EDI 894: Primer on the Delivery/Return Base Record
There are a variety of ways to get products from a supplier’s warehouse to a retailer’s store. A popular model is to have products delivered to a distribution center, and then ship the items to individual stores from there. However, when you’re not quite big enough to...
The EDI solution that can Integrate with any system
AT A GLANCE Discover benefits of integrating EDI with ERP systems. Learn how automation reduces manual data entry. Understand improved speed and partner compliance. Gain insight into integrated EDI as a future-ready solution. As the retail supply chain strives to be a...
Order-to-shelf inventory management
Order-to-shelf inventory management is an inventory management strategy that has been making headlines recently as more and more retailers, particularly grocers, are embracing it in an effort to reduce back room storage and labor costs. We've seen this in other...
EDI 812: Debit/Credit Adjustment transaction explained
AT A GLANCE Discover EDI 812 and its role in financial adjustments. Learn how automation reduces processing time. Understand improved vendor relationships through accuracy. Gain insight into how SPS solutions simplify credit adjustments. At the risk of sounding like a...
What is blockchain and how does it help retail supply chains
No doubt you've been hearing all the buzz lately about Bitcoin and blockchain, wondering what all the fuss is about and exactly what it is. What is blockchain? For starters, Bitcoin is an alternative currency that doesn't exist in physical form. Blockchain, on the...
Are you ready for the reverse ASN?
You've seen us talk about the ASN before — the Advanced Shipping Notice. It's the advanced notification about an incoming shipment, and many of the large retailers require it from their suppliers these days. But we haven't talked at all about the Reverse ASN. We're...
When your retailer asks to trade electronically with EDI
Smaller suppliers that have been selling to smaller retail partners have probably found a nice little groove — your retail buyer emails a purchase order, which you enter into your inventory system. The order gets packed and shipped, and you send it off to your...
EDI 861: Receiving Advice/Acceptance Certificate
The Receiving Advice/Acceptance Certificate is growing in popularity as more and more retailers rely on their trading partners to help manage inventory. The EDI 861 document is often used in automatic stock-replenishment programs managed by the supplier or vendor. As...
RWC reaps the rewards of new sales with EDI for SAP
In 2017, Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC) signed with a new retailer with over 2,000 selling locations that would carry more than 100 RWC product SKUs at each location. “If we were still doing EDI manually, this account would have required a team of ten full-time...
5 ways technology drives down costs in retail, supply chain
People often like to complain about how technology has made our lives busier instead of easier, and with good reason. It has gotten easier to create more information, but that means we've got more to read. It has gotten easier to communicate with other people, but now...
![Sourcing solution from SPS Commerce [VIDEO]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/sourcing-solution-sps-commerce.png)
Sourcing solution from SPS Commerce [VIDEO]
The Sourcing solution from SPS Commerce is the assortment expansion and management solution designed for merchandising across all your channels. The solution provides retailers access to the largest network of products worldwide, instant access to vendors and shortens...
A well-oiled supply chain, Princess Auto and SPS Commerce
Princess Auto Ltd. is a Canadian company based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Today, the retailer has 44 stores and over 2,400 team members to complete your purchase whether it be in-store, online, or on the phone. “Doing business electronically is the only way to do...
Rise of the Marketplaces: Predictions for the future
Now that e-commerce is a way of life for most people, and Amazon has become one of the biggest retailers in the world, marketplaces are popular alternative channels for retailers who want to increase their sales. Marketplaces are also useful for vendors who want to...
Physical retail locations vital for true shopper engagement
While many traditional retail stores are closing physical retail locations, such as Kmart, Sears, JCPenney, Macys, that doesn't mean the retail store is dying by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, there are 4,080 more retail stores opening than are closing this...
Rise of the Marketplaces: Drop shipping and Marketplaces together
Thanks to companies like Amazon, Overstock, and Wayfair, e-commerce marketplaces are becoming a popular way for both retailers and suppliers to reach new customers without a lot of capital outlay or overhead. It doesn’t require additional marketing expenditures...
Opportunities for omnichannel and the importance of retail stores
Our annual benchmark report, Retail Insight: Moving Beyond Omnichannel, looks at several different trends that are important in the retail arena, affecting retailers, distributors and manufacturers. We’ve been publishing this report every year for the past five years,...
Growing and thriving as grocery competition heats up
The grocery competition for local and small chain grocers and stores has never been greater. Amazon has acquired Whole Foods and has been trying to set a trend for online grocery shopping while slashing prices. Walmart has been experimenting with grocery buy online...
Endless aisle doesn’t come with endless resources
When it comes to the filling the Endless Aisle, Amazon has pretty much ruined the curve for other retailers who want to fill their online presence with inventory, while Walmart is trying its own tactics to expand it's already considerable product catalog. With SKU...
E-commerce wave hits vendors as retailer expectations rise
When e-commerce took off, it started cutting into retailers' in-store businesses, causing a bit of panic. To add fuel to the fire, marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Etsy have been spawning and growing over the years. Not to mention hundreds and thousands of small...
