What we need to see
One repeatable process with its trigger, current handovers, required approvals and common failure cases.
Workflow automation · Trade counters & industrial supply
Less Time Behind the Counter. More Time Selling.
Trade counter retail has volume-driven, repeating workflows: orders come in across counter/web/phone, pickers fulfil them, accounts get billed monthly, suppliers get reordered. AI and automation take the mechanical layer off the team's plate so they can focus on the high-value work, customer relationships and trade account growth.
Tell us the task, your current tools and where the work gets stuck. We will help you choose a sensible first scope.
The trade counters & industrial supply reality.
Counter staff toggle between EPOS, the web shop admin, the email inbox, and a paper pick sheet. Account customers ring with "can you add this to next week's order" and someone has to remember. Suppliers are reordered when someone notices the gap, not before. Multi-channel without unified workflow is just three jobs poorly done.
The work in context · Illustrative scenes
Start with the trade counters & industrial supply workflow.
Use representative inputs from the business to scope workflow automation. Agree what the system prepares and what a person needs to check.
Make the handover part of the build.
Test normal work, missing information and failures with the team, then hand over clear review steps and practical guidance.
Tuned for trade counters & industrial supply.
01
Unified order queue
Counter, web, phone, and account orders flow into one queue, picked, packed, and tracked uniformly. Counter staff see web orders. Pickers don't care about source.
02
Account customer automation
Standing orders, recurring deliveries, automated month-end consolidation. Account customer service queries triaged by AI and routed to the right person.
03
Reorder triggers
Stock thresholds + the demand forecasting model trigger reorder drafts. Buyer approves; PO generated and sent. Cuts the "we ran out of X again" cycle.
04
Invoice and statement automation
Monthly statements for account customers generated and sent automatically. Reconciliation to receipts. Disputes triaged with the original order/delivery evidence to hand.
We integrate with what you have.
- Custom EPOS
- Shopify / WooCommerce
- Sage 50 / Sage 200
- Account customer portals
- Supplier ordering systems
We check your software version, available API or export, access permissions and any supplier fees before quoting. If a reliable connection is not available, we will explain the practical alternatives.
Prove it on your own work first.
How we judge the pilot
Measure completion time, missed handovers and manual interventions for one workflow before extending it.
What stays in your hands
Agree who can approve each action and who receives failures. Keep a manual fallback for supplier or system outages.
Fixed fee, phased delivery.
£4,800-£18,000 depending on scope and existing systems
From £4,800excluding VAT
Workflow automation for trade counters & industrial supply
- Workflow audit + industry-specific spec
- Build, integrations, and tuning to your real data
- Deployment, handover and agreed access controls
- Hosting, AI usage and ongoing support quoted separately
Things people in this industry ask us.
01Will this replace our EPOS?
No, we extend it. Most trade counters have decent EPOS; what's missing is the workflow layer that connects EPOS to the web shop, account customer portal, supplier ordering, and accounts. We add that layer.
02How do you handle account customers?
Standing orders, custom pricing per account, monthly statement generation, payment terms tracking, dispute handling, all automated. Your account managers spend time on relationships, not reconciliation.
03What about counter staff training?
We design the staff-facing pieces around their existing workflow, same EPOS interface, same pick sheets, just augmented. Adoption is typically fast because nothing changes about the customer-facing experience.
04Can it handle our seasonal peaks?
Yes, the automation scales without adding staff. Demand forecasting catches the peaks early so stock is in place. Order processing automation handles the volume jump without manual reconfiguration.
05What's the timeline?
First workflow live in 6-8 weeks (typically order intake unification). Full deployment 12-16 weeks depending on scope. Phased delivery, you see value progressively, not just at the end.
Zoom out.
Related solutions.
Keep exploring
Turn the idea into a working system.
What could work
better for you?
A new website. More customers. Less admin.
Tell us where you want to get to. We will reply within one working day.