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Is NetSuite Right for Outdoor Wholesale Distribution Companies?

Is NetSuite Right for Outdoor Wholesale Distribution Companies?

Recap

How outdoor wholesale distributors can run their business on NetSuite

Outdoor wholesale distributors, from apparel to firearms accessories, often juggle multiple warehouses, big box retail partners, and e-commerce channels across disconnected systems. In this episode, Michael and Mitchell from Anchor Group walk through the core NetSuite features that bring those processes into one place.

Connect your warehouse to your financials

For a wholesale distributor, the warehouse is the lifeblood of the business. NetSuite's biggest advantage is multi-warehouse, real-time inventory that removes the disconnect between warehouse operations and financial systems. Out of the box, it supports accurate inventory counts, regular cycle counts, and inventory valuation tied to accurate costing.

Choose the right warehouse management tool

NetSuite has its own warehouse management solution (WMS) that works well for many distributors. If it doesn't cover every requirement, RF Smart is a popular third-party option that runs inside the NetSuite environment, and NetSuite's open APIs make it straightforward to connect other tools. Mitchell notes he has never seen a warehouse scenario that couldn't run through NetSuite; it comes down to what you need.

Run order-to-cash in one system

NetSuite supports EDI integration for big box retailers with strict data requirements, plus B2B and B2C e-commerce through SuiteCommerce or integrated platforms. Sales reps can work leads in the built-in CRM, customers receive automatic fulfillment notifications, and the receivables team handles invoicing in the same system as sales and fulfillment. Putting those teams on one platform changes how time and resources get allocated.

Plan your integrations early

Many outdoor distributors run a direct-to-consumer site alongside a B2B buyer portal. Data has to flow between those platforms and NetSuite in both directions. Middleware such as Celigo is a common way to connect WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce, or BigCommerce to NetSuite. If you're considering an implementation, integration needs to be on your radar from the start.

Split orders, drop ship, and track landed costs

These capabilities work out of the box:

  • Split fulfillment: A customer orders a rifle scope stocked on the East Coast and a jacket stocked on the West Coast. NetSuite can fulfill that single order from both locations after a few settings are turned on.
  • Drop shipping and special orders: Dropship items automatically create a purchase order linked to the sales order, so traceability is built in.
  • Landed costs: Distributors buying overseas can tie duties and tariffs back to the items received to keep costing accurate over time.

Bottom line

NetSuite is a strong fit for outdoor wholesale distributors because it brings warehouse, order, sales, and financial processes under one umbrella. That makes the business easier to manage as it grows, whether you're migrating to NetSuite or optimizing an existing account.

Have questions about NetSuite for your distribution business? Book a free 30-minute NetSuite fix with Anchor Group: https://www.anchorgroup.tech/30minfix

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Podcast Transcript:

Michael (00:00)
Hey everybody, thank you for tuning in to this edition of the Anchor Group Podcast. Today we have Mitchell from the Anchor Group team joining us to talk specifically about wholesale distribution companies in the outdoor industry, and how those companies can use NetSuite to improve their business processes and shore up any loose ends they might have in their current system.

Michael (00:57)
So, Mitch, as we get things rolling, give us a lay of the land. Where is Anchor Group's expertise here? What are some of the types of customers we've worked with in the past who fit the bill, to give people listening an understanding of where we're approaching this conversation from?

Mitchell (01:17)
We work with a lot of companies in the outdoor space, anywhere from apparel distributors to firearms distributors or firearms accessory distributors, all over the outdoor space. It's also something a lot of folks at Anchor Group are pretty passionate about, so I think it's somewhere we have pretty deep expertise.

