Scenario: what we would build
Automation for distributors and wholesalers, from the WhatsApp order to the payment
A distribution business runs on volume: a hundred small orders a day, each one a message, a phone call or a photo of a list. When two people retype them, the business can grow only as fast as they type, and the stock figure is always a day behind.
In short
For a distributor or wholesaler, automation starts with the order. A customer agent reads WhatsApp messages, photos of lists and “the usual” into a review queue with the customer and items filled in, and a person confirms each one. Stock syncs from the ERP with its freshness shown, reorders are flagged at the threshold, customers are told when goods ship, invoices are raised on dispatch, and reminder calls chase payment. Credit decisions stay with people.
The operations map
Who could take each part of the work
A hundred orders a day arrive on WhatsApp as photos, voice notes and “the usual”, and two people retype them. Stock in the ERP is a day behind.
- Voice agent
- Task agent
- Repetitive-work agent
- Customer agent
- By rule
- Orders Manual Automated Read from WhatsApp into a review queue
- Stock Manual Automated Synced from the ERP, freshness shown
- Reorders Manual Automated Flagged at the threshold
- Dispatch updates Manual Automated Customer told when it ships
- Invoicing Manual Automated Raised on dispatch, posted
- Collections Manual Automated Reminder calls, promises recorded
- Supplier lists Manual Automated Read into the catalogue
- Returns Manual Automated Logged and routed by policy
- Order review Manual People A person confirms each one
- Credit limits Manual People A person decides
An illustration, not a client story: a typical map for this kind of business, drawn from what such businesses ask for. Your own map comes out of the study.
Where the time goes
Orders arrive in every shape. Regular customers send “same as last week”, retailers send a photo of a handwritten list, salesmen forward voice notes from the road. Someone has to turn each one into an order line by line, check the stock, and call back when something is short.
The rest of the chain waits on people too: telling customers their goods have left, raising the invoice, and ringing the retailers who are late to pay, often the same retailers every month.
- Orders retyped from WhatsApp
- Stock checked by phoning the godown
- “Has my order left?” calls
- Invoices raised in a batch at the end of the day
- Collection calls made from a notebook
What we would build
A customer agent on your WhatsApp Business number reads each order request, matches the customer, and matches the items to your catalogue by code, by name or by the customer’s usual order. The request lands in a review queue with the original message beside it, so a person confirms it in seconds instead of typing it. Anything unclear is marked, never guessed.
Stock syncs from your ERP or billing software on a schedule, and every figure shows how fresh it is; items below their reorder level are flagged to the buyer. When goods are dispatched, the customer gets a message with the details, the invoice is raised from the confirmed order, and a voice agent makes the payment reminder calls, recording any promise to pay.
- WhatsApp orders into a review queue
- Items matched to your catalogue
- Stock with its freshness shown, reorders flagged
- Dispatch messages by rule
- Invoices on dispatch, reminder calls with promises recorded
What stays with people
Every order is confirmed by a person before it exists. Credit limits, special prices, substitutions when an item is short, and the customer who needs a conversation rather than a message all stay with your team. Returns are logged and routed by your policy, and the decision on an unusual one is a person’s.
What it connects to
WhatsApp Business on the number your customers already use, your billing software or ERP for items, prices, stock and invoices, your transporter or courier details for dispatch, and telephony for the reminder calls.
- WhatsApp Business platform
- Billing software or ERP
- Transport and courier records
- Telephony for payment reminders
Questions
Common questions
Our customers send voice notes and photos. Can those be read?
Photos of typed or clearly written lists usually can, and the fields are filled in for a person to confirm. Voice notes and messy handwriting go into the queue as they are, for the person confirming. A guess never becomes an order.
We use Tally for billing. Does that work?
Usually, yes. Accounting packages used in India offer an import, an export or an integration interface, and we build around what yours supports. We confirm the exact method before we start.
Will our customers have to order differently?
No. They keep writing to the same number the way they always have. The change is on your side: the order is read for you instead of typed by you.
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