Ninth Annual SPS Commerce Charity Auction a Success
Last week, SPSers joined together for our ninth annual SPS Commerce charity auction, benefitting seven different charities (all of which were recommended and voted on by employees). With over 450 unique items and over 2,577 bids, we were able to raise more than...
The future of blockchain in the grocery industry
What if you could track the shipment of a particular grocery item all the way back to the original producer, and do it in a matter of seconds? If you were dealing with potential food contamination issues — like Rose Acres recently experienced with their 207 million...
SPS Gives Back: Ninth Annual Charity Auction
One of the SPS Commerce values is ‘Give Back’ and we truly strive to make a difference in the community. One of our most beloved SPS Gives Back events is our homegrown annual Charity Auction. The Charity Auction encourages employee involvement in all aspects, from...
EDI for pharmacy retailers and medical suppliers
Pharmacy retailers and medical suppliers share many of the same difficulties and opportunities as other retailers — gathering sales data, sharing product information and details, managing transactions automatically— but they also have their own unique challenges....
Intersection of technology, processes and people
From the front end to the backend: the people, technology, and the processes that empower them must all align towards a genuinely unified retail experience. From brick and mortar stores to eCommerce, to social, to the marketplace––and everything in between––the...
EDI 832: Price catalog / sales catalog (PRICAT) inquiry
Have you ever wondered how retailers get supplier item information to load into their Item Master File or populated to their website, or how they go about managing price or cost changes? For many, it’s an Excel spreadsheet filled with fields and fields of product...
Distributors: Technology helps drive down costs, prices
Technology has been a boon to the retail industry and its supply chain, helping businesses keep better track of their inventory, streamline their order management processes and help reduce costs at a time when efficiency is the watchword of the day. Technology has...
Automated invoice reconciliation for suppliers and vendors
One thing retailers love about EDI is the ability to reconcile invoices electronically and automatically. This process compares the purchase order, receiving documents and invoice to make sure they all match each other in items, quantity and costs. Once the match is...
Grocery store formats for the future
The traditional supermarket may be in trouble. While big supermarket brands — Kroger, Safeway, Publix — are still making billions of dollars per year, industry experts are getting a little uneasy about the future of the traditional supermarkets. Even a few years ago,...
Order-to-shelf inventory management
Order-to-shelf inventory management is an inventory management strategy that has been making headlines recently as more and more retailers, particularly grocers, are embracing it in an effort to reduce back room storage and labor costs. We've seen this in other...
EDI 812: Debit/Credit Adjustment transaction explained
At the risk of sounding like a "pobody's nerfect" t-shirt, things go wrong from time to time. Accidents can and do happen. Processes break when humans enter the equation and something happened to your order between the PO and the moment it arrived at your location....
Understanding the power of personalization
We all like to feel special, like people get us and understand us. It shows that they care and that they're concerned with us. It’s the same reason why retailers that use personalization often see increased sales and engagement when they customize their marketing...
What is blockchain and how does it help retail supply chains
No doubt you've been hearing all the buzz lately about Bitcoin and blockchain, wondering what all the fuss is about and exactly what it is. What is blockchain? For starters, Bitcoin is an alternative currency that doesn't exist in physical form. Blockchain, on the...
Fifty percent growth looks easy at PM&J with SPS Fulfillment (Case Study)
As a leading vertically integrated manufacturer of pet, apparel and home products, PM&J LLC has experienced significant growth in recent years. Prior to working with SPS Commerce, its third-party logistics provider (3PL) had been managing its EDI operations. With...
Vendor consolidation for retailers
Retailers who are looking to streamline their operations and improve their efficiency, while maintaining their product selection, will often consider vendor consolidation as a way to achieve their desired results. They look for a way to reduce their numbers of vendors...
EDI for toy retailers and toy suppliers
People who work in the retail industry, especially the retail supply chain, are already aware of how competitive that market is. But of all the verticals in that field, the toys vertical is insanely competitive, especially in the modern digital retail landscape. The...
Need state merchandising for grocery
There’s a difference between the shopper and the consumer, just as there is a difference between the person who buys the food and the person who eats it. The parent who buys food for the family is the shopper, the kids are the consumer. Sometimes the shopper is the...