Michael (01:47)
With the states we live in, right? The good old harsh Minnesota winters, the springs that make you happy, summers, which are great, and the falls, which are absolutely beautiful. We get the full four-season effect up here. The great thing about that is whenever we work with wholesale distribution companies that serve the outdoor space, oftentimes we're familiar with them. It's always fun to work with those companies and get a better understanding of their business processes on the back end and how they bring great products to life to serve customers, many of which we are. So, getting into the nuts and bolts: if you are an outdoor wholesale distribution company, this podcast is really going to be for you. We're going to talk about the core features of NetSuite that can empower you to shore up your business processes and do a very good job being organized and remaining consistent across the board. Mitchell has worked with these companies before, so he's going to share his experience and expertise. Now, Mitchell, to steer the conversation toward the warehouse: when you're a wholesale distribution company, what you've got going on in your warehouse is pivotal to your success. Talk to us about some experiences you've had working with companies like that, and how NetSuite really works for those companies.

Mitchell (03:20)
I think the real advantage of moving to NetSuite for a company in the wholesale distribution space is the multi-warehouse, real-time inventory support, and specifically the ability to move away from your financial systems having a disconnect from your warehouse. As you say, a good warehouse is the lifeblood of a good wholesale distribution company, or in a lot of scenarios, many good warehouses. So we want to help support accurate inventory numbers, regular cycle counts, and inventory valuations that tie back with accurate costing to the bottom line. This is something NetSuite does exceptionally well out of the box in the core product itself.

Michael (04:10)
Amazing. Does NetSuite have its own warehouse management?

Mitchell (04:15)
Absolutely. NetSuite does have its own warehouse management solution, and for a lot of companies it's a tremendous solution. Very recently we were speaking with a company kicking around the idea of whether NetSuite's warehouse management would fit for them. But there are also other really good third-party products out there, and NetSuite's open APIs allow you to integrate smoothly with a lot of these third-party tools as well.

Michael (04:52)
On the topic of third-party tools, I do really quickly want to shout out RF Smart. It's a very popular product you can use within your NetSuite environment. We recently had their team and some folks from our company in our Minnesota office, which was fantastic, but legitimately it's a good product if that's what you're looking for. If NetSuite WMS doesn't fit the bill for all of your requirements, RF Smart is something that lives right in the NetSuite environment, correct?

Mitchell (05:28)
Yep, that's exactly right. We've seen our customers find a lot of success with it.

Michael (05:33)
So if you have questions about that, feel free to reach out. Just know that NetSuite WMS can get the job done, but RF Smart is also a good third-party option if you're going to need one. If you're coming at this from the NetSuite implementation side, just know those are two of the WMS options you might hear about as you go through that migration process. Anything to add on the WMS side, Mitch?

Mitchell (06:03)
RF Smart is actually where my mind went as well. I do think they're the Cadillac in the space. But either way, there are many other options out there, and you most certainly can run your warehouse using NetSuite. I've never seen a scenario where somebody couldn't run their warehouse through NetSuite. It all comes down to what you need and how we can help make it happen.

Michael (06:27)
Right. Now let's talk about the order process, because the products in the warehouse have to get there somehow. Mitchell, walk us through some of the common ways a wholesale distribution company receives orders. What do receiving, processing, and fulfillment look like within NetSuite, and how does NetSuite empower companies to do well with that order-to-cash process?

Mitchell (06:58)
In the modern world, technology is so involved in all of our processes that the first place my mind goes is that NetSuite really strongly supports EDI integration. If you're working with any of those big box retailers who are very particular about the way they want to send and receive data with you, you know how much of a struggle EDI can be on a day-to-day basis, and there are plenty of good ways to get it done really well in NetSuite. Additionally, whether you have a B2B e-commerce site, some B2C sales with a B2C site, or both, NetSuite has its own SuiteCommerce for e-commerce sales that's tied directly in, but also really strong integration ability with whatever other tools you might be using. Plus, there's an entire back end where your sales reps can operate out of the CRM day to day, reaching out to customers and running that full lead-to-cash process: making the sale, seeing if it's been fulfilled, and sending out auto fulfillment notifications when it's shipped, so your customers know the status without you paying somebody to spend time on the phone answering that question over and over. Then you can run your full invoicing process and let your receivables team operate out of the same system your fulfillment and sales teams are operating out of.

