Import buying is the critical starting point of the import supply chain. In order to make the best buying decisions efficiently and effectively buyers and merchandise planners need accurate, flexible and predictive product costing at their fingertips. In addition they need dynamic margin management including the ability to do what if analysis to determine the maximum viable product cost and optimal order quantities of items in order to equip them with the information required to effectively negotiate with suppliers. Real time communication and negotiation with these suppliers is the next critical step before an import order can be placed.
Currently, many importers perform product costing manually or using excel templates which may not be accurate and either exclude certain relevant costs entirely or estimate them inaccurately at for example a fixed percentage of supply cost. The costing templates used are often not dynamic and up to date in terms of costs and rates and there may be multiple different templates across an organisation (for example per division) which need to be kept updated and maintained as facts change.
Supplier communication is currently done using emails and/or sms and Whatsapp messaging which is in many cases unofficial and difficult to track with a lack of an efficient audit trail. Supplier communication should be real time and should be archived and stored against orders for quick and easy referencing and confirmation.
In the current supply chain environment, which has been significantly impacted by covid and other world crises, import related costs are still higher than ever and shipping space is limited and difficult to come by. In such an environment it is more critical than ever that the buying function have the tools at its disposal in order to make the right buying decisions to enable them to buy the right product at the right time and the right price.
The future of import buying is a digital platform which provides:
- Accurate, flexible and predictive product costs based on all the latest rates and charges.
- Effective margin management with what if costing analysis to equip buyers to negotiate and agree prices and quantities for import with their suppliers.
- Real time supplier communication and negotiation which is threaded and stored with live update of negotiated orders.
Tradecloud is this digital platform.