Customers and trade accounts
Bring customer contacts, buying history, branch relationships and account responsibilities together. Distinguish retail customers from trade accounts, including delivery locations and agreed commercial terms.
Retail & distribution
From the customer’s request to the order you can deliver.
A sale depends on more than the customer record. Prices, availability, delivery and service all shape the promise you make. OOB Consulting connects Salesforce with the business applications that help retail and distribution teams keep that promise visible and manageable.
Discuss your project
Business workflows
Connect the commercial and fulfilment journey.
An order may start with a salesperson, continue through a warehouse and end with a support request. Connect the customer, product and order references across those steps so each team can act without asking the customer to repeat the whole story.
Products, variants and price lists
Structure product references, variants, pack sizes and units of sale. Manage customer-specific prices and discount approvals using a clear source of truth, so quotations reflect the right product and commercial terms.
Quotations, orders and repeat purchases
Keep quote revisions, approved prices and customer decisions with the order. Support repeat-order preparation and track changes or cancellations before they reach fulfilment and finance.
Stock visibility and reservations
Distinguish physical stock, reserved quantities and what is available to promise. Where you hold goods for customers, keep customer-owned inventory separate from stock for sale. Use warehouse or ERP data as the agreed source.
Delivery status and order exceptions
Connect dispatch, delivery references and partial fulfilment to the customer’s order. Make shortages, backorders and changed delivery dates visible to the people responsible for customer communication.
Returns, warranty and after-sales requests
Link a service request to the original product and order, including serial or batch references where maintained. Track assessment, approval, replacement or refund handover with clear ownership and customer updates.
Ecommerce and self-service connections
Connect website orders and customer enquiries to the CRM. Where useful, provide an authenticated customer or trade portal for agreed order information and service requests, with access restricted to that customer’s records.
Retention, campaigns and loyalty
Use purchase history and stated preferences to define relevant customer segments and follow-up. If a loyalty programme is needed, agree earning, redemption and tier rules, then assess the required product licences and connections.
Invoices, payments and recurring charges
Connect order and invoice references, payment status and agreed billing schedules. For storage or other recurring services, define the charge basis and review process before generating billing data for the responsible finance system.
Commercial and operational reporting
Follow sales by customer, product or channel alongside open orders, fulfilment exceptions and service demand. Report on repeat purchases and margins only where reliable purchase and cost data support those measures.
How we approach it
Agree which system owns the stock and the money.
Salesforce can organise the customer-facing workflow while an ERP, warehouse platform, payment provider or ecommerce system remains responsible for its own records. We define ownership, update frequency, reconciliation and failure handling before connecting them. Point-of-sale, warehouse and finance replacement are separate scope decisions.
How we workQuestions to consider
Can this support both retail and wholesale customers?
Yes. We can define separate account types, pricing, approval and fulfilment rules while keeping a shared customer and product structure where appropriate.
Will Salesforce replace our ERP or inventory system?
Not by default. We first identify what should remain in each system and what your sales or service team needs to see. A connection may be enough; replacement needs its own business case and implementation scope.
Can we manage goods stored on behalf of customers?
That can be designed as a distinct workflow. Ownership, storage location, reserved quantities, release approval and any storage charges must be defined separately from stock owned by your business for resale.
What should we prepare for a first discussion?
Bring a typical order journey, your product and pricing structure, and a list of the systems handling stock, delivery and finance. Include the exceptions that create the most manual work for your team.
Client reviews
★★★★★
Retail & distribution
Review summary
Proactive planning and flexible project execution.
Verified CustomerRead on Salesforce
★★★★★
Retail & distribution
Review summary
Salesforce tailored to trading workflows and delivered promptly.
Verified CustomerRead on Salesforce
