Takeaways from Enable’s New Rebate Reports for Distributors & Manufacturers

San Francisco-based Enable, a SaaS rebate management platform that drives relationships between B2B trading partners, has released its 2022 State of Volume Rebates for Distributors and Manufacturers reports. 

The findings encompass the survey results of 237 distributors and manufacturers across 14 industries including electrical, automobile parts, building materials and plumbing. The reports detail the growing role of volume rebates amid volatility in economic markets.

Enable’s 2022 State of Volume Rebates Report for Distributors finds that rebates are critical for distributors, accounting for a significant portion of profits. The report details how distributors manage their success with rebates with detailed rebate strategies. These strategies should be underpinned by transparency between the distributor and either their supplier or buying group as well as good communication.

“By tracking their progress toward their goals, distributors can more accurately forecast their profits for the year and avoid complex audits at year-end,” Enable said. “This eliminates any surprises, especially payouts that are smaller than anticipated. For distributors who are also suppliers for retailers, this means less of a chance of overpayment, too.”

Key insights from the  2022 State of Volume Rebates Report for Distributors include:

• Nearly 2 in 3 distributors are part of a buying group, but 57% of distributors in buying groups don’t know the rebate amount earned from each manufacturer.  
• On average, distributors have rebate programs with 50 of their top 100 manufacturers, representing two-thirds of sales.
• 25% of distributors report not knowing how they measure their rebate goals.
• 44% of respondents told us only purchasing and senior management are familiar with their rebate programs.

The full Distributors Rebates report is available to download here.

Enable’s 2022 State of Volume Rebates Report for Manufacturers finds that rebates are a powerful marketing tool that manufacturers can use to leverage additional sales and drive increased loyalty from their customers. To do this, Enable advises, they must ensure their sales teams are properly educated on their rebate programs and that they are successfully communicating those programs to customers to increase program awareness. By keeping customers more informed, manufacturers believe that their rebate programs will be more successful.

“Improved analytics and reporting will be crucial for manufacturers looking to differentiate themselves from competitors and acquire new trading partners,” Enable explains. “Additionally, having access to reporting tools like dashboards help manufacturers better understand the success of their trading programs and make adjusting those programs easier.”

Key insights from the 2022 State of Volume Rebates Report for Manufacturers include:

• 2 in 3 manufacturers offer annual rebate programs to influence long-term behavioral changes, but only 2% of manufacturers think their rebate strategy is very effective at achieving their goals.
• 42% of manufacturers believe that better analytics would help program effectiveness.
• 36% of manufacturers said their biggest concern about administering their rebates is that they don’t know the regular status of their rebates, or rebates don’t match calculations.

The full Manufacturers Rebates report is available to download here.

On Oct. 21, Enable announced that it had secured an oversubscribed $94 million Series C financing round that brings the company’s total funding to $156 million since 2020. The new funds will help the company grow its rebate management strategies.