Streamlining Your Wholesale Business With Point Of Sale Software

When most people think of wholesale businesses they will typically picture large and probably dingy warehouse, filled to the roof with goods. Whilst there are still some businesses that fit into this description quite readily; the reality is that the wholesale business has come a long way in recent years. In order to meet ever stricter health and safety regulations, wholesale businesses have had to modernise their warehouse operation to minimise the chance of accidents in what has been a traditionally risky working environment. We have also seen the introduction of new technologies into the wholesale sector; a must for companies looking to survive in the current economic climate. One popular choice has been the implementation of point of sale software, which can provide numerous benefits to the business and their customers.
Stock management:
Perhaps the most important assistance that point of sale software can provide you in running your wholesale business focuses on stock management. By inputting data regarding stock as it arrives in the warehouse you can accurately track the level of stock that you have. This of course means that you can ensure that you never run out of those popular goods. The ability to pullout relevant information on past transactions means that you can also monitor performance levels of specific lines and stock them accordingly.
Account tracking:
Any wholesaler will have to at some point offer credit to their customers – especially new business that are just starting out. It is of course important to record all invoices an accurate manner in order to maintain the balance of accounts. A good point of sale software solution will automatically log new transactions to the relevant account and calculate the balance; removing the chance of human error.
Quick transactions:
In order to keep customers coming back to your wholesalers you want to provide them with the best possible experience. An easy to navigate warehouse is essential, as is the ability to quickly get through the checkout. Point of sale software with integrated barcode readers makes the till area a faster moving environment and reduces queuing time. Again you have the plus of removing human error when inputting prices.
Staffing levels:
Less man hours will be required in all areas of your wholesale business thanks to point of sale software. Less administration will be required, there will be no need to undertake regular stock checks and due to quicker payment processing less open tills will be needed. This of course means that you will require less staff; a saving which you can put towards the cost that having point of sale software installed.
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This post has been written by Martin. Martin has a great experience in wholesale racking and shelving.

How to buy Wholesale Supplies

wholesale supplies

First off, I expect that if you’re buying wholesale you are a store owner or an entrepreneur – basically, that you should have the ability (with confidence) to sell whatever product you're buying.
A few pieces of advice - take a look at your competitors - a real look at your competitors. Go into their stores, go to their online marketplace - see what they are selling off the racks, or figure out what the "hot" item is online - and see what they're putting in the sale bins. That will give you a pretty good picture of what you will want to acquire in bulk. And remember to see what you have in stock! Know what your similar items are, as well. You don't want to buy in bulk an item that you have a similar one of already. You'd be surprised how many people forget this.
As well as knowing what stock you actually have on-hand - don't jump into buying wholesale before you really understand your slow and busy seasons. There are a lot of entrepreneurs out there who buy an item that they think will sell in mass quantities, only to be sitting on the product for years. Don't do that. Be a little bit more conservative, and take the time to have a slightly more mature business before jumping into buying wholesale. This is not the time to be optimistic and overreach. Realism is more important here, if you wish to maintain a sustainable business model.
These days the virtual marketplace allows you do to much less work - trade shows don't have to be in your annual plan and warehouse tours are no longer necessary.
But buyer beware! The internet allows anyone to publish their listings for "wholesale goods" - you can't always be sure of the quality or the truth of the product - whereas with the old service you were always sure of what you were getting - you could touch it, hold it in your hands and feel the quality and weight of it. You can't always do that now.
At the bottom of the wholesaling situation the most important thing you need to consider is what it always has been - your relationship with your wholesaler. It's just got a different face this time around; emails rather than handshakes, and images rather than a warehouse walk-through.
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Jade Evans is a freelance writer who works most frequently with an international shipping company. When considering buying wholesale, they can ship it! Everything from a man and a van to car shipping and long-distance movers. Jade has been a professional writer for the past few years, but has always enjoyed traveling somewhere new.

Efficient Racking and Shelving Can Improve Wholesale Distribution

One of wholesale’s largest appeals is its ability to give customers access to large amounts of stock at hugely competitive prices. It’s rare someone would shop within a wholesale environment unless they were looking to buy products in volume. Fulfilling the customer’s stock requirements is paramount to success and as such an effective stock replenishment system has to be in place. There are many aspects to a modern day supply chain and one of the most important ones is maintaining efficient time scales. It may seem obvious to some but even effective warehouses with warehouse management systems in place still rely on racking and shelving at their core. Here is a look at how racking and shelving still form the cornerstone of distribution and how choosing the right systems can directly impact wholesales effectiveness.

