In a world full of choices, sometimes it’s nice not to have to choose. Local wineries understand this more than most other establishments. With hundreds of wines for guests to choose from, the decision process can seem more tedious than relaxing. How can we fix this?
When combined with superb customer service, recommending wines that fit your guests’ preferences can help to create an enhanced customer experience.
The pandemic changed the way we live, work, and conduct business. This is particularly true for the restaurant industry. While most businesses were forced to close their doors indefinitely, restaurants and other food and beverage establishments were able to survive – thanks to mobile ordering apps. The ability to order food online granted safety and convenience to customers. Though other industries have reopened their doors to resume business as normal, customers still hugely appreciate the benefits of their beloved mobile ordering apps. The best part of it all? Customers and the restaurant industry are far from the only winners. Here are five industries benefitting from the mobile ordering era as we speak.
Almost three years into the pandemic, the food and beverage industry is starting to recover. COVID-19 caused many people to stop dining out. Instead, families chose to have food delivered to their homes, which caused a surge in takeout and delivery orders.
At the same time, restaurants found themselves serving hungry customers while enforcing health and safety protocols. Unable to cope with the demands of the new normal, many restaurants and cafes had to close shop. According to the National Restaurant Association, around 17% of food outlets in the United States ultimately closed their doors after not being able to adjust to the pandemic.
Online orders quite literally saved the food and beverage industry throughout the pandemic. With most storefronts temporarily closing their doors to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the public turned to sales ordering apps. Given the uncertainty of the times, these food sales apps undoubtedly saved the day for food and beverage (F&B) companies.
The pandemic pushed companies in industries still dependent on legacy systems to embrace new tools. Companies in sectors like food and beverages had to focus on digital adaptation to survive and meet new customer demands. Having a solid eCommerce platform became the norm. Optimization kicks off with the right tools for companies in this industry, starting with a competitive B2B sales ordering platform.
Although two years have passed since the pandemic put these changes in motion, there’s still a long road ahead. Only 48% of B2B buyers who make daily critical purchases report satisfaction when buying from a supplier’s website. The rest of these buyers expressed disappointment because their expectations were not met.
The wrong platform could put a company back at square one. Here’s what to consider when you’re on the lookout for a sales ordering platform.
Speed has always been essential in the food and beverage industry. While swiftness is a premium in other sectors, here, it’s indispensable. Timed delivery is vital to meet client demands, especially for restaurants, retailers, or resellers. Moreover, client expectations and needs have significantly increased since the pandemic – more than 69% of the country’s population has shopped online. Meanwhile, the most popular online storefronts boast features like ultra-fast deliveries. Companies that want to stay competitive in this new dynamic need to keep up with these offers.
The best way to optimize and improve order fulfilment times is to streamline your internal processes first. A good B2B sales ordering platform allows you to automate many aspects of an order from the moment it’s picked to its fulfilment. Other elements that improve speed are:
Collaborating between teams: Sales ordering platforms allow teams to verify relevant information on the spot so you can say goodbye to extensive paper trails and fax machines.
Improving internal processes: The right platform enables managers and team leaders to quantify success by offering key data values vital to making data-driven decisions.
Automating warehouse checking and quotation: These new solutions effectively reduce the time it takes for a client to get an accurate quote, which can be instant, depending on the situation.
Updating your tools and processes comes with its own challenges. Many sales ordering platforms struggle with offline capabilities, especially data synchronization. These issues can lead to stagnation in processes and operations.
While not every task demands constant connectivity, access to orders and client information is key to success. Access to live data helps employees make better decisions in challenging scenarios and gather data.
Field workers do not always have access to reliable connections, yet data capturing remains essential. A live service that cannot operate without connection in this day and age will set your company back a few decades. That’s why smooth and reliable synchronization in a B2B sales ordering platform is vital. Skynamo offers these capabilities to ensure your staff can perform at all times despite the situation.
Companies often rely on different software solutions to tackle their everyday tasks. Most use Enterprise Resource Planner (ERP) software to help manage the company and all of its teams. These tools allow for seamless collaboration and planning from a single platform, and they enable businesses to record information into a single database rather than one for each tool used. The sales ordering platform you choose needs to integrate with your other tools easily. Otherwise, you risk over-complicating workflows, creating more barriers between an order and its destination.
There are different types of management platforms out there, like customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise risk management (ERM) software. However, what makes ERP unique is that it provides real-time data on how your business operates and includes information about resources, materials, and transactions. Even if the B2B sales ordering platform does not support your ERP, the team behind the platform should be able to provide you with a custom solution.
These platforms allow you to make more accurate and data-based decisions. This is especially important in the often unpredictable market of the food and beverage industry.
Even after choosing the right platform, companies need to ensure their staff is trained to operate them. A lack of training leads to slower results, impacting goals and order fulfilment. Employees who are not well versed in their company’s ordering platform may not perform as well as their peers, potentially leading to stress and burnout. The right company will provide your staff with the necessary resources and training events.
Skynamo offers its own academy where employees can train in a self-paced environment. Video conference training is also available and provides a more personalized experience. Training should be an ongoing effort; ensure that the ordering company will provide you with the necessary resources to navigate updates or significant changes.
Not every single B2B ordering platform is created equal. The right choice enables your company to optimize its existing process considerably. It provides clients with faster order fulfilment while also streamlining your internal processes. It centralizes data reporting and allows you to access the platform even without a reliable connection. These tools are key to your company’s success, and a platform that delivers them is indispensable for any company in the food and beverage industry to stay competitive.
Ready to learn more about how a sales ordering platform could unlock your company’s true sales potential? Reach out to Skynamo today and let’s chat.
Industries and big companies aren’t the only ones that can profit from mobile apps; small businesses and niche markets like the wine industry are benefitting in a big way. Mobile sales apps account for 86% of smartphone use. These compact platforms give wineries a virtual version of their cellar and storefront that can increase their customer numbers and drive sales.
The use of food and beverage B2B sales ordering software has transformed how the food and beverage industry handles eCommerce and order management. Businesses are learning how to leverage sales technological solutions to address challenges and take advantage of opportunities.
A new appetite is prevalent among food and beverage consumers, and it’s likely here to stay well beyond 2022. Two years since the pandemic started, changes to consumer preferences regarding B2B commerce appear irreversible. Now more than ever, food and beverage companies need to stay on top of rising trends and challenges while continuing to acquire and retain customers, growing loyalty, sales, and a solid consumer fan base.
The food and beverage industry is known for tight margins and stiff competition. To compete, succeed, and then maintain that success in this $6,383.49 billion industry, all business components need to work together seamlessly.
Considering the new realities of the 2022 market, the food and beverage industry could certainly benefit from consultative selling. The F&B industry reported record growth in 2021, but that wasn’t enough for the industry to completely escape recent challenges—including but not limited to staffing shortages and a host of supply chain issues.
Though the Covid-19 pandemic dealt the food and beverage industry heavy blows, it also stimulated creativity to keep doors open. These changes, though often drastic, have persisted to stimulate the industry and generate new trends powerful enough to affect food and beverage sales.
In today’s hyper-competitive information age, product-focused selling – where power resides with the seller – just won’t cut it anymore. The pandemic has forever changed how people shop, how they manage their finances, and how they care for themselves. This is why consultative selling – which yields power to the buyer – is increasingly seen as the future of sales.