Why merchandising is so important — and so hard
Critical to retail success is to have focus, to have a position in the market, have a strategy to win customers and move product. That's merchandising in a nutshell. Retail merchandisers should think of themselves like curators at a museum. A curator doesn't just...
Retailers: Sharing data with suppliers brings savings and growth
When it comes to sharing sales data, many retailers like to play things close to the vest, refusing to share with others. The data is proprietary, they don't want the competition to see how they're doing, they want to get paid for sharing data, or they just don't see...
Are you ready for the reverse ASN?
You've seen us talk about the ASN before — the Advanced Shipping Notice. It's the advanced notification about an incoming shipment, and many of the large retailers require it from their suppliers these days. But we haven't talked at all about the Reverse ASN. We're...
When your retailer asks to trade electronically with EDI
Smaller suppliers that have been selling to smaller retail partners have probably found a nice little groove — your retail buyer emails a purchase order, which you enter into your inventory system. The order gets packed and shipped, and you send it off to your...
Highlights from CodeDay 2018 Minneapolis & Toronto at SPS Commerce
SPS Commerce hosted CodeDay 2018 in Minneapolis and Toronto on February 17th and 18th and both were a smashing success. CodeDay is a coding event for high school and college student programmers, artists, musicians, actors and everyone else to get together for 24 hours...
EDI for pet product retailers and suppliers
EDI has helped a variety of businesses in retail and the retail supply chain. Its improved accuracy, communication and speed capabilities have played an important role in the growth and streamlining of grocery, cosmetics, sports, home improvement and other industries....
Distributors and wholesalers: Add services to attract new business
Due to shifts in the retail and retail supply chain industry, distributors and wholesalers have had a lot to think about to make sure they’re able to maintain and expand their business. One of the approaches that distributors and wholesalers are taking is to offer...
EDI 861: Receiving Advice/Acceptance Certificate
The Receiving Advice/Acceptance Certificate is growing in popularity as more and more retailers rely on their trading partners to help manage inventory. The EDI 861 document is often used in automatic stock-replenishment programs managed by the supplier or vendor. As...
EDI for health, beauty and cosmetics retail and supply
EDI has played an important role in the growth and streamlining of the retail clothing, industrial supplies and grocery industries. And it can have a positive impact on the cosmetics and beauty retail vertical as well. There's a growing demand for healthy, beauty and...
EDI 101: 5 signs your business could benefit from EDI – WEBINAR
You may have heard that electronic data interchange (EDI) is essential to your supply-chain business, or maybe you were recently told you must have it in order to be compliant with a retailer you support––but you’re not exactly sure how it works or how it can benefit...
Consumer’s evolving digital shopping habits
Ask any parent of teenagers how hard it is to keep up with their teens' ever-changing habits: favorite music and TV shows, favorite video games, and even their friends. All of that will change from week to week and even day to day, and the parents feel like they're...
RWC reaps the rewards of new sales with EDI for SAP
In 2017, Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC) signed with a new retailer with over 2,000 selling locations that would carry more than 100 RWC product SKUs at each location. “If we were still doing EDI manually, this account would have required a team of ten full-time...
5 ways technology drives down costs in retail, supply chain
People often like to complain about how technology has made our lives busier instead of easier, and with good reason. It has gotten easier to create more information, but that means we've got more to read. It has gotten easier to communicate with other people, but now...
Clarks and SPS Commerce Analytics: People make the difference
Clarks’ story begins almost 200 years ago, in 1825, Cyrus and James Clark made a slipper from sheepskin off-cuts. Not exactly the types of products that retailers are typically selling to consumers these days, giving an idea to just how deep this company's history...
Automated three-way match for distributors and wholesalers
Technology and the internet have transformed many aspects of our world. With so much information available, everything is speeding up and there’s more options than ever. That’s true for every industry and sector, including distributors and wholesalers. Whether you’re...
Creating the perfect order
By Jim Bork, Vice President of Sales at Oracle NetSuite Delivering on your key stakeholders’ expectations comes from the ability to complete the perfect order. Getting the right products delivered at the best price, when, how and where they want is the expectation...
Reverse logistics planning for the retail supply chain
There's more to returns than simply people getting the wrong sized aquamarine sweater or Grandma getting you a Star Wars lunchbox when you really wanted a Star Trek thermos. Holiday returns only account for 24% of retailers’ annual returns – most happen outside of...
