Why The Distribution Network works.

Brands can’t ignore D2C sales – but scaling nationwide fulfillment is tough. Building it is expensive. Contracting it with 3PLs is risky. And the only way to meet consumer demand for fast, low-cost shipping is to distribute inventory to multiple locations closer to customers. That means big investments in inventory and a forecasting nightmare for most brands. Regional distributors already have inventory, operations, and infrastructure but lack national reach. Unless they work together.
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This is where The Distribution Network comes in. The Distribution Network enables brands and their regional distributors to work together to create a national D2C fulfillment network. The result: National brand D2C fulfillment leveraging trusted regional relationships, inventory, and operations already in place.

Sales channels, OMS, IMS, legacy systems, and distributor shipping platforms all need to talk to each other and in multiple formats. The Distribution Network runs on Etail Solutions’ powerful integration engine. Unlike traditional integration platforms, often called IPaaS services, Etail was purpose-built to handle the demands of large-scale, multi-channel ecommerce. For more than 15 years, Etail has been integrating sales channels, suppliers, fulfillment locations, and drop ship vendors for some of the largest online sellers.

Most ecommerce integration hubs only handle EDI orders. That limits the kind of orders and inventory data you can send and receive and the partners you can work with. But the Network integrates using multiple data formats including EDI, APIs, flat files and custom integrations, seamlessly exchanging data while working with the systems everyone already has in place.

Managing inventory across multiple distributors and their multiple locations is complex – tracking stock levels, avoiding stockouts, and preventing costly overstocks.
The Distribution Network uses Distributed Inventory Management (DIM) to give the brands real-time visibility across every distributor location. DIM tracks inventory, forecasts demand, and automates replenishment –  keeping products available, costs down, and customers happy.

With a heritage in supporting large-scale Amazon drop shippers, Etail created some of the first complex DIM systems allowing drop shippers to promise and sell products based on real-time inventory availability information from dozens of suppliers. Over the last 15+ years,  Etail expanded those systems by building solutions to solve the real-world, multi-location inventory problems our customers were dealing with. The result: 360° inventory visibility and the confidence brands need to promise and sell products across their sales channels while meeting customer and channel delivery expectations.

Getting orders to the right distributor location isn’t guesswork, it’s optimization. Inventory, availability, cost, carrier options and service levels all matter. The Distribution Network uses Distributed Order Management (DOM) to automatically route each order to the best distributor location for the lowest delivered cost, while meeting customer and sales channel expectations every time.

Etail pioneered system-agnostic Distributed Order Management. Most competitive DOM systems only work within their installed base. Every DOM node needs to be using the same order and inventory management software. But DOM from Etail works like a second layer over the systems everyone already has in place, collecting inventory, fulfillment cost, and service-level information, then routing the order to the stocking location with the lowest delivered cost. No need to rip-and-replace to get everyone on the same internal systems; Etail just handles it all.

Adding ecommerce fulfillment shouldn’t disrupt distributor operations. The Distribution Network gives distributors the tools to handle single-parcel orders efficiently and profitably. Batch pick, prep, compare rates, select carriers, and print labels, all from the Network platform. Add branded labels and packing slips. Use third-party shipping and manifesting to support brand drop shipping programs. The goal: Add D2C fulfillment with no extra hassles, major workflow changes, or extensive employee training.

For more than 15 years, Etail has helped brands, distributors, retailers, and 3PLs transition from selling and shipping cases and pallets to fulfilling individual parcel orders direct to ecommerce shoppers. We know what it takes: the systems, the workflows, the hardware and most importantly, the internal culture shift. Our dedicated implementation and customer success teams are there to help make your transition a smooth one.

You control the relationship. The Distribution Network keeps it simple: brands and distributors work together directly, just like always. You negotiate per-order costs and service levels. Brands pay distributors directly. The Network automates reporting, tracks volume and cost, and monitors performance, giving you the data you need to manage relationships and grow your D2C business.