Acumatica integrated EDI from SPS Commerce powered by MAPADOC
SPS Commerce is proud to roll out our new Acumatica integrated EDI solution powered by MAPADOC. This Fulfillment (EDI) solution provides streamlined communication and efficiencies across your trading partner network. To meet your needs, SPS Commerce offers solutions...
McLendon Hardware on better customer engagement
“The partnership McLendon Hardware has with SPS has been successful for many reasons,” says Nathaniel Polky, Director of Information Technology at McLendon Hardware, a family owned, 90-year-old business based primarily in Western Washington, “One of the strong points...
Key traceability takeaways from GS1 Connect 2017
The changing business landscape has amplified the demand for product information. To keep on top of this trend, SPS Commerce recently attended the GS1 Connect 2017 conference, where people from Grocery, Foodservice and the Healthcare industries came together to...
SPS Commerce launches Gartner Report on Achieving Multichannel Maturity
SPS Commerce today announced the availability of complimentary access to a recent Gartner report focused on the three pillars of multichannel retail success: order orchestration, demand planning and effective use of store inventory. The report, “A Survey Analysis:...
Tips for testing your new ERP before implementation
This time of year, some retailers and suppliers are testing and switching over to new ERPs in preparation for the holiday shopping season. July is probably about the latest you’d want to make a switch like that, as you don’t want to put the busiest time of the year at...
When to switch from distributor to direct-to-consumer retail?
Thanks to the relative ease of e-commerce and marketplaces, many manufacturers, distributors, vendors and suppliers are considering making the jump from simply supplying retailers with products to adding a new sales channel to sell products direct-to-consumer. If they...
Fast Fashion, unpredictable weather impact apparel seasonality
Retail buyers have operated on a fairly long and reasonably static buying calendar for years, without much change. For instance, buying for the early Spring shopping season usually runs from January through March, but the buying for it happened back in August –...
Manufacturers: Watch retail partner health closely
Previously, my SPS colleague Brandon Pierre wrote about how retailers need to involve manufacturers and suppliers in their brick-and-mortar store planning. Even if they don't involve vendors in discussions, they can at least plan around capabilities. Retailers can...
The Science of Retail Success in the Age of Instant Gratification
A fundamental shift in consumer spending is taking place, and as a result, retailers and logistics providers are quickly adapting to provide faster fulfillment services, differentiated product offerings and better overall brand experiences. During “The Science of...
Importance of working with real data, not anecdotes
Thanks to the capabilities of today's analytics, it's possible to make decisions based on real data, real facts and real patterns, rather than relying on anecdotes, subjective observations and gut feelings. Imagine this scenario: a supplier has its products in several...
![5 Defining Attributes of the Post-Omnichannel Era [Infographic]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/SPS-5-defning-attributes-Infographic-header-1080x675.png)
5 Defining Attributes of the Post-Omnichannel Era [Infographic]
Over the past 5 years, omnichannel retail has evolved from a new concept into the new normal for what consumers expect from retail. Recent research shows that retail is now moving beyond omnichannel, seeing it not as a standalone project but a strategy that must be...
Do you need to find new vendors?
As part of a year-end or Q4 analysis and planning for an improved future, it's not uncommon for retailers to start looking for new vendors. Now is a great time for looking at all your data from last year, especially from the holiday shopping season, and seeing if...
Should my business sell through a marketplace?
To join a marketplace or not - that’s the question most sellers are asking these days. So what’s the clear answer? If I’m going to be honest with you, I have no idea…it really depends on your business. Listed below are a few of the major pros and cons that often come...
Growth through innovation: How golf retailing is changing the game for today’s consumer
Collaboration amongst retailers and suppliers is a key facet to the changing omnichannel retail era. During SPS Commerce In:fluence 2016, Harry Arnett, senior vice president of marketing and brand management for Callaway Golf, and Randy Peitsch, senior vice president of operations for PGA Tour Superstore, revealed how they built a set of merchandising strategies to grow market share and mindshare with today’s omnichannel consumer.
Top 3 challenges facing industrial distributors
Retail is undergoing a major transformation that is affecting all industry trade partners, including distributors. A combination of global market forces and consumer-driven demands will make this a particularly tough year for distributors that sell into the construction, oil and gas, and other heavy-industry segments.
Supply chain automation: add $1+ million dollars back to your business with three-way match
Want to add a million dollars to your bottom line, without making any drastic changes? Traditionally there are two ways to add to your bottom line, increase sales and reduce expenses. Increasing sales could mean raise prices, take on new products or open a new store. Many companies have infrastructure in place for using supply chain automation to address the “reduction of costs”. Using this automation, you could see dramatic improvements to your bottom line.
Infinite Retail Power
Earlier this month we unveiled our new brand identity, here on this blog, on our website and in our suite of supply chain services. Our identity conveys SPS Commerce’s commitment to constantly delivering more value to you, and to focus on how we can help you perfect...
Supply Chain 101: Order to Payment process overview
Some of the brightest technology and business strategy minds often don’t understand the complexities of today’s supply chain. It’s simply not their focus. However, odds are that their work interacts with the supply chain at some point and a general understanding is...
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