Case Study
Pedigree Wholesale

Case Study

Pedigree Wholesale: Optimising Marketing Collateral Management

A complete marketing collateral management solution that saves time and reduces risk

Industry: Wholesale

Number of employees: 100+

#inventorymanagement #storage #fulfilment #wholesale

The client

Pedigree Wholesale, one of the UK’s largest pet products wholesalers, have been trading for nearly 50 years. They have a portfolio of over 250 brands and supply to specialist and independent pet retailers across the country.

As a company founded on family values, Pedigree Wholesale has earned a reputation for offering customers excellent quality products and value for money, while supporting the success of their retail partners.

The challenge

To build product awareness and ensure all retailers have the tools they need to grow revenue, Pedigree Wholesale invests in a wealth of point of sale (POS) and in-store marketing materials. Many of their POS stands are specialist, bespoke products that help to amplify in-store engagement.

As this type of marketing collateral often includes multiple different elements, it does require careful and thorough management, particularly when it comes to controlling inventory and logistics.

While the organisation does have a well-established stock and distribution operation for their pet products, it did not initially have a dedicated system for managing its marketing collateral.

Given the volume and complexity of these materials, this created several challenges for the business:

  • It was difficult to maintain an accurate inventory of marketing collateral, which led to sales representatives ordering items that were not held in stock.
  • The consignments would often arrive late, with mis-picks and damaged items.
  • When the goods were returned, they would not be accounted for or were missing key components.
  • A considerable amount of obsolete and out-of-date material was also being held, wasting space and increasing the risk of error.

Managing and troubleshooting these issues wasted sales and marketing resources.

Key challenges

  • No accurate inventory of marketing collateral.

  • Volume and complexity were difficult to manage manually.

  • Delays, mis-picks and damaged items impacted customer service.

  • Returns were unaccounted for and missing key components.

The solution

To address these challenges, Pedigree Wholesale’s Head of Marketing approached PDS and briefed us to implement a fulfilment and distribution solution for their sales and marketing collateral.

We gained a clear understanding of their pain points and delivered a solution that is powered by our PDS+ software solution and supported by our operations, logistics and design specialists. Bespoke built to Pedigree Wholesale’s exact requirements, this user-friendly and flexible platform – which can seamlessly scale as needs grow – underpins all the core services we offer, increasing efficiency, visibility and control.

This solution also includes reliable courier services provided by our delivery fleet and supported by our trusted courier partnerships.

While developing this solution, we conducted a thorough stock audit, disposed of damaged and out-of-date items, and ensured that the portal always reflects accurate stock levels.

As part of our fulfilment service, all stock is now stored and assembled at PDS. To streamline distribution and ensure no item is delivered incomplete, inventory kitting is carried out with a checklist to ensure we bundle all the correct product elements together.

We also conduct regular audits, so our client is confident they always work with the correct inventory. The live platform includes accurate imagery (photographed by our studio) and real-time stock levels for all items, as well as accurate and seamless reporting capabilities.

Before the new solution went live, we carried out a thorough onboarding process involving experts from all relevant service areas, as well as system training on the PDS+ platform, to ensure all Pedigree Wholesale users gain maximum value from PDS technology and services.

Now, sales and marketing personnel have one central, user-friendly system for selecting scheduled delivery dates, tracking orders and more. This approach supports optimum efficiency, collaboration, visibility and control.


The project team

Perry Sammie (Supplier Relationship Manager), Rob Shaw (Client Services Manager), Jamie Duthie (Logistics), Lee Anderson (Stock Manager), James Portsmouth (Joint Managing Director)

Perry Sammie Supplier Relationship Manager

Perry Sammie

Supplier Relationship Manager

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw

Client Services Manager

Jamie Duthie

Jamie Duthie

Logistics

Lee Anderson

Lee Anderson

Stock Manager

James Portsmouth Operations Director

James Portsmouth

Joint Managing Director

Interested in how PDS can help you deliver solutions across our service pillars?

Key outcomes

  • Time and cost savings.

  • Increased visibility and control.

  • Enhanced customer service.

  • More time to focus on priority tasks.

The results

With PDS now providing a full range of services – including design, printing, storage and fulfilment (which includes packing and delivery) – our client is able to consolidate supply to save time and money.

Stock trigger levels have been implemented to ensure that Pedigree Wholesale does not run out of business-critical items. They can continue focusing on their priorities, confident that marketing collateral stock levels are optimised and accurate. This, along with the reliable courier service and tracking information, supports excellent customer service.

Additionally, powerful reporting capabilities and analytics are available on the PDS+ platform, so our client can measure performance and ROI.

With a solution that simplifies and streamlines marketing collateral management, our client has reduced risk and saved a considerable amount of time and money for other critical sales and marketing activities.

Sales and marketing professionals no longer have to spend hours and hours chasing orders, handling queries and troubleshooting issues.

At the same time, Pedigree Wholesale can offer its clients a more efficient and professional service, while dedicating more resources to core business operations.

“Since our sales and marketing teams can now send their order processing tasks directly to PDS via our bespoke online ordering system, we can rest assured that all promotional items will reach our retailers on-time and in full, thanks to PDS’ collaborative storage, fulfilment, and distribution workflow.”

Head of Marketing

Looking to streamline stock management, storage, and fulfilment?

An efficient online stock ordering system can easily manage your marketing collateral, POS and other campaign related materials enabling you to track your stock levels, and ensure timely fulfilment and delivery to multiple locations with ease.  Discover the benefits of handing over your order storage, fulfilment and distribution to a trusted partner, arrange a call.