Poor cashflow is responsible for 90% of Australian Food & Beverage business failure. With operational costs continuing to grow and payment wait times increasing, cashflow has never been more important in the Australian Food & Beverage Industry.
Here are 5 Ways Food & Beverage Businesses Can Increase Cashflow.
Forecast Ordering
One of the biggest reasons why Food & Beverage businesses have poor cash flow is because of inadequate stock management. If your business has too much of a product you will hemorrhage money until the product sells. On the flip side if you have too little stock, you may need to turn customers away.
To maximise cashflow, Vendors and Distributors need to forecast ordering. Review your sales cycle, understand what periods of the year are busier than others and order appropriately to meet the demand.
The best way to forecast ordering is by using a Food & Beverage management software like EasyVend. Using a system like EasyVend, Vendors and Distributors can export industry specific sales cycle reports – making it easy to make strategic stock ordering decisions.
Leverage Recurring Orders
40% of customers in the Food & Beverage Distribution industry are return customers. if your distribution business doesn’t have a plan in place that leverages recurring customer orders, you are impacting your cashflow.
Follow up with your loyal customers, send customer order reminders, let customers know if they haven’t ordered at their regular interval and schedule recurring orders on a customer’s behalf (if appropriate).
Recurring Orders are by far the best way to maximise cashflow in the Food & Beverage Distribution Industry.
Evaluate Your Suppliers
Many Australian Distribution Businesses remain loyal to the one supplier. The problem with this is it doesn’t necessarily mean you are getting the best deal. The price that you pay for your products will significantly impact on your business’s cashflow.
Ensure you constantly evaluate your suppliers and the price they offer. Research for alternative options and try to find the best price for your business. The cheaper you can source products - the cheaper you can sell your products – the more cash your business will generate, it’s that simple!
Utilise Online Ordering
If your business doesn’t have an online ordering website, you are losing thousands of potential sales. Let’s face it, there isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t use the internet to look for things to by. The Food & Beverage Distribution Industry is no different. Customers research online for local distribution businesses they can use to source products from.
The opportunity with online ordering is massive. You create a brand-new sales channel to drive revenue, you open your doors to new potential customers who haven’t heard about your business and above all, it simplifies the customer ordering process.
Related Article: Why Australian Food Distribution Businesses MUST have an Online Ordering Website.
Implement Automatic Credit Card Payments
Payment wait times are skyrocketing in Australia. Studies released by Xero show Australian Food & Beverage businesses wait an average of 23 days for payment. No matter what business you operate, waiting a month for payment will impact your bottom line.
The best way to grow cashflow is by implementing an Automatic Credit Card Payment Solution. The benefit of an Automatic Credit Card Payment solution is it automates your entire payment process.
- Customer payments is taken automatically at the agreed time
- Customer invoices are generated and sent automatically at the correct interval
- Customer payments are automatically allocated and receipted to the correct invoice
Related Article: EasyVend Releases Automated Credit Card Payment Solution for B2B Food and Beverage Distributors.
Final Word,
Cashflow has never been more important in the Australian Food & Beverage Distribution Industry. Forecast your ordering, leverage repeat customer orders, evaluate your supplier prices, maximise online ordering and implement an automatic credit card payment solution.
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About EasyVend
For food and beverage vendors and distributors, EasyVend supports and automates every part of your business, freeing you up to grow your sales unlike other ERP systems that are designed more for wholesale suppliers than for distribution businesses like yours.
EasyVend includes everyday distribution management features like Inventory Management, Invoicing, Receipting, Route Management, Automatic Credit Card Payments, Online Ordering, Xero Integration, Customer Reminders, Business Reporting and so much more.
Want to learn more about EasyVend? For a no-obligation free demo of EasyVend Web and how we can help your Food & Beverage Distribution Business, call us today on 1300 473 744 or submit the form below.