The leading publication covering the FMCG industry in Australia recently ran a news story explaining how Upstock is transforming the industry.
For a typical FMCG supplier, receiving wholesale orders through late-night voicemails, emails that might end up in spam folders, text messages, spreadsheets, or even handwritten notes can lead to lost sales or inaccurate orders.
That adds up to a lot of time-consuming, money-wasting, tedious, and manual administrative work that can compromise productivity and eat into revenue and profits.
However, thanks to the new software platform and app Upstock, FMCG brands can now streamline their B2B marketing, sales, ordering, payments, and logistics. As co-founder Philip Fierlinger explains, the results include lower costs due to faster order taking and fulfilment, higher sales as customers order more across the product catalogue, and enhanced reliability and accuracy thanks to fewer order errors and less waste.
“Major multinational FMCG brands spend hundreds of millions of dollars on complex software to automate their sales and logistics – Upstock can give FMCG brands of any size access to automated sales and logistics that do not require any staff training – and costs less than $1 per order.”
Fierlinger is no stranger to creating software that transforms the business world – he was one of the founders of the global accounting software company Xero.
He was inspired to create Upstock by a friend who runs Foxton Fizz, an FMCG brand in New Zealand. After learning how the FMCG industry manages wholesale orders with scraps of paper, emails, texts and spreadsheets, he was shocked at the inefficiency and waste.
“I knew immediately this industry would all go 100 per cent digital. These were businesses I loved, brands I ate and drank daily, and I knew their margins were razor thin. It broke my heart to see that they’re wasting so much time and money needlessly on admin work that software can fix.”
Upstock was the big opportunity that inspired Fierlinger to get back into building a new startup, assembling a team of the best software engineers and designers involved in Xero.
“It’s going gangbusters. We have the largest FMCG marketplace in New Zealand, and we’re growing rapidly across Australia.”
Upstock seamlessly integrates with the ERP systems that major retail chains use for procurement. This includes direct connections into Woolworths and Foodstuffs to manage complex supermarket orders automatically.
Using AI, Upstock can instantly convert any type of order into a digital order – email, complex purchase order files, spreadsheets, even scraps of handwritten paper – meaning FMCG brands don’t have to force their buyers to change their ordering practices.
Based on customer data, Fierlinger says the Upstock process can reduce the administration time and effort to process an order by 80 per cent – and fill orders 80 per cent faster. “The error rate drops from as high as 30 per cent when manually keying orders into a system to nearly 0 per cent in Upstock.”
Hundreds of independent supermarkets use Upstock to keep their shelves well-stocked
In addition to automating orders from major supermarkets like Woolworths, hundreds of local and regional grocers use Upstock to place orders with their FMCG suppliers. The platform means supermarket staff no longer have to walk the aisles with a pen and clipboard to take down stock inventory, put all the information into a spreadsheet in the back office and then phone or message suppliers with orders. Now, they just walk the aisles with Upstock on their phone and tap the products they need.
Upstock automates order management across the supply chain for retailers and wholesalers. With a single click in Upstock, suppliers produce an invoice, packing slip, and shipping instructions for the warehouse staff. It even creates courier tickets and delivery runs.
FMCG brands can upload their catalogues onto Upstock within a day. For some large suppliers with complex catalogues, it generally takes no more than a week to implement and start taking orders. Brands of all sizes, from sole traders to large operators, run their wholesale businesses on Upstock.
Retail businesses, including supermarkets, distributors, hotel chains, service stations, cafes, and restaurants, are also using the platform. It’s free for retailers, who can start ordering within minutes of signing up.
AI-assisted ordering is a major game changer for the FMCG industry
A further advantage of Upstock is that with AI built into the platform, the software can use historical transaction data to automatically process future orders, which is impossible with the manual order-taking processes Upstock replaces.
“By introducing AI, we have made it possible to read emails, PDF files, and purchase orders and convert those into a digital order in Upstock without somebody having to key in any information. So we import an email, a PDF file, or a purchase order, scan it with AI, and turn it into an order. All the customer has to do is click the approve button.”
AI is also deployed to digitise supplier catalogues. “We have customers with many 1000s of product SKUs in their catalogues, and categorising those was a manual, tedious task. Now, with AI, we do that instantaneously.”
Fierlinger says the response to Upstock reminds him of the early days of Xero, when customers were passionately enthusiastic about how it had transformed their business.
Waitoa Beer ships to hundreds of Woolworths stores weekly, explains CEO Mark Davey. “With Upstock, purchase orders flow into our regular daily order list. With two clicks of the mouse, orders are approved, packing slips generated, invoices sent, and the orders are ready to dispatch. There is no room for errors. I would never go back.”
James Mobbs, head of sales and distribution at Waitoa, adds the software has given his company “a seat at the table” with the supermarkets. “The smooth ordering process means we avoid embarrassing errors and mix-ups as we build a reputation as a high quality, reliable supplier able to compete with the big players.”
The proprietors of This is Frankies, a bakery and milk bar in West Albury, NSW, say deploying Upstock has created “massive growth opportunities”. “Now, when I get a new wholesale customer, Upstock just creates everything for me. Within a day, they start trading.”
The owners of Queensland coffee supplier White Whale add that Upstock has increased customers’ coffee orders because of the convenience. “Upstock is a must-have. It saves us time, simplifies our workflow, and adds incredible value to our business.”
Upstock has thousands of customers across every state in Australia. Retailers from supermarket chains like IGA, Foodworks, and Spar, as well as every size and shape of independent grocers, plus a long list of cafes and restaurants.
Wholesale buyers use Upstock to order from many types of FMCG brands – like Pearl Seafoods, which supplies fresh fish across NSW, Hunted & Gathered, supplying premium chocolate out of Melbourne, Ritual Coffee in Tasmania, and The Butter People in Perth.
Those businesses taking advantage of new technologies like Upstock are transforming the FMCG industry, giving them the edge to operate with higher margins and better distribution at a time when it’s needed most.
