We were lucky enough to sit down for a quick chat with our founder, Michelle Huie. In our conversation, we discussed how ShopDot is not just a platform but a game-changer in the dynamic world of supplier-retailer partnerships. With a mission rooted in modernization, ShopDot is rewriting the rules, providing a seamless and efficient collaboration space for suppliers and their retail partners.
SD: Michelle, can you give our community a bit of insight into why you developed this platform?
Huie: In 2020, the world shifted and I found myself back on the warehouse floor for my own sock brand, VIM & VIGR. I was fulfilling orders, communicating with my retailers—doing everything it took to keep my company running. It was a humbling and enlightening experience for me.
SD: What was the biggest takeaway that you learned from this experience?
Huie: I found that it was really challenging to meet the needs of my retailers. During COVID, retailers would call us and ask that we ship a particular product directly to their customer because they didn’t have that color or size in stock. Stockouts has a huge impact on the customer experience and hurts business for retailers and suppliers. In fact, stockouts cost the retail industry over $1 trillion annually. There was a major disconnect because we had inventory in our warehouse and our retailers didn’t have the exact product their customers were asking for. Our retailers were trying to meet the needs of their customers but we didn’t have the right systems to allow them to have direct inventory transparency and access.
SD: So how did you imagine something like ShopDot could help?
MH: Well, there are several challenges with reducing stockouts and helping retailers provide the right product at the right moment. For starters, ordering inventory is often imperfect.
ShopDot is solving this problem in a few ways. First, we know that inventory ordering and planning is imperfect and sometimes a buyer is spot on and sometimes they over or under order in certain areas. With ShopDot, if a retailer is sold out of a product that customer is asking for, they can easily see if the supplier has the product in stock, place the order and have the order shipped directly to the customer. ShopDot can also provide more insight on what the customer is ordering which helps with inventory planning for both retailers and suppliers.
SD: What do you think is the biggest impact that the platform has had on our users so far?
MH: Take, for instance, the challenge of managing product listing content and coordinating inventory. With ShopDot, suppliers can efficiently manage and scale their retail partnerships, while retailers can sell more without the barriers of space or cash flow. It’s a win-win situation that enhances the overall efficiency of the brand-supplier partnership.
Another use case we’ve seen is the ability for retailers to better utilize their physical stores to host pop-ups and showrooms. With ShopDot, retailers can test out new brands and products and utilize our platform to facilitate the order directly to the customer.
SD: Thanks for chatting with us today, Michelle! We are so excited for the coming year for ShopDot.
To learn more about how ShopDot can help your business, schedule a call with us today!
