Demand. Better.

by Aug 12, 2019Supply Chain Finance

Supply and Demand. Supply is easy. It is tangible. You can see it. You can touch it and you can measure it. Demand is less easy – it is tricky and wily. It is downright fleeting. Demand is an unknown that can only be measured once supply is provided, and at that point, what was once “demand” has been consumed. Economists devote entire careers to the study and theorizing of demand – what is it, how to measure it, etc. A simple definition of demand is, “demand is what people want.”

Innovators work to create products that fulfill demand and true innovators often generate products that satisfy a demand that may not yet be in existence. For example, did demand exist for smart phones before there were smart phones? There are many ways to go about thinking through this question. The truth is that people often do not know what they want until you provide them with a something they may want; and then after having experienced that something as useful or somehow fulfilling, that something then becomes the “what” that they want. Henry Ford is quoted as having said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for faster horses.” It would seem that people want something to fill a perceived need (go faster) and that something, the “what they want”, is generally determined by people’s exposure and experience. In other words, they want a faster horse until they learn about and experience cars, which are superior to horses as a means of transportation in every way – then they want (demand) cars.

Innovation is the key to getting ahead of demand and affords the ability to not only shape what demand looks like but how demand may be satisfied. At Artis Trade Systems, we pioneered a new product offering for the small and middle market, ArtisPay©. ArtisPay evolved from the vision of one of our founders who perceived a large demand in the small and middle markets for Supply Chain Finance (SCF). ArtisPay is a SCF platform that allows banks and lenders to help their clients (Buyers) extend their payables, improve their A/P function, and strengthen their supplier relations.

At Artis, we recognized a general demand for SCF; however, there was not yet an express demand for a product that could facilitate the SCF process. We hypothesized that banks and lenders would likely welcome the opportunity to generate substantial fee income while simultaneously enhancing their client A/P processes. We understood that in order to win customers, our product would not only have to be of superior quality and easy use, it would also need to add value to every entity involved in the SCF process: the Lender, the Buyer and the Supplier.

Consumers and end-users know “what” they want once they touch, feel and experience a product and/or service that is useful and fulfilling. With ArtisPay, once users experience the product, they typically report high satisfaction and enhanced quality of business and operations. ArtisPay users realize the benefits and innovation that SCF and ArtisPay bring to the businesses of all parties involved. ArtisPay clients realize that innovative, mutually beneficial products of this nature not only afford growth but also provide a competitive edge. As more and more companies and people are becoming aware of ArtisPay and the benefits SCF offers to their business, demand continues to increase. If we hold that demand is what people want, then it clearly follows that the people want ArtisPay.