Enhancements now available for Fulfillment for Sage 500 leveraging MAPADOC technology
By Siobhan Finders, Senior Product Specialist, SPS Commerce With the recent Sage 500 compatibility release, the SPS team has made several enhancements to our Fulfillment System Automation solution for Sage 500 leveraging MAPADOC Technology. Our full-service EDI team...
How Artificial Intelligence is shaping the retail supply chain
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly become mainstream––interjecting itself into almost every aspect of our modern, technology-based lives. The potential of AI to enhance everyday business actions and strategies within the supply chain has been a topic of great...
VIP Products scales business with full-service EDI
Founded by entrepreneur, Steven Sacra, VIP Products manufactures pet toys for today’s toughest dogs and their owners. The business started in his garage and quickly grew as national retailers discovered his product line. For Sacra, growth required automation,...
![Automate your purchase order to invoice reconciliation [INFOGRAPHIC]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Screen-Shot-2019-09-25-at-4.13.25-PM-1080x675.png)
Automate your purchase order to invoice reconciliation [INFOGRAPHIC]
Everything is moving faster these days, and but moving too fast and making errors can cost you. This is particularly true for a purchase order to invoice reconciliation. PO to invoice reconciliation compares PO's to invoices and shipping documentation to make sure...
Q4 SPS Commerce events at a glance #MeetSPS
Fall has finally arrived in full force and we’re rapidly approaching the end of 2019! It’s been an exciting second half of the year for us at SPS Commerce with the recent addition of MAPADOC to the SPS family, and our successful multi-city IN>Events19 networking...
Oracle EDI Automation: using the eCommerce Gateway without a translator
Of all the enterprise ERPs out there, Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) arguably has the least out-of-the-box functionality when it comes to EDI. This means that when you buy Oracle you get the platform and the modules, but you’re on your own when it comes to actually...
![Streamlining & simplifying item data management [PODCAST]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Simplifying-item-data-management.jpg)
Streamlining & simplifying item data management [PODCAST]
When you’re managing item data for hundreds or thousands of products, things can get out of hand real fast. That’s especially true if your processes include manual data entry task – anything performed by a human runs the risk for errors. Every retailer or vendor has...
SPS IN>Events19: Connections & conversations for small business entrepreneurs
SPS IN>Events19 focuses on creating conversations that connect successful retail, e-commerce leaders, and our retail technology experts, with small business entrepreneurs. Kicked off earlier this year, we've held these networking events in a variety of cities,...
A collaborative approach to vendor supplier scorecarding
Vendor supplier scorecarding brings to mind an image of penalties imposed by retailers or grocers onto their supplier community. Scorecards are often associated with chargebacks for noncompliance in areas such as late shipments, incomplete shipments or even improperly...
![EDI 101: Five signs your business could benefit from an EDI solution [INFOGRAPHIC]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Screen-Shot-2019-09-25-at-2.27.39-PM-1080x675.png)
EDI 101: Five signs your business could benefit from an EDI solution [INFOGRAPHIC]
An EDI solution opens up communication directly with trading partners and connects multiple business systems, giving you a seamless, end-to-end solution. Sounds dreamy, right? The name Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) just doesn’t do it justice. But what does EDI do,...
Catch up with SPS at Twin Cities Startup Week 2019
About Twin Cities Startup Week 2019 SPS Commerce is proud to call Minneapolis its home and be part of one of the events that make this region great: Twin Cities Startup Week. Every October, more than 17,000 entrepreneurs, tech leaders, sales and marketing...
Shamrock Foods: Success in easy vendor onboarding
Grocery distributor, Shamrock Foods, was experiencing growth and looking for more ways to expand business automation across its retail supply chain, this included easier vendor onboarding. While the food company has used EDI solutions with suppliers for years, they...
Free up your order processing schedule with EDI automation
With the summer behind us, autumn has officially begun, and with this change in season, the busy holiday season is now underway as is a return to standard daylight time. Retailers nation-wide are rejoicing at the ability to use that ‘extra hour’ to manage their retail...
Part 3: Distributed Order Management for Third-party Logistics
By Shravan Talupula, Product Management, Director at Deposco & Carina Wingel, Marketing Director at Deposco As demand from logistics grows, it is apparent 3PL’s are serving their customers in more ways than storing and moving inventory from A to B. Today...
Automation: The understaffing antidote in retail
Now that 2019 holiday planning has begun in earnest, or if you’re hyper-organized its already complete, retailers and suppliers alike are scrambling to address the worker shortage that is plaguing the industry. With unemployment at a nearly 50-year low, finding...
![Retail Order Fulfillment in the Digital Era: How Vendor Partnerships Enhance Execution & Profitability [White paper]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Order-Fulfillment-in-the-digital-era-white-paper-SPS-Commerce-1080x582.png)
Retail Order Fulfillment in the Digital Era: How Vendor Partnerships Enhance Execution & Profitability [White paper]
Over the past decade, many terms—including multi-channel, omnichannel, integrated retail, unified commerce, retail order fulfillment, and others—have been used to describe the changing nature of shopping. All of these terms reflect the same goal: to create an...
