A buying group is a group of companies that pay a membership fee to a separate company that obtains a better pricing structure than they can get alone. Below are some general notes as it pertains to buying groups and the order entry process as it pertains to Commercial Office Product buying group orders.
Commercial Office Products (COP) Buying Groups
DPCG/FSI (Account numbers vary)– Accounts are billed individually/separately. Each member should have their own account set up.
ISG (Independent Suppliers Group- 01IDS)– Accounts are billed centrally under the 01IDS account number.
Office Partners (01FFP)- Accounts are billed centrally under the 01FFP account number.
COP buying group member lists can be found using the following path: Buying Group Member Lists
- DPCG Buying Group Members- Each member will have their own separate accounts set up in NetSuite. Example: Forms & Supply Inc is a member of the DPCG buying group. When process their orders, they will be processed under their own account; 01FSY.
- IS Group & Office Partners Buying Group Members- Members of these two buying groups do not have their own accounts set up in NetSuite. When processing orders for these members, they will be billed/processed under the main buying group account. (01IDS or 01FFP) Example: Kerr Office is ISG member # i0256. When processing an order, the account that will be used is 01IDS as orders are billed centrally. The specifics of this process will be discussed later on in this section.
Craft & Hobby (C&H) Buying Groups
Similar to the DPCG accounts above, all C&H buying group members are billed individually/separately and will have their own account set up in NetSuite. Example: Crafts Direct is a member of the Sierra Pacific Crafts buying group. When processing their orders, it will be under their account; 44CRD. As can be seen in NetSuite, their Sierra Pacific member number is noted next to their company name; Crafts Direct SP#27176. Below are the 3 C&H buying groups that we are currently partnered with:
- Sierra Pacific Crafts
- Crafters Home
- AIR (Alliance of Independent Retailers
C&H buying group member lists can be found using the following path: Buying Group Member Lists
COP Buying Group Order Entry for 01IDS (ISG) and 01FFP (Office Partners) Members
For 01IDS and 01FFP buying group orders, we must add the buying group member # to the sales order. The reason we do this is so when the buying group receives the invoice from Advantus, they are easily able to identify which member they need to pass the bill on to. For orders that are transmitted via EDI, this member number should automatically generate. For manually processed orders, we will need to add the member # to the below field on the sales order. Under the Billing subtab)
After the sales order ships, this member # will populate in the billing address (Sold To) field on the Invoice. Each member should have a STAB (Ship To Address Book) record set up and the ‘label’ number should correspond with their buying group member #. In NetSuite, this field does not have to be used but if we are shipping to the buying group members billing address on file; this field can be used as it will prevent us from having to manually type in the shipping address. (If the customer is drop-shipping to one of their customers, this will not work) As can be seen below, the member # can be added to the STAB field; which will populate the corresponding ship to address.
