Following a chaotic time of shutdowns and restrictions, the global market and supply chain both remain in disarray, forcing manufacturers, distributors and retailers in countless industries to adapt their rebate management processes accordingly in 2023. Luckily over time, rebate management software has evolved tremendously and become more advanced to address the rapidly changing industry needs. With the new year just around the corner, in this blog post, we have compiled the top rebate management predictions to watch out for in 2023.

1. The Rising Popularity of Using Rebates

Rebates are an antithetical pricing game.  They impact the rising cost of products yet reduce the market cost to breed competition, gain brand awareness and build customer loyalty. The rising cost of products also causes an increase in percent rebates to total spending. Rebates are part of the price and impact on the rising cost of products.    

With the rebate economy growing exponentially in almost every business sector and with more complexity, rebates are increasing in popularity because people are realizing how effective they are at forging trading partner loyalty to strengthen market share and product installment awareness.  

For example, manufacturers who do not support the rebate game believe the price of their product is valued accordingly, without the need to reduce its perceived value by an incentive program. Other manufacturers believe rebate agreements are necessary, as it is the only way to compete on price for commoditized type products.

2. Real-time Insights into Rebate Performance

With the rising expectation of more trading deals in their future, then one can expect the need for more solutions that bring your rebates into focus. The necessity of analytics, reporting and forecasting capabilities will increase in demand. Our research has shown that 42% of manufacturers believe that better analytics would help program effectiveness. Companies expect at-your-fingertips information in real time to drive actionable insights and strategic business decisions such as optimized shelf cost, ROI, earnings, cashflow, accruals, partnerships, spend and labor scalability.

These insights into deal performance and net earnings will waterfall to revenue making opportunities that enhance bottom line results. Reaching and exceeding performance goals with your trading partners will be more achievable with deal visibility. This information is the competitive edge needed to win market share.

3. Complete Migration to the Cloud  

Companies are sunsetting their manual efforts in tracking rebates. The data that needs to be captured and digested into mathematical algorithms is simply too complex and chaotic to do in Excel spreadsheets. Not to mention the time and money that is being wasted every day. Instead, companies will move to the cloud to automate their rebate management to bring ease to rebate calculations and processing while redeploying precious labor to more prudent and meaningful tasks that grow their top and bottom lines.  

4. Seamless Integration

It no longer matters what ERP system or AI platforms are being deployed today. Data is data. It can automatically accessed, ingested and stored in various mediums that will seamlessly be transported into a rebate management solution with little IT involvement.  

We designed Enable to integrate easily with today’s leading ERP systems, including Oracle, SAP, Sage and NetSuite, as well as legacy ERP and EDI systems and business intelligence dashboards. With over 18 years of integration experience, we have a proven process to get Enable integrated with your core systems – often in just a few weeks.  

To learn more about how we handle the integration, read our white paper Seamless ERP Integration with Enable.

5. Collaborative Way of Thinking

No agreement is worth pursuing unless those who play a key role in impacting its performance are made a part of it. Wrapping up all your rebate agreements into a single source of truth will enable “same page awareness” rather than supporting a siloed environment. In fact, 46% of manufacturers believe that better awareness of their trading program from their trading partner would improve the effectiveness of their rebate program.

By using an effective collaboration tool, all departments and trading partners can track progress towards goals, sign-off agreements on time and build healthier trading relationships to drive profitable growth together.

Want more collaboration tips? Download our white paper.

6. Data is King

Rebate data is massive and complex. The most granular bits of data are necessary...

• to understand how well the team is performing per the agreement  
• to analyze cost/price/margin spread
• to forecast and accrue
• to accurately claim and account for your rebates
• to mitigate disputes  

There has always been a need for transparency into rebate data. Now more than ever, companies can no longer be without tools that expose their rebates. The call for this transparency is at a megaphone level, finally getting the attention of many who previously viewed rebate programs as “behind the scenes” perks.  

Today, the minds of the curious want data visibility, accessibility and they want to be in the know. That’s why rebate data needs to be exposed at its most minor level to ultimately uncover revenue opportunities and bring collaborative harmony to trading partner relationships.  

7. Accurate Rebate Earnings to Increase the Bottom Line

Rebates represent an incredible 60-100% of net profit for distributors. However, one of the most disturbing facts about rebates is that no one has the ability to represent their financial performance in full confidence. Earnings estimations are a darted guess rather than a sure projection of truth. We talk about leaving money on the table. Clear the table and pocket the money by focusing on your rebate data and moving to a rebate management platform that will bring visibility and transparency to your rebate earnings.  

With this increased certainty, you will optimize revenue opportunities, increase gross margin and rebate earnings. This focused effort will ultimately enrich your market presence, build relationships and grow the bottom line.

Download our white paper: 8 Rebate Strategies to Maximize Margin Across the Supply Chain

8. The Rise of the Rebate Strategists

We’re witnessing the rise of the rebate strategist. No longer content with a back-office role. A growing number of rebate managers are finding success in a more strategic approach to rebates – with exciting results for their businesses.  

With a more strategic approach, imagine what you could accomplish:  

• Working with trading partners to craft and personalize go-to-market strategies at scale  
• Reviewing rebate performance with execs and recommending the next best actions
• Consulting on ways to improve margins, cash flow, and overall financial performance  
• Becoming a sought-after specialist within the organization and the wider industry  
• Gaining recognition within the business

Discover how to transform your role from rebate manager to rebate strategist.

We hope our 2023 predictions will provide some thought provocation and maybe a little inspiration for improving your rebate outlook for the New Year. What are your predictions for 2023? Join our rebate strategists community and let us know!