Distribution Software is not for everyone

There are four parts of the marketing mix: product management, pricing, promotion and distribution. The specifics of Distribution is to deal with logistics, how to get the product (service) to the customer. Distribution defines what distributions channel to use; if the products should be sold through retailers, or distributed through a wholesaler; how many marking channels should be used, and so on.

So a distribution application, also called distribution intelligence, must manage all aspects of the business. Generally speaking it must do everything from order processing and inventory control to accounting (AP, AR, and GL), purchasing and customer service, supply chain management, sales, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), inventory, warehouse and finance management. More sophisticated systems also support functions for payroll, generating RMAs, automated backorder fulfillment, and fixed assets. Some high-end systems even support sales analysis and time billing.

Distribution software is designed to make it cost-effective and efficiently manage your business; however, it is not for everyone, not only because of its price tag. There are many other considerations when evaluating the option to implement distribution software in your company. You must consider too the infrastructure cost, in-house technical support, professional staffing plus training. These items could be several times more expensive than the software alone. Furthermore, your company might never amortize the investment.