SwiftLabs Solutions

Use case · Wholesale

Shared inbox in wholesale

In wholesale the ordering runs through the mailbox: call-offs, date enquiries, complaints and delivery notifications arrive in the same inbox as supplier advertising. Anything sitting here for an hour is not administration but a delayed dispatch.

The most visible effect day to day

What is different here

What it actually turns on in wholesale.

01

Orders arrive as free text

Not every customer has EDI. A large share orders by email, using their own product names and no numbers - entering it is manual work and the most common place for transposed digits.

02

Date enquiries need the stock position

“When is it coming?” can only be answered if stock, open orders and supplier commitments are pulled together. Which is exactly why the answer takes so long day to day.

03

A complaint and a repeat order look the same

Both name a delivery and a quantity. Which of the two is meant decides between a credit note and an order - and the difference is in the tone, not in a field.

Systems we connect here

  • SAP
  • Microsoft Dynamics
  • Sage
  • EDI connections
  • Customer portals

If yours is not listed, that is not an exclusion. Where no interface exists, we build one - that is the most demanding part and it is our trade.

The rule that only applies here

In trade the shared mailbox is an order intake. What sits there is not unprocessed post, it is unrecorded revenue.

The difference

The same process, once as it is today and once with us.

  1. 01Inbox
  2. 02Sorting
  3. 03Handover

A person does itThe system does it

How it runs today

  1. 01One shared mailbox takes orders, enquiries, invoices and advertising all at once.
  2. 02Someone sorts by hand and forwards.
  3. 03Whatever falls between two areas of responsibility stays put.

How it would run with us

  1. 01Every message is read on arrival and sorted into your categories.
  2. 02Attachments are recognised and assigned to the right job.
  3. 03Standard cases come with a prepared draft reply - unsent, until someone releases it.

What it gets you

  • The inbox is sorted before the first person opens it.
  • Attachments sit with the right case, not inside the message.
  • Standard cases come with a draft - approving one takes seconds.

Where it does not fit

If it is not settled internally who is responsible for what, the system sorts by rules that do not exist. Then that question comes before the project - it can be answered quickly, but someone has to answer it.

Frequently asked

Is this worth it in wholesale?

In trade the shared mailbox is an order intake. What sits there is not unprocessed post, it is unrecorded revenue. Whether it pays for you depends on your volume - the audit establishes that.

We use a different system from the ones listed. Does it still work?

Yes. The ones listed are those we most often meet in wholesale - a list, not a precondition. Where no interface exists, we build one.

What do we have to provide?

Access to the shared mailbox and the rules on who is responsible for what. A list of the cases that must never be answered automatically. Two weeks of real inbox to read along with, before anything goes live. Nothing more is needed to start.

How will we know it works?

Across 300 real messages, at least 92 % reach the right area of responsibility. Nothing falls between two responsibilities - unclear cases go to a defined place. For everything that leaves the building, a person stays the sender.

How long does implementation take?

2 to 4 weeks.

Does the AI decide on its own?

Sorting and assigning run independently, because they are reversible. Replies never go out without a release.

When is this not worth it?

If it is not settled internally who is responsible for what, the system sorts by rules that do not exist. Then that question comes before the project - it can be answered quickly, but someone has to answer it.

The same process, in general

This page shows the fit in wholesale. The process itself is sector-independent - what matters is whether it repeats.

Shared inbox in general

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