Adding Modern Technology to a 150-Year-Old Company
Since founded in 1868 as a premium seed company for the agricultural industry, Scotts has evolved to the leading provider of consumer lawn, garden and pest control products. Through their 150+ years of being in business Scotts has grown to be an internationally recognized brand that consumers trust and retailers see profit in stocking. Despite their massive and nationally recognized brand, their story proves that even household names can experience friction getting their product from their facilities into your home.
By removing the manual ordering process the friction has been removed and Scotts has seen an increase in orders from their independent retailers.
The old way of ordering was putting more costs on the business, from order entry mistakes, manual processes and the constant phone calls/emails. The move to a digital solution solved all of these.
With OrderEase creating different pricing levels, specialty catalogs and promotions is easy. New products can be added in minutes and pricing can be contingent on area, retailer size, order quantity, etc.
Independent retailers still heavily rely on phone calls and faxes to place orders and check inventory levels. This was taking up valuable time that could be spent pursuing new purchasers or promoting new products. Scotts knew something had to change with their existing ordering model.
The OrderEase Solution was able to provide the shift that the Scotts ordering process needed to:
The biggest challenge they face is a garden industry that has difficulty embracing new technology and can be stuck in their ways. However, to incentivize adoption, Scotts is doing things like offering free gift certificates to clients who place their first order via OrderEase.
When asked what were the deciding factors in Scotts bringing OrderEase into their day-to-day operations, Lester Barnes, Senior Sales Director, said he had two main reasons. The first was, “I looked at getting on the ground floor with OrderEase. I wanted to be a pioneer with them.”
The second reason was because of OrderEase CEO, Warren Patterson. “The Founder of OrderEase, Warren, has a history in owning his own garden centre, he already knew my product well. He knew how I did business already and he understood Scotts. And he understood the B2B ordering system and his team made the software and transition so simple and frictionless, that we adopted it right away. It already has a measured ROI the first year.”
Today, Scotts has the right software in place to handle complex pricing, with private labels and different catalogs.
They also have better management over sales rep activities, with more control over shipping units on orders, which helps to speed up order processing and reduce customizations on orders. They’re also positioned to make more informed decisions with faster reporting of sales activities on more current data
OrderEase has also helped Scotts control the direction of orders in regions directly to 3rd party fulfillment. This has completely removed the need for any involvement of Scotts staff for all orders for Quebec and the Maritimes.
Scotts also leverages OrderEase to market their products to retailers, based on product purchase history, pricing groups, and other factors.
The old way of doing business by fax and phone was putting more cost on my business. The manual order taking process was causing issues when it came to order changes, order errors, and having real-time insight into inventory levels.
OrderEase is a complete B2B wholesale order management ecosystem. Our product portfolio includes order management for suppliers, distributors, buying groups, and retailers. Accessing and placing digital orders can be done via our cloud-based platform or app. Our core technology supports integrations throughout the supply chain as well as a buying show platform for in-person, hybrid, and virtual events.
OrderEase Inc.
5-190 Minets Point Road, Suite 425
Barrie ON, L4N 8J8
(888) 476-6527
sales@OrderEase.com
support@OrderEase.com
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