If you are in the wholesale business, you know efficiency is king. Having a system that processes large orders in a quick and efficient manner makes selling in bulk all the more simple. Enter the wholesale custom order form. It takes away all the pain from bulk ordering.
But what should you have in the wholesale custom order form? That is what we are here to talk about. We’ll go over what a wholesale custom order form is, how it helps your wholesale business, and how you can make one. And as a bonus, we will also show you how you can make wholesale custom orders for your business with one app.
What Is A Wholesale Custom Order Form?
A wholesale custom order form is what the name says; a form that allows businesses to complete custom orders with your business. This form allows retailers and other businesses to place large, tailored-made orders efficiently from your business. This bypasses the limitations of standard retail order forms. If you have different products and a retailer wants to place a custom order from you, then using a wholesale custom order form massively helps in doing so.
Think of it as a concierge service for your business transactions. Instead of navigating through a bunch of individual item listings and quantities from all over your website, a wholesale custom order form presents a clear and concise layout. It includes essential details such as product descriptions, unit prices, minimum order quantities, and any customization options. This way, your business allows others to place orders quickly and efficiently, saving valuable time and reducing the likelihood of errors.
6 Wholesale Custom Order Forms Benefits For Your Business
Benefit#1 Increased Ordering Efficiency
Think of shopping on an e-commerce website. If you want to order different products, then you would have to switch constantly between tabs of products and individually add them to the cart. It is tiring and time consuming. But with a wholesale custom order form, that could all change.
Wholesale custom order forms can significantly boost efficiency by streamlining the entire ordering process. Instead of juggling multiple tabs to place an order, customers can complete everything in one go. And it doesn’t have to be limited to websites. Calls and emails can all be streamlined to maximize efficiency. Your team can then focus on other critical tasks, such as inventory management and customer service, instead of manually processing orders.
Benefit#2 Enhanced Accuracy For Ordering
Errors in orders can lead to wasted time, money, and customer dissatisfaction. Wholesale custom order forms are designed to get all necessary customer details upfront, minimizing the chances of mistakes. When your customers fill out a standardized form, they are less likely to omit crucial information.
Let’s go back to the ordering from an e-commerce website example. When you have to sift through different tabs and add the product quantity individually, then there are bound to be mistakes. But since a wholesale custom order form has everything all in one place, then the customers are less likely to make errors in their orders.
Benefit#3 Better Customer Experience
First impressions are everything in business. Imagine a first-time wholesale customer who finds your order process straightforward and hassle-free; this positive experience can turn them into a loyal customer. That is one of the best benefits wholesale custom order form brings.
Enhanced accuracy, simple ordering system in one place, and you get a happy customer for your wholesale business. A good wholesale custom order form is all about making the shopping experience as intuitive as possible and making it easy for custom orders to be placed from your business. When customers find it easy to do business with you, they are more likely to return and recommend your store to others.
Benefit#4 Ability To Save Time
Time is a valuable resource for both you and your customers. By simplifying the order process with a wholesale custom order form, you save everyone time. Customers can complete their orders faster, and your team spends less time on manual data entry and more on strategic tasks. For instance, a large retailer can swiftly place a bulk order for holiday stock without spending hours on the phone. That simplicity is enough to leave the customer satisfied with your ordering system.
Benefit#5 Increased Scope For Personalization
Every business has unique needs. Not all customers will order the same products in bulk so having a system like this can help personalize for each customer. Wholesale custom order forms can be tailored to meet these specific requirements.
This flexibility ensures that the form aligns perfectly with your business processes. For example, if you sell customizable products, you can add sections for color, size, or material preferences. This personalized approach not only caters to your customers’ needs but also reinforces your brand identity.
Whether it’s adding fields for special requests, including detailed product descriptions, creating order minimums for product variants, the customization options for your order forms are endless.
Benefit#6 Improved Record Keeping
Keeping track of your inventory can get messy for bulk orders. You are getting orders for hundreds of items from many customers and keeping track of all of it is not just important; it is a necessity. But with custom order forms, it gets a lot easier.
Having all orders documented in a consistent format simplifies order tracking. You know what has been ordered and can keep your inventory in check much easier. Also, you can improve your inventory management by seeing what is frequently being ordered and set reorder points much more efficiently.
Your wholesale custom order form is a key way in doing this because, essentially, you have a bunch of vital data that you can utilize to improve your business operations. So, you not only keep everything organized, but can strategize your inventory and other aspects of your business. One order form, and you have endless possibilities of business expansion.
Making A Wholesale Custom Order Form For Your Business: Step-By-Step Guide
So we looked at how wholesale custom order forms are not just an order form to satisfy, but also a way to improve different parts of your business. But exactly what do you need to have in your custom order form?
