Currency Fluctuations
Currencies are measured in relation to each other, as opposed to holding an intrinsic value themselves. This means the value of a particular currency can fluctuate, which has a knock-on effect on the importing and exporting industries globally.
This can be a problem for wine importing because when a currency becomes weaker, the importing process becomes more expensive.
Despite these fluctuations being out of your control, you can take steps to prepare your business and ensure you have the best defences in place should there be any disadvantageous currency movements.
One thing you can do is ensure you have contracts in place with your Foreign Exchange provider that fix the exchange rate at which you buy the currency or arrange medium-term foreign exchange protection.
As well as ensuring you have adequate protection in place, you should be meticulous with your pricing data. In the busy environment that is a wine business, implementing a fully-fledged ERP system can help you to stay ahead of the game, and with Bevica’s financial management features, including exchange rate control and multiple currency management, it’s an ideal winery ERP software for importing.
Supply Shortages
Without having the right supply, at the right time, and in the right quantities, your wine business will simply not be able to run or miss out on integral trading windows. That’s why supply shortages are a huge issue in the wine-importing industry.
It is hard to avoid supply shortages as frequently they are out of your control – however, you can mitigate the risk by ensuring you are as prepared as possible, with plenty of extra stock, by knowing your product demand.
Bevica can provide your team with essential sales reports that can help identify seasonality and sales trends for each of your items. Users can, with one click, can view an itemized report that shows a monthly breakdown of sales by the bottle and an anticipated rate of sale, highlighting where potential stock shortages may occur.
Another way of improving your supply is by staying on top of your stock allocations so that you know exactly when stock is coming in, how much of it you can expect, and where it is promised. A good supply chain management system, like Bevica, will keep you in the loop throughout the whole process so you do not face any surprises! Bevica provides oversight of outstanding purchase orders, committed stock and stock that is allocated to customer-specific reserves, giving you a comprehensive view of your stock position at an item-specific level.
In the fast-paced importing process, you need to make sure you have access to accurate records, and it is important that these are kept digitally so they don’t get lost. With Bevica’s mobile capabilities, you can access your stock records anywhere, at any time.
Bureaucracy and Legislation
Bureaucracy, in terms of the processes used in the importing process, particularly at customs, can have a huge impact on wine importing.
From legislation on labelling and ingredient listing to the amount of preservatives and sweeteners used, the bureaucratic processes at customs mean many checks are carried out by different governing bodies and the importing process can be slowed significantly.
The item and vendor cards in Bevica have been expertly designed to house and manage crucial technical and labelling data. From specific fields listing a full and comprehensive ingredients list to a table that can record the exact varietal blend of wine, Bevica can provide your team with information required for importing from the moment an item is created within the system.
Similarly to bureaucracy, there is strict legislation regarding alcoholic drinks such as wine. These include rules surrounding duty stamps and VAT. As long as these rules are adhered to, they shouldn’t slow down the process of importing wine. However, you must be strict and thorough in your processes to ensure you don’t run into any roadblocks.
If you are selling imported alcohol to other businesses, you may need to apply for approval for the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) at least 45 days before you trade. Bevica can help ensure you are AWRS compliant with the tool’s supply chain features.
Transport Oversight
Clearly communicating the status of inbound stock is crucial to your business. In Bevica, supply chain-specific categories can be assigned to Purchase Orders to highlight the various stages of movement throughout this process, including ‘Purchase Order Placed’, ‘Waiting Collection’, ‘In Transit’, ‘Landed’ and ‘Receipted into Stock’. Users can be provided with centralised information, including ETAs on orders to help them better manage demand and customer expectations. Items can also be assigned with lead times to communicate production timelines, too.
