Key features wholesalers should look for in a WMS

Wholesale distributors are facing a demand that only grows more complex each day as new B2B commerce paradigms emerge and e-commerce continues to take a greater share of the overall market.

Since this article was first published, This complexity has only increased, driven by omnichannel B2B buying, tighter delivery timelines, more SKUs, and growing margin pressures. Adapting to these changes means evaluating WMS functionality as part of a broader wholesale distribution software stack, rather than as a standalone tool.

The problem is, how do you know what you need to get the right wholesale warehouse system?

We’ve put together five things to consider beyond a good foundation in receiving management. They’re the perfect boxes to check off to make sure your system does all you need. They also reflect how leading distributors now operate: with real-time data, tighter system integration, and warehouse execution closely tied to order management and inventory planning.

Enhanced picking

The wholesale warehouse sees a significant diversity in items and orders each day, making a powerful picking module essential. Wholesalers will benefit most from a platform that is easily customized to their facility, operating with your current equipment as well as new technologies that automate common tasks like barcode scanning.

Wave planning is a critical component as is support for sequential zone picking, batch picking and more. Recent logistics studies consistently show that distributors investing in flexible picking strategies outperform peers on order cycle time and labor efficiency, especially during seasonal or demand spikes.

Multiple levels of number tracking

To make your fulfillment successful and optimize your inventory, you will want a wholesale WMS that can track inventory in its largest bulk shipment option down as small as you go. Lot and individual serial number tracking can help you know exactly when it’s time to reorder and better forecast your future demands.

Find the right software for your company using our WMS vendor directory

Cloud WMS software extends this tracking beyond the warehouse by syncing inventory state across purchasing, sales, and finance in near real time.

The more detailed data you can capture at receiving and automatically track as orders are fulfilled, the better you will be able to manage your revenue, reduce write-offs, and improve service-level performance.

Order allocation

Order management now lives in the warehouse, so your wholesale WMS must be strong enough to address this dynamic process. This shift has only intensified as distributors support more order sources, fulfillment promises, and customer-specific rules.

Look for a platform that’s smart enough to handle all your different order channels, from phones to e-commerce and remote sales.

Get a WMS that can properly allocate and assign goods and staff so that your operations run smoothly and you have the right inventory controls to set determinations for prioritizing each order. The order channel shouldn’t matter.

What does matter is whether your system can make allocation decisions based on real constraints (e.g. available inventory, labor capacity, shipping cutoffs, and customer commitments) rather than static rules.

Tracking of KPIs across your entire operation

Data comes back for another starring role in order management with the ability to track your operations against company KPIs. Every warehouse is trying to run leaner, but you can only do this successfully when you have robust, accurate data that covers every order you place and receive through each order you receive and place.

Wholesale warehouse platforms also need to be robust enough to handle exceptions and returns. It’s an added bonus if it easily integrates with other platforms so you can pull in all the other partner data you need to fully understand your business.

This is where cloud-based wholesale software often outperforms a legacy, on-premise WMS, particularly when real-time visibility is required across sales, finance, and operations.

Exception management

Whether an order can’t be completed currently or if it requires a special touch due to weight, size, or processing requirements, your wholesale WMS should be smart enough to flag the order and route everything to your jackpot lane. Exception handling has shifted from a reactive clean-up task to a proactive operational discipline.

The more the system automates the process of identifying issues, moving them out of the way, and informing your fulfillment manager, the faster your team can resolve them. Not only should your wholesale warehouse system manage exceptions but it should record them in your incident tracking so your business can prepare for future issues.

Final thoughts

There are just five of the top things that you should require when you consider a new wholesale WMS for your operations.