Outstanding amount generally refers to the value of any payment that remains unpaid of the current amount due to be made in accordance with the agreement. Retailers sometimes fail to make payment at the committed time frame because of various reasons.Therefore, the right payment strategy is important for any FMCG business to gain a real strategic advantage. We are going to discuss the main possibilities of delayed payments by retailers and the probable solutions for it.
 

1. Check rapport with other distributors  

​Firstly, you need to make sure if the retailer is not paying to other  distributors or companies as well or it’s happening only with your company. If he/she is doing the same with  others too, there might be a possibility that he is in the urge to sell his retail business which is unusual at times or he/she might be dissatisfied with the service. So finding out the real reason is essential.
 

2. Clashes between the salesperson and distributor: 

There might be clashes between the retailer and delivery person or  distributor. He/she might be refusing to keep stock until the presence of a distributor. On the other hand, a distributor might have an ego or superiority complex that can cause a huge sense of misunderstanding between retailer and a company. Ultimately, it hampers the business. If such an issue has been observed, you need to address the burning issue promptly. You should keep both the parties together and try to resolve their differences. There should not be any ego in business because they are not providing only the product but service as well. 
 

3. Confusion in the current stock present:

The retailer might be assuming that there is already some stock left so he is refusing to pay the amount but it may not be true. There might not be any stock remaining. The salesperson should check thoroughly once. The retail person sometimes feels lazy to check and informs randomly about the stock. So, the salesperson must have a thorough check  once to abstract the result.
 

4. Availability of previous stock:

There might be old stock unsold with the retailer. So, to have product clearance you need to have proper exposure or merchandising of the product. It can be done by displaying the product in proper hotspots. Also, conveying the retail owner about the visibility of the poster, tangler and asking him to have look upon those. So, customers will come see the visibility and stocks will get cleared off. Ultimately, he/she will be able to make payment to the company.
 

5. Confusion on modes of Payment :

A lot of sales from the distributors to the retailer happens on credit terms which leads to issues with payment collection and leakages. If payment is made by cash, leakages may happen. If cheque payment is made cheques bounced  cause a problem at times. The retailer neither wants to pay at the time of order because delivery is not guaranteed nor does the distributor want to give credit because he has no guarantee that the retailer will be there to make payment the next day. Therefore, this issue needs to be sorted by clear communication on which modes of payment and how the payment should be made before approaching each other.