Use case · Wholesale
Shared inbox in wholesale
In wholesale the ordering runs through the mailbox: call-offs, date enquiries, complaints and delivery notifications arrive in the same inbox as supplier advertising. Anything sitting here for an hour is not administration but a delayed dispatch.
The most visible effect day to day
What is different here
What it actually turns on in wholesale.
Orders arrive as free text
Not every customer has EDI. A large share orders by email, using their own product names and no numbers - entering it is manual work and the most common place for transposed digits.
Date enquiries need the stock position
“When is it coming?” can only be answered if stock, open orders and supplier commitments are pulled together. Which is exactly why the answer takes so long day to day.
A complaint and a repeat order look the same
Both name a delivery and a quantity. Which of the two is meant decides between a credit note and an order - and the difference is in the tone, not in a field.
Systems we connect here
- SAP
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Sage
- EDI connections
- Customer portals
If yours is not listed, that is not an exclusion. Where no interface exists, we build one - that is the most demanding part and it is our trade.
The rule that only applies here
In trade the shared mailbox is an order intake. What sits there is not unprocessed post, it is unrecorded revenue.
The process
Where a person is needed - and where they no longer are.
- ClaudeLab from here
Step 01Person
Inbox
Intake
Step 02ClaudeLab
Sorting
Deciding
Step 03ClaudeLab
Handover
Output
The difference
The same process, once as it is today and once with us.
Step 01 · today
Step 01 · with us
Step 02 · today
Step 02 · with us
Step 03 · today
Step 03 · with us
What we build
- Component 01
- Incoming messages are sorted into your categories and assigned.
- Component 02
- Attachments are recognised and assigned to the right job.
- Component 03
- Standard cases get a prepared draft reply - unsent.
Degree of autonomy
Sorting and assigning run independently, because they are reversible. Replies never go out without a release.
Where it does not fit
If it is not settled internally who is responsible for what, the system sorts by rules that do not exist. Then that question comes before the project - it can be answered quickly, but someone has to answer it.
Frequently asked
Is this worth it in wholesale?
In trade the shared mailbox is an order intake. What sits there is not unprocessed post, it is unrecorded revenue. Whether it pays for you depends on your volume - the audit establishes that.
We use a different system from the ones listed. Does it still work?
Yes. The ones listed are those we most often meet in wholesale - a list, not a precondition. Where no interface exists, we build one.
What do we have to provide?
Access to the shared mailbox and the rules on who is responsible for what. A list of the cases that must never be answered automatically. Two weeks of real inbox to read along with, before anything goes live. Nothing more is needed to start.
How will we know it works?
Across 300 real messages, at least 92 % reach the right area of responsibility. Nothing falls between two responsibilities - unclear cases go to a defined place. For everything that leaves the building, a person stays the sender.
How long does implementation take?
2 to 4 weeks.
Does the AI decide on its own?
Sorting and assigning run independently, because they are reversible. Replies never go out without a release.
When is this not worth it?
If it is not settled internally who is responsible for what, the system sorts by rules that do not exist. Then that question comes before the project - it can be answered quickly, but someone has to answer it.
The same process, in general
This page shows the fit in wholesale. The process itself is sector-independent - what matters is whether it repeats.
Shared inbox in generalTell us where your time goes.
In the audit we record the process, work out what is worth automating, and you get a plan with fixed prices - credited against the build if you go ahead.