If you are looking for a guide to know just that, here is an step-by-step guide for what you need for it:
Step#1 Identify Which Products Go Into The Forms
Before you even get started on your form, you need to determine products in the form. There are some common text fields that you need, like product names, quantities, pricing, etc. But not all your products go into the custom order form.
So that is why you need to identify which products go into the form. Will they be similar products with multiple variants or do you need to have fields where customers specify their customization options? With the right data, you can figure it out easily and plan your order form more accordingly
Step#2 Choose An E-Commerce Platform
You can create the form using various e-commerce platforms. Options range from simple spreadsheets to specialized e-commerce platforms. If you’re looking for something quick and easy, a spreadsheet might suffice. But that does not necessarily match with your business. For that, you need to have a wholesale custom order form that reflects your brand perception. Platforms like Shopify have apps where you can create your custom order form for you. And we will be discussing one app that will be perfect for this a little later.
Step#3 Design the Layout
Now about the design. It does not need to be flashy and over-stimulating with colors and graphics. A simple design layout is good enough where it is built for functionality. How you connect your custom order form back to your business is through branding. For that you need to have logos placed in the right place, a simple color scheme to match your branding, even font matters for that too! So do consider personalizing your order form so it remains consistent with your branding.
Lastly for the design, have clear headings, simple color scheme to match your branding, and spacing so it has an intuitive flow of information that customers have to fill out. For example, you can organize the form into sections such as “Customer Details”, “Product Information”, “Quantity”, and “Customization Options”.
Step#4 Test the Form And Gather Feedback
Designing a form is great, but how will you determine its effectiveness? The simple answer is putting it out there for certain products. These products will act as test products to see how effective your order forms are. With it, you can gather feedback about the forms. This gives you insight into what is working, what needs improvement, and what is redundant and needs to be removed.
This testing and feedback helps you catch potential problems that could disrupt your ordering process instead of making it better! So make sure you run tests and gather the feedback. By doing this, you will know what is working and implement it for other products that you want to implement a wholesale custom order form for.
Step#5 Regular Reviewing And Updating
As your business grows, so will your ordering needs. Unique products will need their own forms, so your wholesale custom order form template should be good enough to implement it for all your products. That is where regular reviews for the form help you identify other products that you can use forms for.
Regularly review and update your wholesale custom order form to ensure it continues to meet your requirements. Just like the feedback step, you gather more and more data that you can use for other order forms and make them even better. With this, you can implement updates that improve the speed of the ordering, add more products to the custom order forms, and keep it working as efficiently as possible. So don’t just release the order form; take care of it and improve it over time.
Using A Bulk Order App As Your Wholesale Custom Order Form On Shopify
Wholesale custom order forms are both rewarding and challenging. It is rewarding because it helps streamline bulk orders for wholesale business. But, implementing it on your e-commerce store like on Shopify is difficult. Either you need custom coding to implement it or you need to look for a third party app to use on your Shopify store.
If you remember, I mentioned about an app that can help in making a wholesale custom order form for your store. For this, a bulk order app that has rule-set and restrictions to help streamline your wholesale bulk orders and process them efficiently. Here is an example of such an app:
MultiVariants Bulk Order App Wholesale Custom Order Form With The Mix & Match Bundle Feature
This app bundles together all the variants of a product into one and showcases all the available products. Here, the customers get to choose what variant they want in a mix and match style order picking. So customers don’t have to switch between tabs and focus all the shopping on one page, making it easier to select the quantity of each variant. They can pick out the quantity they want and it showcases that to customers how many of one variant they are buying.
You will also see there is an out-of-stock badge shown on some variants. This allows customers to see which is available and which is not, making for a unique experience. Instead of taking off variants, you can have all the variants shown and when you stock later, it will become available for the customers to see the next time they are in the store. Add the custom text field, and you have an app blends a wholesale custom order form as a shopping experience!
And finally, you will notice a message at the bottom telling the customers they need to pick out 20 in quantity. This is the minimum quantity rule set. Until the rule is fulfilled, customers cannot add the product to cart or proceed to checkout. This is great because it reduces the errors and inaccuracies for customers. The customer can be sure that they are ordering the correct amount because of this rule set.
Fewer mistakes, streamlined ordering process for bulk orders, and showing all the products on one page makes this app the perfect way for your Shopify store to incorporate a wholesale custom order form! The customers get to shop how they want and don’t have to worry about filling in forms and such. They get to shop immediately, place an order for the products they want. One app, and all your stores ordering, is made much easier.
Bottom Line
A wholesale custom order form does not have to be difficult to implement. It is all about making it a part of your brand and making it functional and intuitive. You could also make the wholesale order form into a whole shopping experience on its own. Customers get to shop and it does not need to feel like they are filling out forms. You get the best of both aspects all in one place thanks to the app.
