Data Payments, Unlock Supply Chain Efficiencies

During the supply-chain troubles that started with the pandemic, retailers have learned the importance of visibility. Accurate information about production and delivery times can help retailers improve and maintain their relationships with vendors and customers.

“I think they’re just looking for answers,” Sue Welch, CEO at Bamboo Rose, told PYMNTS. She’s seen the value of those answers among the retailers that use the company’s multi-enterprise product and supply-chain platform. Those that have all their vendors on the platform can easily communicate, collaborate and see what’s happening in factories — and have the surety of supply that so many other retailers lack nowadays.

The company recently expanded its capabilities. On Dec. 15, it announced a new partnership with Blue Yonder, a leading digital supply-chain and omnichannel commerce fulfillment provider, to help retailers develop a more profitable, consumer-driven product assortment strategy.

Welch compared the partnership to a puzzle where the pieces fit together, but nothing overlaps.

“It was just ideal,” she said. “When we put it together, we saw basically no overlap, and it really would allow us to do end-to-end, from ideation through to delivery to the stores.”

Working With Vendors is Top of Mind

Even before the new partnership, Bamboo Rose saw the value that the visibility provided by its platform gives its customers.

For example, buyers and suppliers have learned that what matters is partnerships during the supply chain troubles. When participants share information and fulfill commitments, everyone prospers. Conversely, buyers won’t soon forget a supplier that unilaterally cancels its contracts.

“All the suppliers have shortages, so as they look to allocate out capacity and production, they’re looking and saying, ‘Who partnered with us early? Who could we work with that could help us drive down not just their own cost but our cost? So, I think the surety of supply and working with vendors, we certainly see that’s top of mind for everybody,” Welch said.

Accurate Information Retains Customers

Just as this visibility improves retailers’ relationships with the vendors, it can also improve customer service. While consumers are learning that they may have to wait longer for some products than before the pandemic, they still want an accurate estimate of when their purchases will arrive. The Bamboo Rose platform tracks production and tracks what’s in transit so retailers can accurately promise delivery times to their customers.

“There’s a lot of pent-up demand that’s just being splurged on, so it’s just a matter of, ‘How do you navigate through this with your customers so that you’re not losing sales of something that you know is coming in, but then you’re not alienating the customer because you didn’t have visibility and just thought it was coming?’” Welch said.

Visibility also benefits clients seeking trade finance. Because Bamboo Rose has embedded the payments process into the business flow, it has the information that comes with creating commercial invoices, packing lists, bookings, and trace and track. In turn, Bamboo Rose can share this information with financing partners.

“That became a huge differentiator, giving that visibility, so they trusted the data,” Welch said. “We now see some of the ones that we’re working with now starting to say, ‘Before, I would only finance the invoice; I’m willing to go upstream and finance the purchase order.’”