Ecommerce has become the singular topic of consumer buying conversation today, the fact remains that shoppers still enjoy the touch-and-feel experience when it comes to specific purchases. Retailers want customers in their stores, and must provide those products in which consumers are interested. This strategy makes financial sense to retailers too, given that the rate of returns for online purchases tends to be three to four times greater than in-store sales. Impulse buying tends to be greater in store than online. Being an ecommerce marketplace seller can be a profitable business model, but the “brass ring” objective is often getting inside the retailer (including grocers, pharmacies/drugstores, etc.) as an established B2B/B2C fulfillment vendor.
Unlike ecommerce marketplace selling, goods fulfilled through a retailer’s distribution centers and stores are subject to that retailer’s supply chain technical and operational requirements, known as vendor compliance. Failure to comply will result in costly financial penalties to the vendor, known as chargebacks. “I have been helping retail B2B/B2C fulfillment vendors since 1993” states Norman Katz, President of Katzscan Inc., and originator of the Big Retail Ready course. “The technical and operational mandates imposed by retailers are challenging to understand and successfully achieve, even for top CPG brands.” Aside from his longevity with the subject and his expertise with the technical (e.g., ERP, EDI, barcode labeling) and operational aspects, Katz is the author of the first exclusive book on supply chain vendor compliance. “Successful Supply Chain Vendor Compliance” (Gower/Routledge, December 2015) is distributed worldwide, establishing Katz as a supply chain vendor compliance authority. The book’s
website is www.vendorcompliance.info
In six comprehensive modules, Katz covers topics such as how vendor compliance impacts a company, key
aspects of vendor compliance, an introduction to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), features of barcode
label printing, data management and software integration, and how to avoid common chargebacks.
“Retailers, including grocers, want to work with local and diversity sellers, and don’t want costly disruption
in their supply chains from vendors, but are neither proactively nor reactively providing this helpful and
critical supply chain compliance education to their vendors” says Katz.“3PLs can also benefit from this
course, because they are responsible for order fulfillment and thus supply chain compliance on behalf of
their retail vendor clients, so the 3PL shares chargeback control and performance responsibilities.