Best Channel Management Software

What Is Channel Management Software?

Channel management software is a technologically driven tool that streamlines processes like online distribution, inventory, billing and analysis of the various aspects of the channel.  It is one of the easiest ways to get various channel marketing solutions and ensure that the operations are taken place within the right timeline and available resources.

In general, the function of multi channel software can be stated as -

• Staff recruiting
• Manage channel sales
• Maintaining partner lifecycle
• Channel promotion and marketing
• Sales forecasting
• Compensation planning

What Type of Buyer Are You?

As we have already mentioned that a channel sales management system is the only thing that businesses of all sorts require to have to streamline its operation, you need to understand your buying need beforehand. Usually, a multi channel management software comes with different sort of features and all the features are there for a specific function. If you want to make most of your purchased channel marketing software then understand what sort of buyer you are first.

• Buyers dealing in manufacturing - If you are a manufacturer buyer then you need to have a  collateral distribution and partner management channel marketing software that can easily provide multiple channel marketing solutions including order receiving and completion process.
• Buyers dealing in distribution - If you work at distribution front, you need to have channel partner management software that can easily do pricing, barcode reading, and track shipping details.
• Buyers dealing in wholesale and retail - These types of buyer would be requiring a channel sales management system to maintain a continuous communication channel between the whole sellers and regional retail. In addition, strong accounting integration and collateral distribution are other needs.
• Buyers dealing in OEM/VAR – Buyers of this category would be in deep need to have channel marketing software that can easily take care of product branding, order processing, accounting, and collateral customization and offer various channel marketing solutions.

Benefits of Channel Management Software

Channel management software has become the spine of all sort of industries wherein there are various components are involved. The reason being is that it not only sorted out the things during day-to-day operations but also help them to reduce customer retention. If we talk about the benefits of owning multi channel ecommerce software then below mentioned key points are worth noticing.

• Quick and prompt operations: As a channel sales management system comes with an automated integration, it gives you multiple channel marketing solutions and helps you to perform each task quickly and promptly. You can easily update an inventory, notify the client about the booking and any further changes, get in touch with your distributors and retailers and make sales reports over a single click. This automation of tasks helps you save a great deal of time.
• Hassle-free management: Channel management is a highly daunting task that demands your attention to various sectors. Using multi channel ecommerce software in your operation reduces your headache in this section. The informative dashboard feature of channel partner portal software keeps you updated about each and every progress. You can easily get the order details, view work progress, view booking, update the team about any new order, get resources availability details and maintain sync between every component of your operations. When you have everything readily available over a single place then arranging and sorting out the things is pretty easy.
• Around the clock access to your data: Most of the channel software comes with cloud-based integration. This one simple thing makes a huge difference when you carry out your real-time day-to-day operations. Channel management software brings all your data over a single place that reduces your efforts in data importing and exporting. Your team can get any information from anywhere without being actually present over there. The aid of multi channel management software in providing easy data access gains an upper edge with the help of mobile interface. With mobile app support, you can actually work on the go. Mobile reporting feature of channel management software allows carrying on your operations even when you are not at your work desk.
• Easy and timely inventory updating: Inventory updating and management is one such area where the aid of multi channel ecommerce software is beyond comparison.  The channel marketing software has easy drag-and-drop editing feature that allows a user to do changes of all sorts without much of brainstorming. Apart from that, you will get auto inventory notification once a particular stock start coming to an end.  With such wide ranged multi channel software solutions, it is indeed the best business aid.
• Better and accurate accounting: Accounting is indeed one of the most daunting tasks to handle regardless of the size and sort of the business. The right implementation of a Channel Partner Portal Software in this area eliminates the errors and performs accounting tasks easily and accurately.  Using a Channel Partner Management Software, you can easily consolidate partner details, prepare sales reports and change invoicing at any point in time.
• Easy reservation: One of the most notable benefits of hotel channel manager software is easy reservation and online booking.  With the help of best hotel channel management software, hotel industry can streamline online booking, get room availability details and update the staff about any new booking from a single click.
• Unified property management: If you own multiple hotel properties then hotel channel manager software will help you do unified property management without much of hassle. You can easily keep a check over the maintenance process along with booking at different locations.

Market Trends You Should Understand

Channel management software has come into the mainstream and more and more businesses are relying upon it when it comes to having an informative business channel at each level.  Depending on the recent business demand, channel management software includes some added features. These latest multi channel ecommerce software trends need to know and comprehend in order to stay relevant. Here is a list of latest trends in channel partner portal software.

• CRM integration - Channel management system of today’s era comes with CRM integration in order to maintain uniformity in the operations.  The trend has gained much of name and fame in the industry as it helped businesses to get multiple channel management solutions simultaneously.
• Software as a Service is in demand - Businesses of all sort has made a shift towards SaaS or Software as Service-based channel partner portal software in recent times.  Unlike on-premise channel marketing software, cloud-based channel partner management software allows a user to work from anywhere only with the help of a stable internet connection.
• Automatic ordering – Online booking has gained much of eminence in the current day. The hotel channel management system allows a user to book a room of its choice from the comfort of its home.  Automatic ordering helps the hotel industry to maintain sync with the client and the hotel staff.

Features of Channel Management Software

Channel management software is one such tool that helps a business to reduce operational cost, work burden and errors from operations.  Multi channel ecommerce platform software is not a single thing. It is basically a suite of features that combine with each other and furnish innovatory product together.  All those notable features of multi channel software that makes it worthy can be explained as:

• CRM - With the help of CRM features of multi channel management software users can easily maintain continuous communication, know the progress over a customer concern, review the feed and get instant update.  
• Online booking – This feature of a hotel channel management system allows a hotel business to manage the online booking at all the levels.
• Sales & marketing - With the help of this feature of your multi channel management software, you can easily get various channel marketing solutions like effective, inexpensive and result-oriented sales and marketing activity of your product and channel management services.
• Banquet & Conference - This feature of your hotel channel management system helps you to manage multiple banquets at the same time, arrange a special menu, generate extra work report and do direct billing.
• POS invoicing - The use of POS invoicing feature of a channel management system is highly productive when you indeed need to have customized invoicing, easy editing and print multiple bills. By providing such assorted channel marketing solutions, it streamlines entire operations.
• Material management - Dedicated to streamline material procurement and distribution process, this feature of a hotel channel manager software perform tasks like define multiple stores, authorized person access, manage the transaction, and verify stock periodically.
• Reservation - Your hotel channel management system has reservation feature that helps you to send a direct booking confirmation to the client and staff over a single click, do guest classification, inform about the booking and cancellation to the travel agent, attach cancellation policy and list negotiation rates.
• Maintenance management - The use of this feature of your channel management system can be stated as to know the area of maintenance, get a work progress report, review the task and ensure time and cost bound maintenance.