How to Pitch SupplyPike to Your Boss

SaaS solutions for retail suppliers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and they are not all created equal. This makes asking for funding for one sometimes pretty challenging, so we thought we would lay out an approach that we have seen work in the past. 

Explain Your Pain

On average, suppliers are losing 6.5% of their invoices to deductions. Your leadership may not even know there are issues with retailer deductions in the first place. Answering these questions may help your leaders understand the severity of the situation. 

• How much is your team losing? How much are they recovering?

• What are the specific needs of your role, your team, leadership, and what are the needs of your company? 

• How much time is your team spending manually researching and disputing deductions every week?

• What projects/tasks/initiatives get put on the back burner because too much time is spent on deductions/fines?

• What are the gaps in the current process caused by the manual nature of the retailers processes? 

• Is your team reapplying learnings from other retailer deductions program?

By understanding the pitfalls that steal time and resources from your team, it's easier to present how SupplyPike can help. Your leadership will appreciate both your efforts and your desire to be more productive and efficient.

Show Them the Money 

SupplyPike's solutions for Revenue Loss at Walmart, Amazon, Target, and Kroger don't just "talk the talk", they also have tangible benefits for our 500+ customers. 

• SupplyPike has recovered $600 million (and counting) for suppliers that use our platforms.

• Connect your data from retailer portals, 3PL's, and shipping documents; all in one place.

• SupplyPike customers cut time disputing to an hour a week.

• SupplyPike never takes a percentage of what's recovered, rather suppliers paid a flat rate based on shipping volume.

Reframing the RevLoss Mindset 

In the CPG industry, change is inevitable. Best-in-class suppliers understand that getting paid is only half the battle --  the other half is getting better. Being ahead of your revenue loss requires new strategies, relying on old methods will yield the same results. 

SupplyPike's mission is to take the friction out of commerce. While there's still work to be done with creating new internal processes and strategies, SupplyPike's solutions are built to take on the heavy lifting of recovering deductions and empowering your business to focus on initiatives that move the needle. 

How SupplyPike's Products Address Retailer Challenges

SupplyPike comprises solutions across Walmart, Amazon, Target, and Kroger. Each solution is built to address the unique issues for each retailer, and you'll likely want to show how each product can mitigate major pain points when disputing deductions and chargebacks. 

SupplyPike for Walmart

Walmart suppliers spend vast amounts of time in Retail Link and create macro-ridden spreadsheets with complex pivot tables. There are three major deduction and compliance programs that can triple-dip into your bottom line on a single error. Leveraging SupplyPike means unmatched visibility, automated disputing, and actionable insights. 

Walmart Deductions

Walmart has 70+ AP deduction codes it uses to explain why it didn't pay the invoice in full. Does your leadership know how much money your company loses to deductions on a monthly, quarterly, and annual cadence? Do they know how many of these deductions are disputable?

The average Walmart supplier is losing 6.5% of their invoices to deductions and 15 minutes each deduction. Our shipping document integration allows for automated validity checks and automated, bulk, and one-click disputing, saving you valuable time while allowing for you to maintain control of your deductions management.

Walmart Compliance

Every Walmart supplier must comply with strict On Time In Full (OTIF) program every month, or else face hefty fines up to 3% of cost of goods sold (COGS) from Walmart. The OTIF scorecard in Retail Link only provides a brief summary, not the full picture. Not to mention, disputing happens in a completely separate portal.

Walmart's newer Supplier Quality Excellence Program (SQEP) has lately become even more costly to Walmart suppliers than OTIF. SQEP makes sure that suppliers maintain a robust supply chain, regulating things like PO, barcode, and labeling accuracy. 

SupplyPike allows you to put proactive measures in place to prevent those costly fines and dispute OTIF and SQEP fines in the same place. SupplyPike empowers improved performance and reduced fines from carrier and warehouse partners with in-depth scorecards and unmatched visibility. It may serve you well to highlight how the platform stores your data indefinitely, whereas OTIF data in Retail Link disappears after three months.

SupplyPike for Amazon 

Amazon Deductions 

Amazon suppliers aren't aware of Amazon's 30-day window for disputing deductions. Although, 90% of approvals come from the optimal window, It's nearly impossible to keep track of the timeline of each dispute.

SupplyPike's automated disputing features are designed to ensure that you not only meet this tight timeline but also get paid faster. SupplyPike is able to automatically consolidate purchase orders (POs), proof of delivery (PODs), and bills of lading (BOLs) to provide  seamless, one-click solutions for disputing invalid deductions.

Amazon Co-Op

The complexities of Co-Op deductions make it hard to identify invalid charges. SupplyPike simplifies this process by providing effortless Co-Op rebates, agreements, and dispute tracking. Real-time validity checks of Co-Op charges are available, making sure you're only paying what you should. 

Root Cause Analysis for Improved Performance  

SupplyPike is able to centralize all data to reveal actionable insights that can help  identify the root causes of supply chain issues. The various pages on the SupplyPike platform provide summary business-level reporting for deductions and compliance, allowing you to identify your most common deduction and chargeback codes. The app can also compare deductions across fulfillment centers, items, and more, providing visibility into every level of revenue loss in your business.

SupplyPike for Target

The average Target supplier is losing 3% of invoices to deductions, with some experiencing losses exceeding 10%. 

Target Deductions

Supplier teams can easily become overwhelmed with time-consuming manual tasks in the deductions dispute process. SupplyPike is able to help automatically fetch and attach proof documents, bulk dispute multiple deductions in seconds, and submit ready disputes to Synergy with a single click. It may help to focus on SupplyPike's seamless integrations with Partners Online, carriers, and 3PLs to provide every detail of every deduction.

Biggest Roadblocks to Recovery: Redisputing and Unpaid Invoices

Redisputing and Unpaid Invoices are the two biggest areas where Target suppliers leave money on the table. It can take suppliers up to 3-4 disputes on average to get an approval. SupplyPike makes it simple to redispute with auto-disputing and dispute tracking.

Most suppliers aren't aware that they aren't being paid consistently by Target. Track your invoices in-app to easily identify where you're losing revenue and how to prevent and recover losses.

SupplyPike for Kroger

Kroger suppliers regularly face the daunting challenge of deductions and compliance fees. It's not just about losing revenue; it's about the precious time wasted on manual tasks. How much more efficient would your team become if they could instantly submit claims, clearing deductions and compliance fees from the books in seconds?

Kroger Deductions

SupplyPike simplifies disputing. The platform provides a range of automated features, from fetching and attaching shipping documents as dispute proof (PODs and BOLs) to allowing the team to dispute multiple deductions with a single click. A key benefit to highlight is the centralization of deductions management. Access the details of every deduction with all associated documentation, without ever logging into Lavante

SupplyPike for Future Retailers

Didn't see the retailer that is causing your team's biggest headache? SupplyPike is constantly building new features and expanding to new retailers. Check out the SupplierWiki newsletter for exciting updates coming in 2024!

Next Steps

After making progress with a decision maker, the next logical step in our process is to schedule a demo with your leadership team and our product experts. You can also create an account and integrate your data securely, which takes less than 5 minutes, to see if the SupplyPike solution is a good fit with your business.

If you get stuck or need guidance, please feel free to reach out to our customer development team (CDS@supplypike.com). If there is a particular aspect of our software you want to highlight but aren't sure how to, let us know. We're here to help.