![Retail system readiness for the holiday season [PODCAST]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Retail-system-readiness-for-the-holiday-season-Podcast.jpg)
Retail system readiness for the holiday season [PODCAST]
The next episode of Mastering the Retail Game is here, just in time to get you pumped and ready for the holiday shopping season. Every year, retailers and their trading partners revamp their processes, update their technology, open new sales channels and fine tune...
Choosing between supplier portals and EDI platforms
Your business's lifeblood relies on a steady flow of retailer orders through your supplier portals but managing them all can be a nightmare. Vendors we work with here at SPS often share just how difficult it can be to manage multiple supplier portals (also called...
Meet Sarah de St. Aubin: #TeamSPS advocate for volunteerism-powered disaster relief
Welcome to #TeamSPS True Blue Stories #TeamSPS True Blue Stories is a blog series dedicated to highlighting the inspiring stories of SPS employees who bring our values to life in unique and meaningful ways. Sarah de St. Aubin, a volunteerism advocate is our first...
Lyons Industries adds EDI automation, eliminating manual purchase order management
Home improvement supplier eases drop-ship order compliance In 2015, orders for Lyons’ bathtubs and showers were coming in rapidly from home improvement retailers including Menards, Lowes, Home Depot, HD Supply, and many others. Processing orders required many manual...
Transform your Tuesday with EDI system automation
When you first opened up shop, processing documentation wasn’t that big of a task, but something significant happened: business is booming. But now your monthly document volume is growing and processing them through your web portal is eating up vital employee hours...
![DOM: Distributed order management for brands [Part 2]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Distributed-Order-Management-Inventory-Allocation-header-1-1080x675.jpg)
DOM: Distributed order management for brands [Part 2]
By Shravan Talupula, Product Management, Director at Deposco & Carina Wingel, Marketing Director at Deposco Retailers and brands face similar challenges but use very different business processes that require different functionality in a DOM system. In this second...
The Humble Co. meets retailer EDI requirements to stay focused
Helping suppliers who help the planet Founded in Sweden, The Humble Co. is creating a revolution in personal care through its innovative health and wellness products that are eco-friendly, stylish and socially responsible. The supplier began with bamboo toothbrushes...
Streamline grocery supply chain management with full-service EDI
Manual order fulfillment processes are becoming a thing of the past in the grocery supply chain. That’s because consumers are rapidly embracing new grocery supply chain management services like click and collect (also known as buy online, pickup in store or BOPIS)...
![Vendor selection criteria considerations for full-service EDI [White Paper]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Vendor-selection-criteria-considerations-full-service-EDI-SPS-Commerce-1080x675.jpg)
Vendor selection criteria considerations for full-service EDI [White Paper]
As we approach the end of 2019 with third quarter well underway, many CFO’s, controllers, and operational leaders are evaluating their retail technology stacks and vendor selection criteria in identifying EDI technology vendors and platforms to help drive better...
4 tips on EDI vendor selection criteria for finance leaders
As we approach the end of 2019 with third quarter well underway, many CFO’s, controllers, and operational leaders are evaluating their retail technology stacks and vendor selection criteria in identifying EDI technology vendors and platforms to help drive better...
IN>MPLS19 spurs conversations on cloud technology, small business entrepreneurship and mentoring
Sharing small business inspirations from the dorm room to the dinner table Inspiration for a small business can come at any time and for many reasons. Take the panel of entrepreneurs that spoke at SPS Commerce IN>MPLS19 last week. One panelist co-founded a business...
![Distributed order management for retailers and E-tailers [Part one]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Distributed-order-management-for-retailers-and-E-tailers-1080x675.jpg)
Distributed order management for retailers and E-tailers [Part one]
By Shravan Talupula, Product Management, Director at Deposco & Carina Wingel, Marketing Director at Deposco Part 1: Distributed Order Management for Retailers and E-tailers In this first installment of a three-part series, we dive into three of the five key...
Annual SPS employee appreciation BBQ serves up more than food and fun
On August 14th, SPS Commerce hosted our annual employee appreciation BBQ on the lawn of the SPS Tower Turf Club. As is customary, our SPS executive leadership team served up a bountiful array of delicious picnic favorites to our #TeamSPS employees. A mixture of...
Why choosing to automate drop shipping is smart
Manual entry works but volumes can quickly outpace resources Here's why automating your drop shipping is a good idea. Deciding when to automate is difficult, especially for drop shippers. Traditionally, increasing order volumes trigger this change when manual order...
5 reasons to ditch free vendor portals
In life sometimes you get what you pay for Supplier portals (or vendor portals) are usually free which is why some vendors use them to get their orders from retailers. However, most vendors will tell you that they aren’t as great as they appear. The unfortunate truth...
![Seven elements of full-service EDI [Infographic]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SPS-Commerce-Full-Service-EDI-Infographic-blog-post.png)
Seven elements of full-service EDI [Infographic]
If you’re looking for an EDI solution, the countless cloud EDI offerings available in the market today probably all sound the same. How can you tell the difference between providers? For many businesses, EDI is not a core competency. These companies want to minimize...
