How to Streamline Wholesale Order Management for Emerging Brands
With a lean team, managing wholesale orders can become time-consuming and overwhelming as your business grows. Each retailer and distributor has unique requirements, whether it’s specific packing instructions, strict delivery windows, or varying payment terms.
However, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are revolutionizing how emerging brands manage wholesale operations, making our processes more efficient and scalable.
In this article, we will cover the essential tools you need to streamline wholesale management and explore AI solutions that can help you process purchase orders more efficiently.
1. Wholesale Order Management
It can quickly become hectic when you have multiple purchase orders coming in from different retailers with different packing instructions, ship date, and payment terms. Optimizing the order fulfillment process is crucial to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction.
For example, large distributors like UNFI or retailers like Walmart or Target impose strict compliance rules for labelling and delivery windows. Missing these deadlines can result in costly chargebacks.
A purchase order tracker is essential for staying organized and ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks. It helps you monitor your incoming orders, track their status and maintain all critical information. This includes customer details, product information, shipping dates, delivery deadlines, document links and tracking updates.
You can use tools like:
Google Sheets/ Excel: ideal for simple data entry and tracking
Airtable/ Notion: Ideal for creating lightweight databases and managing more complex workflows.
Click here to access a free PO tracking template designed specifically for emerging brands.
2. Inventory Management
As a physical goods brand, inventory management is the backbone of your business. Overstocking ties up capital, while stockouts lead to missed sales opportunities and damaged relationships with buyers.
Understanding your inventory to prioritize high-value orders and set clear expectations with wholesale customers. Effective inventory control is crucial in managing stock levels efficiently, particularly when your order volume increases.
While there are robust ERP systems like Zoho Inventory, Cin7, NetSuite, and SAP, small businesses with simpler needs can start by using spreadsheets to save on costs.
Click here to access a free inventory management template to streamline your inventory tracking and reduce errors.
3. SKU master list
One product often translates into multiple SKUs due to variations in size, bundle options, flavors, or colors. A well-organized SKU master list can ensure consistency across platforms like Shopify, Amazon, and Faire, setting you up for seamless automation and integration in the future.
Your SKU master list should include product name, description, dimensions, weight, cost, retail price and any customizations available. Use standardized naming conventions to avoid ambiguity (e.g., "PANTS-001-BLUE-MED").
As the number of SKUs increase over time, technology can help optimize processes through automation and enhanced communication between various systems.
Click here to access a free SKU master list template and take the first step toward better organization.
4. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Receiving POs
Regardless of the size of your company, you should have clear guidelines for purchase order processing. Establishing clear guidelines for order placement can enhance efficiency and streamline communication during the order lifecycle.
To create an effective SOP:
Define how you’d like to receive POs (e.g., via email, EDI, or online portals).
Outline the steps for processing POs, including inventory checks and acknowledgment timelines.
Establish escalation protocols for resolving issues like chargebacks or payment discrepancies.
For example, a streamlined workflow might look like this
When a PO arrives via email, use Buddy order tool to extract PDF data.
Check inventory levels using your spreadsheets or ERP system
Make sure order quantities make sense based on historical data
Send acknowledgments or reach out to buyer within 24 hours
Draft email to 3PL with product name, SKU, LOT, case quantities, instructions and attach the Buddy-generated packing list and BOL
Use Buddy to draft invoices in Quickbooks.
Tips for Leveraging AI Tools
AI-powered tools are transforming wholesale order management by automating repetitive tasks, reducing human error and improving efficiency. Here’s how you can leverage AI to take your operations to the next level:
1. Automate Purchase Order Processing
AI excels at handling inconsistent data - for instance, your wholesale customer might name your product differently than what’s in your system. Tools like Zapier, Make.com or pdf.ai can automatically parse incoming POs, extract key information (e.g. product names, quantities, delivery dates), and route them directly into your PO tracker.
This way, AI tools can enhance order fulfillment by ensuring timely and accurate processing of purchase orders.
For even greater accuracy, platforms like Buddy use OCR (optical character recognition), inference algorithms, and custom workflows to match POs to your internal data and auto-generate fulfillment documents like packing lists, bills of lading (BOLs).
2. AI as an Intelligent Search Assistant for Internal Documents
Upload your internal documents - such as SOPs, contracts, and vendor agreements - into tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity. These tools utilize natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to understand the context and intent behind your queries, so they can provide highly relevant and accurate answers directly from your document library.
By doing this, AI tools can provide real-time visibility into internal documents and processes, enhancing decision-making and efficiency.
For example, you can upload your “Navigating KeHE” guide or UNFI supplier documentation into ChatGPT Plus. You can then create a custom Distributor Rep agent that is capable of answering any questions about these documents, saving time and reducing back-and-forth communication.
3. AI for data cleaning and organization
AI tools can significantly accelerate data cleaning and organization tasks. By inputting existing data like SKU codes, product names, descriptions, categories, and barcodes, you can instantly generate standardized formats for new products or variants. AI can also help you detect inconsistencies, such as extraneous numbers or formatting errors, across large datasets.
For example, if you’re adding a new flavor to your product line, you can provide the current SKU details to ChatGPT. The AI will generate a consistent format for the new SKU entry and even give you tips on improving your database based on Excel best practices if you prompt it accordingly.
Embracing technology
Managing wholesale orders doesn’t have to be chaotic. By implementing the basic tools outlined and leveraging AI-powered solutions, you can create a streamlined, scalable process that sets your business up for success. From automating purchase order processing to maintaining accurate inventory levels, these strategies will help you stay organized and efficient.
By reducing time and error, AI tools enables you to focus on high impact work and provide you with a competitive edge. Start small by adopting one or two tools mentioned here, and gradually expand your tech stack as your business grows.
Ready to transform your wholesale operations? Click here to access our free Wholesale Order Management Templates to get started today!
FAQ
How should I handle wholesale orders?
To manage wholesale orders effectively, use a Purchase Order (PO) tracker to monitor deadlines and details, maintain an inventory system to avoid stock issues, organize SKUs for consistency, and establish clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for processing orders.
Download our free PO Tracking Template to get started.
How can AI help with wholesale orders?
AI can automate repetitive tasks like PO processing, extract key data using OCR, generate fulfillment documents and organize large datasets. It also acts as an intelligent assistant to answer queries about internal documents and ensures consistent SKU formats, reducing errors and saving time.
Check out Buddy for order automation or this blog post for more AI tips and tricks.
What are the best tools for managing wholesale orders?
For simple tracking, use Google Sheets or Airtable. For advanced needs, try ERP systems like Zoho Inventory or Cin7. For automation, tools like Buddy, Zapier or Make.com streamline workflows, while ChatGPT helps search and organize internal documents.
Access our free templates here.
What are consequences of a poor wholesale order process?
A poor wholesale order process can lead to:
Chargebacks: Missing retailer-specific compliance rules (e.g., labeling, delivery windows) can result in financial penalties
Stockouts or overstocking: Inaccurate inventory tracking impacts cash flow and customer satisfaction
Missed deadlines: Delayed shipments harm relationships with retailers and distributors
Operational inefficiencies: Manual processes increase workload and reduce scalability
How can I reduce errors when managing wholesale orders?
Standardize processes with SOPs, automate tasks using AI tools, maintain a consistent SKU master list and regularly audit your data and workflows. Regular training and clear guidelines for your team will also help mitigate error.
