Cloud 9 ERP Solutions Blog

In the first part of our series regarding resilience in distribution, we discussed how both wholesale distributors and retail commerce leaders alike could promote resiliency by upgrading their enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology. If you’re not caught up already, here’s a quick recap: Adopting Acumatica ERP software empowers businesses and enables them to leverage advanced sales strategies that promote business continuity. 

In late 2022, experts predicted a 96% likelihood of a U.S. recession over the next year. Fears surrounding that looming recession, as well as ongoing labor shortages and supply chain hurdles, have left retailers and wholesale distributors bracing for impact. 

Supply chain disruptions, especially protracted ones, can threaten business continuity and destabilize cash flow. Fortunately, your organization can overcome supply chain disruptions by leveraging the proven strategies outlined:

During and after the pandemic, the eCommerce business has boomed rapidly. Now, more than ever, every business needs to maintain a well-established eCommerce store to remain competitive in their markets. One way to stay up to date with your eCommerce store is to get an effective enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to achieve your business success. 

Over the last few years, the world has seen a spike in eCommerce, and 2020 certainly lent a hand to this industry. As people were confined to their homes and afraid or unable to go to stores to buy the products they needed, eCommerce became an absolute necessity for households all across the world. Each day, more and more distributors, retailers, and manufacturers are jumping on the eCommerce bandwagon, increasing competition and making it harder for companies to stand out above the crowd. According to recent data, worldwide eCommerce sales exceeded $4.28 trillion in 2020, with U.S. eCommerce sales accounting for $215 billion in just the first quarter of 2021.

Changes in buyer purchasing patterns picked up steam as the pandemic raged in 2020. As a result, retailers need a modern financial solution, one that is flexible and supports technologies, like cloud, mobile, or even curbside pickup. In response, the Acumatica team has been working diligently to enhance their Cloud ERP suite, so it surpasses these market demands with the release of Acumatica 2021 R1.

2020 changed the way that product-based businesses needed to work. Whether the change impacted a traditionally bricks-and-mortar retailer looking for opportunities to undo the damage of lockdowns, a distributor seeing increased pressure to embrace technology, or a manufacturer looking to pivot, many players in each of these industries turned to ecommerce to keep the money flowing in.

As always, the holiday season left retailers scrambling to keep up. Even in the midst of a pandemic, lockdowns, and recession, money flowed in, beating the -1.4 percent month to month sales projection and resulting in 2.9 percent more sales than December 2019 and a 4.0 percent over Q4 2019.

It’s hard to imagine that ecommerce has existed for more than a quarter century. Though initial forays into buying and selling online relied on complicated processes only available to those well-versed in early 90s internet technology, ecommerce has evolved to provide shoppers with an easier-than-ever buying experience.

The key to preparing your retail business for the holidays is to start doing so right after the holidays end. Well, it’s likely that you did that—but plans change when a global pandemic hits. Supply chains changed. Your business probably had to shut down for at least a month. And now that you’re ramping back up, you’re doing so with fewer customers allowed in your business.