Michael (08:26)
That last part you mentioned, Mitch, is incredibly important. For companies we work with that haven't had all those teams in the same system, all of a sudden they get it, and it feels different. It can be a powerful way to allocate time and resources within a team. Now, real quick, I want to take a minute to talk about the integration between NetSuite and other systems. Mitchell brought up e-commerce websites. In outdoor wholesale distribution, we'll often run into companies with a D2C-focused website, the type of site we'd go to when looking for gifts or gear for a weekend trip out in the woods. Oftentimes we'll also see companies pair that with a buyer portal where their B2B customers can log on. The key is the integration: how does that data get from NetSuite to those platforms and all the way back into NetSuite? We aren't going to get crazy into the weeds on this today, and we've got other episodes on it, but NetSuite is very capable of having very good integrations. Not every integration is going to look the same for everybody, but the bones of the product are very good. We often see companies use middleware solutions like Celigo to tie all their software systems together. For example, if you're running a high-powered, critically important WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce, or BigCommerce website and you need to pipe that data into NetSuite, something like Celigo does a very good job with that. Just know that if you're thinking about a NetSuite implementation and you're a wholesale distribution company in the outdoor space, integration absolutely needs to be on your radar.

Michael (10:33)
Now, Mitchell, often when we work with companies in this space, the question comes up around processing orders: which warehouse are the products coming from, where are they shipping, and can you split out an order? One person places the order, but it needs to go to three different locations. Talk us through some of those scenarios. Are they achievable in NetSuite?

Mitchell (10:59)
Absolutely, it's a great question. I've worked with companies that have many warehouses separated almost product line by product line. Somebody orders a rifle scope and a jacket, and maybe your warehouse with all your rifle scopes is on the East Coast and all your apparel is on the West Coast. Maybe I actually made that order: the jacket was for Michael's birthday, and the rifle scope was for me because I want to go deer hunting this year. Now all of a sudden I need to fulfill one order from two places. This is just out-of-the-box NetSuite functionality. There are a few settings on the back end you turn on to handle this scenario, and I can fulfill from multiple locations, fulfill to multiple locations, and even do those things on the same order. You basically just flip some checkboxes in the system, and you can run your warehouses however you like.

Michael (12:07)
And with that being said, that same company might also be selling 70% B2B as well, and there are options within NetSuite to be very organized in how you go about those different pieces of your business. Mitchell, in that same vein, drop shipping can also be critically important for some of these companies. What does that look like in NetSuite?

Mitchell (12:32)
That's another area that just works out of the box in NetSuite. Items can be configured as dropship items, and you get traceability from your sales order straight to an automatically created purchase order with your dropship vendor, so when you come back in the future, that link is built in. There's similar support for special orders. This lets you maintain traceability while automating processes, making it as smooth as possible for your team to get orders over to your vendor and let them take care of the rest.

Michael (13:09)
One last thing we haven't touched on yet is landed costs. How does that work in NetSuite?

Mitchell (13:15)
NetSuite supports the ability to track landed cost, and there are plenty of options for how to do it. At its core, as a wholesale distributor, it's very important to understand where your costs are coming from. A lot of folks in the outdoor space, especially in apparel, are doing a lot of purchasing from overseas, and there can be duties and tariffs to deal with. NetSuite's out-of-the-box landed cost is pretty quick and easy to set up, and you can tie the actual duties and tariffs you paid back to the items you brought in the door to maintain accurate costing over time.

Michael (13:59)
So with all of this being said, if you are an outdoor wholesale distribution company thinking about a new ERP system, know that NetSuite is a very good option for wholesale distribution companies in the outdoor industry. To summarize, that's because you bring all these different business processes under one umbrella within NetSuite, and from a high-level ease of management standpoint, it becomes that much easier to manage ongoing. If you are considering migrating to NetSuite and you're this type of business, or you already have NetSuite and want to optimize it, feel free to reach out to Anchor Group. We're a US-based team of NetSuite consultants who know NetSuite very well and know how it interacts with e-commerce platforms, buyer portals, EDI, and integrations. If you want to learn more about what we've done in that space and what's possible, feel free to reach out. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Anchor Group Podcast, and we'll see you in the next episode.

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