Distribution & Sales Management By Technology: Individual & Inclusive Benefits For The Household Goods Industry

According to Ministry of Industry and Trade, the household goods sector is valued at 12.5 – 13 billion USD, and recent years’ growth rates are higher than retail industry average. This proves to be a much sought-after “cake” with products ranging from high- to low-end, domestically made or imported from Europe, South Korea, Thailand, China etc. In such fierce competition, what are the chances for household goods manufacturers and distributors to survive and thrive?

Four take-aways in distribution and sales management of household goods

Issues that household goods manufacturers and distributors need to bear in mind. Source: DMSpro

Firstly, enterprises must make sure the end consumers have ready access to their products. For this reason, a lot of companies are willing to invest resources in building the national distribution channel with goods for sale at every shopping center, electronics supermarkets, retail stores, central wet markets etc. in urban and rural areas – where residents have started to prioritize household products of proper rather than obscure origin.

Secondly, sales and marketing tactics play a vital role. Within the same segment, tens of household goods are not really different in terms of functionality and prices, which serves to “bewilder” consumers. As a result, whoever launches timely promotion campaigns, displays stock and POSM attractively at the outlets, and has impressive trade marketing programs, roadshows etc. is more likely to gain the upper hand.

Thirdly, corporates need to evaluate and enhance the performance of sales staff on an ongoing basis. While visiting and taking care of retail outlets every day, salesmen take charge of recording information on consumption behavior, competitors, product display and coverage, so that management can make the right business decisions.

Lastly, counterfeits are on the rise because several agents continue to import and assemble components by themselves, or buy goods illegally from China and imitate large brand names. This poses risks of harming consumers’ health, and simultaneously affecting competitive advantages and reputation of companies as counterfeits are priced 30% – 60% lower but the quality is always in doubt. Manufacturers should stay alert and frequently check on the status of their product flow on the market.

Distribution Management System (DMS) solutions – Smart moves by enterprises

Applying information technology in management is an accelerating trend among enterprises. Particularly speaking, Distribution Management System (DMS) solutions have won the favor of many household goods manufacturers and distributors thanks to their outstanding benefits.

On 12 June 2017, KoriHome JSC (under Tecomen – the leading corporation which provides household consumer goods) announced their kick-off of the DMS-KAROFI Project with DMSpro, the pioneer to introduce cloud-based DMS solutions in Vietnam.

The DMS Project kick-off between DMSpro & KoriHome. Source: DMSpro

In this project, DMSpro will implement a centralized DMS system for KoriHome from the Head Office to each Distributor and Salesman. Selecting S.DMS (Powered by SAP B1) solution by DMSpro which just achieved Sao Khue 2017 Awards, KoriHome will optimize four distribution and sales management areas mentioned above, through managing 100% of distribution activities, updating market information accurately in real time, and gaining control over data in the supply chain.

Key functions invested in by KoriHome including: Core DMS (DMS platform by international standards), SFA (Sales Force Automation), eRoute (Supervising sales routes on digital map), Visibility (Managing product display), eCalendar (Managing working calendar), Business Intelligence, Integrated Reporting etc. are considered flexible, powerful and directly support the Company’s development strategies.

Following recent DMS projects with Arowines (alcohol sector), Sun Resources Food (fast moving consumer goods – FMCG),  Bidiphar (pharmaceuticals), Pahtama (Myanmar, FMCG) etc., S.DMS (Powered by SAP B1) solution built by DMSpro on the ERP platform of SAP Corporation (Germany) with additional features/customizations suited to Vietnam’s practice, is once again trusted by KoriHome – a Top 3 firm in the household goods industry.

S.DMS solution does not simply grant management an opportunity to boost sales revenue and profits. From this starting point, DMSpro also aims to bring about inclusive, industry-wide benefits by expanding the model, helping enterprises sustain their competitive advantages, contributing to enhancing business transparency and unleashing unlimited growth potential.