Summary
Managing ship-to customers in SnoBase just got a lot easier. We’ve rolled out a redesigned Customer Profile, pulled more data directly into those profiles, and made prominent our two new key tools: Inventory Health Check and Replenishment Schedule.
We hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday and are wishing all our brand partners a strong Black Friday and a stronger Cyber Monday.
What’s New in SnoBase
What
We’ve made three improvements that make day-to-day distributor management feel a lot lighter:
1. A new Customer Profile that’s easy to navigate
Each distributor and DC now has a clean overview page with clear sections, better hierarchy, and quicker access to the details you need.
2. Data you used to have to dig for is now front and center
Metrics that historically lived only in dashboards now sync directly into these Customer profiles. Whenever new distributor data comes in, those profiles update automatically.
3. Inventory Health Check and Replenishment Schedule now live inside Customers
They’re now exactly where brands expect them making it easier to see what’s happening at each DC and what orders might be needed next.
Shoutout to our friends at Root Foods for pointing out that these tools were a little too tucked away inside Analytics. Keep the comments coming. These nudges help us make the product better for everyone.
Why
If you manage distributors, you’re managing a moving target: shifting inventory, uneven coverage, partial information, and the constant question of whether each DC is healthy, light, or drifting into “someone should really place an order.”
Before this update, answering those questions required a little too much searching, clicking, and maybe even some dreaded downloading.
How
With each distributor sync, SnoBase now:
Updates all Customer Profile details using the same feeds we use for our portals
Pulls in inventory positions and movement data, then runs our algorithm against them to segment the status and come up with recommendations
Refreshes Inventory Health Check and Replenishment Schedule right inside the distributor profile
Aligns product, DC, and weeks-on-hand logic across the entire app
What We’re Thinking About
As we prepare to launch some new distributor partnerships, we’ve been diving deep into the problem spaces on both sides of the brand <> distributor relationship.
A surprising amount of dysfunction isn’t about disagreement. It’s about incomplete communication. Emails missed. Follow-ups delayed. Reports that only one side has access to. Busy people trying to keep too many threads straight.
We’re looking at opportunities where solving a problem for one side of the relationship automatically produces helpful, hard-to-get data for the other. Cleaner loops. Fewer blind spots. Less friction.
Rainy Day Thought
There has been a lot of talk in recent years about replacing flat-file systems with complex, structured information layers. However, to date and especially in CPG, next-gen interoperability systems have failed to break down the existing network effects.
LLMs might flip that pressure on its head. Instead of forcing everyone onto new standards, models may let us work cleanly with the messy formats the industry already uses.
Is that enough for the resiliency we desperately need though? What else needs to exist?
How You Can Connect
Upcoming Events
SFA Fancy Faire — Jan 11-13 — San Diego, CA
Sharing a meeting link with Volume 5 in two weeks
Email: [email protected]