Thrive Market exec honored for supply chain vendor enablement
Every year RIS News honors several retail executives for their innovation, boldness, and impact through their Pacesetter award. SPS would like to congratulate Jeff Chaput, vice president of supply chain at Thrive Market for being awarded this supply chain honor in...
Peer-to-peer advice to first-time drop shippers
Looking back at any business changes or advancements, you can always identify what went well and where to improve if you were doing it all over again. These learnings can indicate gaps in rollout plans, roles that should have participated more or less, and...
3 questions to ask when considering an EDI solution (from a retail IT perspective)
Over the years, a glut of new system integration platforms has emerged in the retail IT marketplace. They all seem to promise the same thing: a transformation in the way they deliver product support and information to their customers. This often means spending...
![Nanoleaf smart lighting process automation [EDI case study]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-07-31-at-2.08.36-PM.png)
Nanoleaf smart lighting process automation [EDI case study]
In 2015, the IoT movement and smart technology for the home and office were emerging, with one exception. No one had produced a smart light fixture that included the lamp and the light source as an all-in-one product. Nanoleaf was the first to do so, enter this smart...
Full-service EDI offers real-time access to EDI experts
Full-service EDI providers give you expert assistance at the exact time you need it, in the channel of your choosing––including but not limited to–– voice calls, live chat, email, social media, or within your EDI solution. Once your EDI solution is live, the...
How to choose EDI if you are undecided
You may have heard the pros and cons of EDI from your peers, customers, and partners, and haven’t quite been convinced the timing is right for your business to switch from manual order processing to an automated process using EDI. In short, you are not sure how to...
Googling your way to the right EDI provider
You’ve been asked about doing EDI either by a retailer, your senior management or are simply planning ahead. Ignoring it may seem tempting but avoiding EDI can inhibit growth. Before you decide, check out some EDI providers that can make it easier than you expect. The...
Strategies to drive your small business growth and product launch success
To make it in today’s rough and tumble e-commerce marketplace, the savvy small business owner needs a great product, and a willingness to take risks. There have never been as many opportunities (and retail technology tools) to either start an e-commerce business,...
SPS Commerce honored for gender diversity
SPS Commerce was recently named a Winning ‘W’ Company by 2020 Women on Boards for achieving at least twenty percent female gender diversity on its corporate board before the year 2020. Winning ‘W’ Companies are cited in the 2020 Women on Boards (2020WOB) annual Gender...
Annual SPS fundraising brew off mixes fun with corporate community service
SPS employees (SPSers) look forward to summertime as it means an abundance of beautiful weather for lawn games and events at the Turf Club (the extensive greenbelt which surrounds the SPS tower). When you mix in a bit of fun and competition and tie it to our company...
EDI and ERP migration: Critical considerations when replacing both systems
Organizations moving into the modern age tend to grapple with how to implement multi-system IT infrastructure. More specifically to the EDI industry, the grappling often occurs when it comes time to replace both EDI and ERP systems. Natural questions include: Which...
![Wolverine uses retail analytics to boost footwear sales [Video]](https://www.spscommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Retail-Analytics-Sperry-Shoes-Wolverine-Worldwide-SPS-Analytics-SPS-Commerce-1080x675.jpg)
Wolverine uses retail analytics to boost footwear sales [Video]
Retail data can be unorganized and overwhelming for supplier sales teams, preventing them from using it to maximize sell-through and boost retailer confidence in their forecasts. These teams often spend hours wading through retail analytics spreadsheets, Post-Its, and...
Mitigating retail seasonality with EDI retail technology
Order slumps and spikes are a nearly unavoidable seasonal byproduct if you operate a business within the retail industry. Retail seasonality consists of everything from shifts in industry/production practices, to weather patterns, holiday shopping periods, and more....
5 ways to scale your business with retail technology
Understanding how to scale your business into your next phase of growth is daunting and can take considerable effort. This means wearing many hats to get things done. Whether businesses are small startups or retail giants, like Amazon, the adage, “innovate or die”...
How to get purchase order-to-invoice reconciliation right
Considering the pace at which the retail industry is changing it’s becoming harder for retailers to keep up with the demands that consumers are placing on them, as well as the suppliers, vendors and other trading partners who support them. With every link in the...
Three ways retailers can partner with vendors to drive drop shipping success
When done right, drop shipping is an ideal way for retailers to expand their product assortments, reduce shipping costs and delight consumers — all with little capital expense. On the other hand, poor drop shipping execution can create a sub-par customer experience...
Prevent costly and time-consuming errors with full-service EDI
EDI is highly visible to your retail customers and trading partners, especially when something goes wrong. EDI errors can lead to serious issues such as delayed orders, late shipments and damaged customer relationships. That’s why preventing EDI problems before they...
Apparel Magazine Honors Augusta Sportswear Brands’ Automated EDI Initiative
Apparel Magazine recently honored 26 apparel companies for their initiatives using technology to streamline data to impact their business and their supply chains. SPS Commerce was delighted to nominate Augusta Sportswear Brands and see them honored as an Apparel 2019...
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