Jul 28, 2022
“The CEO of our company was a podiatrist, and he had a running list of products he needed on a piece of notepad paper. He'd tape it to the supply closet and when his sales rep would come in, he would just tell them what he needed. But, he was always very tech-forward and everything else in his business was digital. Even his x-rays were digital! He did not understand why the industry operated in such an old way, so he created DocShop Pro: for podiatrists by a podiatrist.” -Sylvia Ruma, Vice President of Operations, DocShop Pro*
About DocShop Pro: modernizing an archaic business model
Launching the company in 2016, the founders at DocShop Pro set out to modernize an archaic business model by changing the way medical practices order supplies. Until then, doctors, clinics, and medical practices relied primarily on door-to-door sales.
Initially launched as a purchasing platform that brought together wholesale medical supplies from a range of suppliers, DocShop Pro streamlined the way many medical practices sourced supplies. One of their co-founders shared that “online purchasing was a norm for our customers in their personal life. Doing it in their business life was becoming second nature.”
“Online purchasing was a norm for our customers in their personal life. Doing it in their business life was becoming second nature.” -Christy Keast, Vice President of Digital Marketing, DocShop Pro
By building strong relationships with vendors and customers alike, DocShop Pro grew dramatically, eventually evolving to become an industry-leading online marketplace for medical supplies, making it possible for medical offices to compare and save on medical supplies and equipment from different manufacturers. All this was just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed many practices to embrace online ordering. Today, the company describes itself as the Amazon of the medical marketplace world.
The Challenge: becoming a true online marketplace by offering net terms without friction
Committed to innovation and led by a strong vision, DocShop Pro has created a unique, essential solution poised for continued growth. However, the evolution from a simple purchasing platform to a scalable online marketplace didn’t come without its challenges.
Competing with Fortune 100 national wholesale suppliers that offered net terms
For starters, as the company endeavored to scale, it found itself competing with Fortune 100 national wholesale suppliers that could offer customers net 30-, 60-, and 90-day payment terms.
For a new business with limited capital, offering customers net terms would put a serious strain on cash flow. Initially, the company managed this by simply passing sales through to its suppliers, earning a commission on each sale. This allowed its customers to get net terms straight from the suppliers.
However, each of these suppliers billed customers separately, offering different sets of terms and charging different tax and shipping rates. Although DocShop Pro’s early customers loved the idea of using DocShop Pro as a one-stop shop for all medical supplies, the billing process created a poor buyer experience.
Owning the revenue
As the company received more funding, it began to invest in becoming the true point of sale and owning all the revenue from purchases made through the platform. However, offering net terms continued to be a challenge because it required DocShop Pro to manage the float and hire an internal accounting team—something it wasn’t in a position to do. To stay competitive, the company needed a different kind of solution to manage net terms for its customers.
Just what the doctor ordered: competitive rates and seamless integration
After vetting several solutions that could help the company offer net terms, DocShop Pro struggled to find the right solution–until one of its technology partners recommended Resolve.
In learning about Resolve, the team at DocShop Pro quickly realized that the solution not only met the company’s needs of finding a scalable way to manage terms for all their customers, but that it was also backed by strong customer service, a value they themselves held quite strongly For starters, Resolve offered competitive rates, offering net terms with a similar fee structure to credit card processing. More importantly, Resolve integrated with the company’s eCommerce platform, Magento.
Although using Resolve took some customers off the DocShop Pro website for billing and processing, it always brought them back to the website afterward. Impressively, the application process for net terms was fast, and simple and the team at Resolve was committed to working with DocShop Pro to help transition customers to the new system as seamlessly as possible.
Going pro: fueling the evolution of DocShop Pro through Resolve’s embedded marketplace payment solution
“Resolve was a part of a larger collective operational shift that was a night and day cohesive transformation for us. Our customers were given a branded shopping experience from start to finish thanks to Resolve’s ability to brand their platform for us.” -Christy Keast, Vice President of Digital Marketing, DocShop Pro
As DocShop Pro continued to evolve, Resolve proved to be a valuable tool and partner, offering several benefits that have fueled the growth of DocShop Pro.
By using Resolve’s native embedded marketplace payment solution, DocShop Pro was able to offer:
- Invoicing upon checkout
- Immediate net terms enrollment for new customers at checkout. The customer is able to save their products in the website cart until DocShop Pro and Resolve’s approval
- Access to a buyer dashboard where customers can view and pay their invoices
Outsourced accounts receivables: a core component of the tech stack
“Resolve is absolutely our outsourced AR management function. Resolve is a pivotal part of our business.”* -Sylvia Ruma, Vice President of Operations, DocShop Pro
A technology-forward company, DocShop Pro’s tech stack is made up of several tools, including eCommerce, accounting, payment processing, and more. As the company continued down the path to becoming a leading online marketplace for medical practices, Resolve also became a core component of its tech stack.
