About the Client
A prominent multi-division consumer goods manufacturer and distributor, headquartered in western India, with a strong presence across personal care, home hygiene, and packaged foods. The company serves a wide dealer and institutional network through a hybrid distribution model and maintains partnerships with over 800 channel customers, including wholesalers, retail chains, and modern trade partners.
Recognized for its efficient supply chain and focus on digital innovation, the organization continues to invest in scalable technology platforms that simplify partner engagement, reduce operational overhead, and improve order lifecycle visibility across divisions and regions.
The Challenge
The company faced growing complexity in managing B2B retail orders due to:
- Fragmented order registration processes via email, spreadsheets, and phone.
- Delays in order acknowledgment and dispatch visibility.
- Manual GRN (Goods Receipt Note) processing at customer end.
- Difficulty in tracking order status across divisions and company codes.
These inefficiencies led to inconsistent customer experiences, increased turnaround times, and a high dependency on internal support teams for routine order status inquiries.
The Solution
A custom-built Retail Order Management Portal, integrated with SAP, was deployed to streamline the entire B2B ordering lifecycle across all divisions and customer types.
The portal offered a unified interface for customers, internal teams, and SAP operations to interact in real-time.
Key Features
- Secure login via SAP-registered email and division selection.
- Excel-based Order Upload using standardized templates.
- Order Acknowledgement, Pending Orders, and Dispatch Status reports with smart filters.
- GRN Upload using pre-formatted templates linked to invoice numbers.
- Multi-division and company code support with role-based access.
- Inline validation with instant error messaging on file uploads.
Outcomes & Business Impact
The portal brought meaningful efficiency improvements to customer operations and internal teams alike.
Manual Orders via Email
Before: ~85% of total orders.
After: ~25% of total orders.
GRN Processing Errors
Before: ~12%.
After: ~3–5%.
Order Acknowledgment Delays
Before: 2–3 days.
After: Within 1 business day.
Customer Support Tickets for Orders
Before: ~80 per month.
After: ~25–30 per month.
Qualitative Benefits
- Customers empowered with self-service order and GRN uploads.
- Support team workload reduced, with fewer follow-ups.
- Structured templates improving data consistency in SAP.
- Improved auditability and division-wise operational visibility.
Future Scope
To further enhance customer experience, future plans include:
- AI-based auto-validation of order templates before submission.
- Chatbot assistant for real-time help and order FAQs.
- SAP Analytics Cloud integration for customer order trends.
- Email notifications for failed uploads and pending GRNs.
- Mobile-responsive portal experience.