Improved Member Visibility for Unitas Wholesale

Industry Type

Groceries

Business Type

Buying group

The Client

After a successful merger, Unitas Wholesale wanted a rebate management system that allowed their suppliers and merchants to collaborate together and make better deals.

With a turnover exceeding £8.5bn, Unitas Wholesale is the UK's largest wholesale services company formed in 2018 following the merge of two well established and leading buying groups (Todays Group and Landmark Wholesale Ltd). They are dedicated to supporting 180 independent wholesalers and their membership reach includes retail, foodservice, on-trade, and specialist markets, making them multi-channel experts and the most diverse group in the industry.

The Challenge

Spreadsheets

Unitas has been working with Enable Rebate Management since 2012 to help track, calculate and manage their rebates. Before Unitas implemented the system it was a manual process with errors aplenty and missing rebates.

As Amanda Barnard, Systems Coordinator at Unitas Wholesale tells us “There was a small team in the finance department manually processing the rebates using masses of spreadsheets to key in the figures”.  Although these are easy to use, widely available and highly adaptable, we have seen with many of our clients that they can make data input slow and are prone to human error.

Amanda further goes on to say that “Forecasting and reporting was slow and inaccurate. As a result, rebate thresholds and business opportunities were all too often missed”.

Member visibility

Before the merger, using a manual system meant lots of potential for error and the figures were in lots of different formats making the process very complicated. Plus, members of the buying group were becoming frustrated because they found that they couldn’t see their own figures or track their rebates until year end.

Without a robust system in place Unitas knew they were potentially losing out on revenue but by solving these issues they could make sure that earned discounts were claimed correctly.

The Solution

Being experts in rebate management, we invested heavily in understanding their business needs and in doing so we provided a suite of supplier and member facing systems that allowed promotions and deals to be set up, signed off and then communicated across the Unitas group.

Why Enable?

The relationship came about because a previous MD of Todays Group knew Denys Shortt who is the chairman of Enable and CEO of DCS.

Having met with Enable, Unitas could clearly see that they understood their requirements and knew a lot about rebate management systems which Amanda said, “was a big bonus for them”. Unitas needed a company that understood how rebates work, otherwise it was a worthless process for them.

Unitas were also confident that Enable had relevant experience in their sector, since Enable was already working with other buying groups.

Uncovering Missing Rebates

Unitas have discovered a number of benefits from implementing a Rebate Management System including the number one reason - being able to uncover missing rebates.

For their members who are accessing and using the system, Amanda says “The rebate management system had a positive impact on cash flow. Payments were faster, and they could now track their own potential earnings and achieve higher growth levels and targets, meaning they could stay one step ahead of the competition”.

“The suppliers are also seeing excellent benefits and see the potential. Their own areas were growing!”.

In terms of signing off complex deals, these have now become “easier to understand and track”. The deal approval process, with sign-off required from both parties, ensures that fewer claims are challenged and there is clarity in what was agreed.

“I think that anybody who's working with rebates in any way, shape or form, should use Enable. It's an absolute no-brainer. If you think that your rebate programs are complex and too special for Enable, and that you're not going to be able to load them in and have Enable make the calculations, you're wrong”.
Amanda Barnard
Systems Coordinator

Takeaways

  • Faster payments and better tracking of potential earnings led to a positive impact on cash flow for Unitas Wholesale members.

  • The ability to track earnings and streamline processes enabled Unitas Wholesale members to achieve higher growth levels and targets.

  • The implementation of Enable's Rebate Management System resulted in fewer errors, clearer deal terms, and a more efficient process for both Unitas Wholesale and their suppliers.

Key Results:

£8.5BN
Revenue
180
Independent wholesalers
See what Enable can do for you.
Get a Demo

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Improved Member Visibility for Unitas Wholesale

Industry Type

Groceries

Business Type

Buying group

The Client

After a successful merger, Unitas Wholesale wanted a rebate management system that allowed their suppliers and merchants to collaborate together and make better deals.

With a turnover exceeding £8.5bn, Unitas Wholesale is the UK's largest wholesale services company formed in 2018 following the merge of two well established and leading buying groups (Todays Group and Landmark Wholesale Ltd). They are dedicated to supporting 180 independent wholesalers and their membership reach includes retail, foodservice, on-trade, and specialist markets, making them multi-channel experts and the most diverse group in the industry.

The Challenge

Spreadsheets

Unitas has been working with Enable Rebate Management since 2012 to help track, calculate and manage their rebates. Before Unitas implemented the system it was a manual process with errors aplenty and missing rebates.

As Amanda Barnard, Systems Coordinator at Unitas Wholesale tells us “There was a small team in the finance department manually processing the rebates using masses of spreadsheets to key in the figures”.  Although these are easy to use, widely available and highly adaptable, we have seen with many of our clients that they can make data input slow and are prone to human error.

Amanda further goes on to say that “Forecasting and reporting was slow and inaccurate. As a result, rebate thresholds and business opportunities were all too often missed”.

Member visibility

Before the merger, using a manual system meant lots of potential for error and the figures were in lots of different formats making the process very complicated. Plus, members of the buying group were becoming frustrated because they found that they couldn’t see their own figures or track their rebates until year end.

Without a robust system in place Unitas knew they were potentially losing out on revenue but by solving these issues they could make sure that earned discounts were claimed correctly.

The Solution

Being experts in rebate management, we invested heavily in understanding their business needs and in doing so we provided a suite of supplier and member facing systems that allowed promotions and deals to be set up, signed off and then communicated across the Unitas group.

Why Enable?

The relationship came about because a previous MD of Todays Group knew Denys Shortt who is the chairman of Enable and CEO of DCS.

Having met with Enable, Unitas could clearly see that they understood their requirements and knew a lot about rebate management systems which Amanda said, “was a big bonus for them”. Unitas needed a company that understood how rebates work, otherwise it was a worthless process for them.

Unitas were also confident that Enable had relevant experience in their sector, since Enable was already working with other buying groups.

Uncovering Missing Rebates

Unitas have discovered a number of benefits from implementing a Rebate Management System including the number one reason - being able to uncover missing rebates.

For their members who are accessing and using the system, Amanda says “The rebate management system had a positive impact on cash flow. Payments were faster, and they could now track their own potential earnings and achieve higher growth levels and targets, meaning they could stay one step ahead of the competition”.

“The suppliers are also seeing excellent benefits and see the potential. Their own areas were growing!”.

In terms of signing off complex deals, these have now become “easier to understand and track”. The deal approval process, with sign-off required from both parties, ensures that fewer claims are challenged and there is clarity in what was agreed.

“I think that anybody who's working with rebates in any way, shape or form, should use Enable. It's an absolute no-brainer. If you think that your rebate programs are complex and too special for Enable, and that you're not going to be able to load them in and have Enable make the calculations, you're wrong”.

Key Results:

£8.5BN
Revenue
180
Independent wholesalers
See what Enable can do for you
Get a Demo