When Resolve was implemented, collections at DocShop Pro became much easier. Instead of spending time collecting from 15-20 different suppliers every week, the company could focus its efforts on other value-added processes such as sales and building new relationships with customers and vendors.
Enhancing customer experiences
Customers love the simple credit application powered by Resolve and thankfully, they only receive one bill when they order from DocShop Pro. Although invoicing is managed by Resolve, DocShop Pro’s logo and branding are always front and center.
In fact, the solution has become so ingrained in DocShop Pro’s business and operations model that many customers aren’t aware that the net terms and payment options they receive are managed by a third-party service.
With just one log-in and one account required to pay invoices at different locations, Resolve also makes life easier for the customers’ accounts payable departments.
In a traditional industry like theirs, when it comes to customer satisfaction and NPS, most medical product supplies would be lucky to receive a score on the high-end of 10. By comparison, DocShop Pro proudly boasts an NPS score of 66 which they attribute to their values of fast customer service and building trusted relationships - an area that Resolve helps influence.
Expanding sales with full visibility and Resolve’s net terms enrollment
Resolve’s net terms have even become a part of the sales process, giving sales reps another benefit to highlight when they’re working to convert new leads into customers. As sales reps work with new clinics that are thinking of ordering through DocShop Pro, they'll get the account approved for net terms through Resolve right away. Once approved, the sales rep shares how much credit they were approved for and guides them towards a cart size that fits that spend.
The company’s efforts, combined with net terms from Resolve, are paying off and sales are growing as customers receive more spending flexibility. Resolve has even helped contribute to larger cart sizes from the clinics, with average cart sizes increasing by 15% in 2022.
Continuous improvement
As DocShop Pro has grown, they’ve found that Resolve is committed to evolution through continuous improvement, too. Regularly soliciting and acting on feedback from its clients, Resolve continues to update its software to offer a better customer experience.
Aligned values on unmatched customer service
Attributing much of its success to strong relationships, both with customers and suppliers, exceptional customer service is in DocShop Pro’s DNA. With a sharp focus on customer service, Resolve is a natural fit as a net terms partner. Not only is the team at Resolve willing to work with DocShop Pro to help customers get the net terms they need, they’re also prompt and responsive.
“Anytime I have a question for Resolve, I receive an answer almost immediately. This helps because then I can give our customers an answer very quickly too, which means everything to them–doctors are very particular about their money and Resolve helps us foster better relationships with our doctors.” -Anna Savvinidis, Customer Success Advisor, DocShop Pro
Poised for growth: a positive prognosis for DocShop Pro
Following a successful evolution from a purchasing platform to a thriving online marketplace for medical supplies, DocShop Pro is setting its sights on future growth. Working to make the customer experience even better, the company is forging new relationships and strengthening existing ones with both customers and suppliers. The company has become a role model for both medical suppliers and marketplaces for essential goods by leveraging technology to boost relationships and modernize business operations.
As a fully embedded marketplace, medical offices and clinics now have access to the most streamlined purchasing experience on DocShop Pro. When browsing DocShop Pro's website, they can simply search for the product they need–for example, face shields–and see every vendor that is selling that product, filtered by price, while also having the option to defer payment with Resolve.
This gives medical practices more options for products and price points, while Resolve offers them the net terms they need to effectively manage purchasing and cash flow. By making it possible for clinics and medical practices to purchase essential supplies more efficiently and at reasonable prices, DocShop Pro allows doctors to focus on the most important part of their job: providing exceptional patient care.
It is almost hard to believe that, until recently, many physicians relied on fax or door-to-door sales representatives to purchase their supplies. New companies like DocShop Pro have revolutionized clinical operations by developing digital and embedded solutions. By prioritizing relationships, these companies are changing the face of this important industry.
What’s not hard to believe is that DocShop Pro is leading this transformation with a commitment to innovation and a focus on relationships. As the “Amazon of the medical marketplace”, DocShop Pro is at the forefront of this industry with virtually no competitors. With time on its side and a trusted partner like Resolve, DocShop Pro continues to build relationships with more distributors to bring the best products at the best prices to doctors across the United States.
“Resolve’s user experience and customer experience make our lives easier so I definitely recommend Resolve to other distributors.” -Anna Savvinidis, Customer Success Advisor, DocShop Pro
Interested in fueling your B2B sales and increasing order sizes with Resolve? Contact us to learn more.