How data analytics enable agility across supply chains
Everything is driven by data these days. The marketing department analyzes data to know which ads and campaigns work, production analyzes data to know if their associates are working to capacity, and even the banking world is analyzing mountains of data to better...
Difficulties of managing the grocery supply chain
The grocery supply chain can be difficult enough, but when it comes to produce, the stakes are higher. Consumers are switching from consumer-packaged goods to fresh foods, like fruit and vegetables and if it’s not fresh, they will take their business elsewhere....
![Sourcing solution from SPS Commerce [VIDEO]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/sourcing-solution-sps-commerce.png)
Sourcing solution from SPS Commerce [VIDEO]
The Sourcing solution from SPS Commerce is the assortment expansion and management solution designed for merchandising across all your channels. The solution provides retailers access to the largest network of products worldwide, instant access to vendors and shortens...
SPS Tower has a nice ring to it
BIG news! There’s a new building in town. Well, not really – but the building formerly known as 333 South Seventh Street has been renamed SPS Tower. The change comes as a result of our company’s growth, as well as a renewed lease agreement. SPS Commerce currently...
Retail’s million dollar business problems – and opportunities
The thing about small problems is that they often turn into big problems further on down the line. NASA lost the $125 million Mars Orbiter due to a “failed translation of English units into metric units.” A French railway bought 2,000 cars that were just a few inches...
A well-oiled supply chain, Princess Auto and SPS Commerce
Princess Auto Ltd. is a Canadian company based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Today, the retailer has 44 stores and over 2,400 team members to complete your purchase whether it be in-store, online, or on the phone. “Doing business electronically is the only way to do...
Food Logistics names SPS to FL100+ List for 8th consecutive year
The annual Food Logistics FL100+ list identifies leading software and technology providers that help food and beverage manufacturers, food service distributors and grocery retailers to better compete and become more efficient. SPS Commerce has been named to the list...
Rise of the Marketplaces: Predictions for the future
Now that e-commerce is a way of life for most people, and Amazon has become one of the biggest retailers in the world, marketplaces are popular alternative channels for retailers who want to increase their sales. Marketplaces are also useful for vendors who want to...
Retail technology service providers bring sales into focus
There's a great story about advertising giant David Ogilvy writing a monograph about how to make car commercials. He sent a copy of the book to every car manufacturer in the United Sates. His staff thought he was crazy, because he just shared their big secrets. But...
Physical retail locations vital for true shopper engagement
While many traditional retail stores are closing physical retail locations, such as Kmart, Sears, JCPenney, Macys, that doesn't mean the retail store is dying by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, there are 4,080 more retail stores opening than are closing this...
Rise of the Marketplaces: Drop shipping and Marketplaces together
Thanks to companies like Amazon, Overstock, and Wayfair, e-commerce marketplaces are becoming a popular way for both retailers and suppliers to reach new customers without a lot of capital outlay or overhead. It doesn’t require additional marketing expenditures...
Opportunities for omnichannel and the importance of retail stores
Our annual benchmark report, Retail Insight: Moving Beyond Omnichannel, looks at several different trends that are important in the retail arena, affecting retailers, distributors and manufacturers. We’ve been publishing this report every year for the past five years,...
Differentiating yourself from other competing retailers
In a world where retailers often try to differentiate themselves from other, competing retailers in order to catch consumer attention, it's sometimes a little difficult to find that one special thing to do the trick. It's even worse when facing off against the online...
Growing and thriving as grocery competition heats up
The grocery competition for local and small chain grocers and stores has never been greater. Amazon has acquired Whole Foods and has been trying to set a trend for online grocery shopping while slashing prices. Walmart has been experimenting with grocery buy online...
Endless aisle doesn’t come with endless resources
When it comes to the filling the Endless Aisle, Amazon has pretty much ruined the curve for other retailers who want to fill their online presence with inventory, while Walmart is trying its own tactics to expand it's already considerable product catalog. With SKU...
E-commerce wave hits vendors as retailer expectations rise
When e-commerce took off, it started cutting into retailers' in-store businesses, causing a bit of panic. To add fuel to the fire, marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Etsy have been spawning and growing over the years. Not to mention hundreds and thousands of small...
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