ERP for Buying Offices / Traders

The retail industry is globalised and interconnected industry due to the complex production and marketing through all stages of the value chain. Most chain retailers obtain or manufacture products through global sourcing. Global sourcing is defined as the process of identifying, evaluating, negotiating, and configuring supply across multiple geographies in order to reduce costs, maximise performance, and mitigate risks. Most large-sized retailers operate their own foreign buying offices, located in Asia to facilitate producing and importing in that region for the company. Small to medium-sized retailers also rely on 3rd party independent buying offices / trading companies located in Asia to stay in the game.

Starting from new product sourcing requests are handled by the merchandiser team of buying office / trading company that liaises with vendors. Within the office, merchandisers cohesively work with the technical design team, quality control team, and logistics team to complete production and shipments with vendors on behalf of the principal (buyer). Among the several departments within the buying office, merchandisers play a central role as a communication hub between buyers and vendors and among the internal teams. DBP Sophie provides merchandisers not just visibility but also the clarity of both internal and external communications and keeps every team member up-to-date. Calculating the landing cost of a new product is uppermost important and yet another challenge for merchandisers. DBP Sophie can custom design and integrate the landing cost calculation program to make the work life of merchandisers much easier.

The three things regarded as the most important strategies for the future of buying office / trading company are: providing value-added product development services, building a strong vendor-buyer relationship, and improving work efficiency. Competitive buying offices provide buyers with value-added services through R&D teams as well as quality-assured production management through vendors. Through DBP Sophie, buying office / trading company can demonstrate the competitiveness of the global sourcing market as a core place in the retail industry rather than the mere manufacturer of ordered products, allowing continuous business deals with the buyer. The relationships between buyer, buying office / trading company and vendor have been changed from hierarchical relationships to collaborative partnerships. This relationship is mutually beneficial, and facilitating relationships through an integrated supply chain result in reliable execution.

Through our hybrid custom development model (DBP Sophie ERP Modules + Customisations), you can get a custom-developed business system that is tailored to take your business to the next level but spending no more than 50% cost of a traditional tailored business system. Meanwhile, through our continuous custom development model, you don’t need to sort out all necessary customisations at the beginning. According to our experiences, your managers and system users can tell what the best working model is after using it for a few months. What's more? Everything else is taken care of by our end-to-end solution approach. Therefore, you can enjoy peace of mind by appointing DBP to solve your workplace problems.