Retail & Wholesale Distribution

Product lifecycles keep on getting shorter, new products need to be introduced and old products phased out. Success is based upon exceeding customer expectations. Often service is what differentiates you from your competitors. That is why IFS offers specific component solutions and functionality to meet the business needs of the Retail & Wholesale Distribution market.

Retail

To meet constantly changing demand is not easy. To foresee which products will be sold and in what volumes is an increasing challenge. You need to do product range planning, negotiate with your suppliers and then, as cost effectively as possible, store your goods. Your goal is to get the right product in the right place at the right price when the customer demands it - all in a high volume, time pressured environment. IFS offers a range of integrated components to help you support these complex business processes and to give your business the agility that it needs to exceed customer expectations.

Sales Forecasting

IFS/Demand Planning is a graphical forecasting tool which lets trade companies forecast multi-dimensional sales. It will generate your supply proposals based upon history, seasonality, campaigns and delivery terms. New product introductions can use forecast inheritance and Demand Planner will minimize your seasonal risk, matching the right stock level to each part of a product’s life cycle. For maximum responsiveness and agility, get your customers to collaborate with you in this process using IFS Collaboration Portals.

Supply chain execution

IFS supports both Push and Pull supply chain execution and also a combination of the two. Stores and Outlets can create proposals for fulfillment with delivery based upon actual stock levels. Automatic replenishment functionality and stock balancing across the supply chain is standard with full visibility on all inventory levels across your business landscape.

Procurement

Centralise your purchasing-needs to gain the best commercial terms from internal and external suppliers. Establish price, discount rules and global agreements. Graphically view your supplier performance and quality standards using IFS Business Performance and monitor key performance indicators. Select preferred suppliers for different stores and outlets and determine specific ways of working with them.

Point Of Sale

IFS Applications includes a generic POS interface. Set up your campaigns in IFS and feed your POS system. Discounts & mix matches, can all be created based on selected time frames. All transactions can then be followed up in IFS with our flexible reporting components.

Sales

Automatically determine the appropriate source of supply for a customer demand. Use flexible sourcing rules in conjunction with Supply Chain product availability to determine realistic and achievable delivery dates real-time as an order is taken.

Pricing

Every product can have multiple pricing policies to support specific promotions, campaigns and effectivity dates. Multiple pricing units and price lists for the same item and a complete pricing history audit trail are all standard with IFS.

Hand Held Devices

IFS Applications is technically enabled to support the increasing use of HHD’s (Hand-held Devices) in retail and logistic environments. On the move and on the job interactive updates will increase your service levels.

Logistics

Customer and partner expectations regarding delivery precision and quality are increasing. You must find the right balance between high service levels and low prices to provide a competitive advantage. The challenge lies in balancing service levels with stocking efficiency.