispatch products from the nearest manufacturer or supplier. Your partners will also handle the shipping logistics for international orders, such as import taxes and customs.
Efficiently Processing Drop Shipments with Dynamics 365 BC
Dropshipping has many benefits, but distributors must also consider how to make the process efficient. If your ERP solution is set up for dropshipping, coordinating all the pieces will be a breeze. You’ll be assured that sales and supplier purchase orders agree and that each order is fulfilled accurately and arrives on time.
That’s where will help. You can add a drop shipment field to your Sales Order screen on Dynamics 365 BC. As customer orders come in, you can identify them as drop shipments. Business Central will speed up the process by automatically creating a purchase order for your supplier from the customer sales order.
By automating the process of generating supplier purchase orders from customer sales orders, you also avoid the errors that often occur when transferring the information manually. Without automation, errors might include duplicate orders, misplaced orders, and orders with incorrect information.
Ways to Streamline Dropshipping with Microsoft Dynamics 365 BC
You can further streamline the drop shipping process. Microsoft Power Automate will give you a fully integrated system that eliminates additional manual processes. For instance, you can arrange for purchase orders generated in Business Central to trigger emails to vendors with the purchase orders attached.
PowerApps Portals allow you to provide live, secure web portals for customers and vendors to access drop shipment data. You can also enable customers to place and track orders without your team’s involvement. Customers will see their orders as open while the drop shipment activity occurs behind the scenes.
Customers interact directly with your suppliers but have the impression they are receiving products from you. And with the ability to track what’s happening in real time, you can intercede any time an issue develops.
Coordinated Sales Orders and Purchase Orders using Dynamics 365 BC
Rather than a multi-step, manual, error-prone process in Excel, dropshipping creates a seamless environment for both your sales and procurement processes. With an automated process that reduces your time involvement by 50%, Business Central ensures sales and purchase orders match and that your customers receive the right products in the right quantities every time. To learn more about Dynamics 365 Business Central and , our experts at Western Computer today.
By Western Computer,