Access to Stock:
Individual wholesale environments differ greatly depending on their specific marketplace, however many choose to have a large open, almost warehouse like, shop floor, whilst keeping good levels of stock in the actual warehouse, to replenish diminishing stock lines as needed. Using this wholesale format as an example highlights the need for effective stock distribution. Starting at the first point of onsite distribution which is the arrival of stock via a lorry, racking and shelving begins to play its essential part. Many wholesalers choose to use forklift trucks as pallet deliveries are common place in modern wholesale. With the wrong racking in place, not only are potential health risks greatened, but not being able to sufficiently rack stock can be very time consuming. There have been examples of racking systems buckling under stock load, and this can not only lead to injury but damage valuable stock. Sturdy efficient racking, chosen specifically to hold a desired weight is an almost mandatory requirement in the modern day supply chain.

Making the Most of Available Space:
Having the correct racking in place is a good start, but it’s also essential to choose a racking and shelving system that will maximise you floor space. You need to carefully measure the entire space to give good forklift truck and trolley access, remembering that some stock will be held high on the racking. This will also enable pallets full of stock to be taken to your shop floor for distribution. This principal of space management can be repeated on the shop floor as well, in turn increasing the speed to of stock replacement.

It’s surprising how many business underestimate the humble racking and shelving system, but used effectively it can dramatically reduce distribution times, which will have a positive effect on your profit margins.
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This post has been written by Martin. Martin has a great experience in wholesale racking and shelving.

Dropshipping Business - Benefits of this home based profit generating buisness

In the past years, Dropshipping has appeared as one of the most profitable businesses. It is defined as such method of selling in supply chain management in which the retailer or any other person, does not keep products or commodities in his warehouse as the stock. Infact, the dropshipper keeps sample of products or list of catalogues of products in which he is dealing in. When customer orders goods to dropshippers, he forwards customer’s order to wholesaler, distributor or manufacturer, who delivers the product to customer direct from their inventory. Some time earlier Dropshippers were mainly retailers but now-a-days many other people have also started practically dropshipping business.
Dropshipping is a very simple business as anyone can do it as long as he has fare knowledge of supply chain management and general awareness of market trends. Dropshipping is a home based business and can be operated from any part of the world; the dropshipper only needs a system (computer or laptop), internet and a website to start his business smoothly. Dropshipping is now considered as one of the most profits accumulating home based business which can gather high profits easily without any investment.
There are three kinds of dropshipping which are widely known. “Blind Shipping”, in this type of dropshipping no return mailing address is sent to customer, so that the customer cannot contact the wholesaler. The second type is “Private Label Shipping”, in which product is delivered through wholesaler but return address of dropshipper is also sent. The last type is “Customized Packing Slip” in which dropshipper’s name, company logo and contact information is sent as a return address.
The greatest benefit of dropshipping is the inventory reduction. The capital of dropshipper is hoard and in case if dropshipper has to pack up the business then he will be at safe end as he has nothing to lose. This business has no set-up costs; means that the dropshipper has to pay nothing from his pocket to start this business. Dropshippers never face risk to face expiry date products, loss inventory or risk of damaged or broken products as he has nothing to store in his own warehouse so there is no need to spend costs on preventing these.
There are also no chances of frauds or delayed payments as dropshippers have direct contacts with the wholesalers. The only thing to consider while doing dropshipping business is to remain up to date with your wholesale supplier and his inventory.

How to Use Twitter for Your Wholesale Business (Part- II)

Here is the second part of the post how to use twitter for your wholesale business. In the first section we discussed

How to Tweet

Time Difference in Your Tweet

Who to Follow

Now we will discuss further more about usage of twitter for the improvement of your business.

Value of Keywords in Your Tweets:

Value of keywords can not be neglected in any search engine either it is Google, Bing or Twitter. All work on the same criteria that revolve around the same algorithm. Twitter also search for your those keywords in your tweets and also in your urls you are looking for. I  have examined this my self when I was searching for the a keyword I found the such tweets where my desired keyword was not in the tweet while it was in the url. And now I am gong to tell you how you can use your desired keyword in your tweet while staying in the limited words.

Have you ever heard about http://9mp.com. Yes it is the URL shortener service provider. This site provides you the option of branding your URLs with any sub domain you wish. It also allows you to tag on keywords at the end of your URL.

EXAMPLES

Company Branded Url's - company.9mp.com

9mp-Modified Url's - 9mp.company.com

Group Url's - group.9mp.com

Vanity Url's - 9mp.com/inputname

Mention And Direct Messages:

To use twitter effectively you should have knowledge about mentions and direct messages.

Mentions are normally sent to those who are not following you back, it can be send by adding “@” in the start of your tweet then writing the profile name of the person you want to target.

While direct messages are sent to those who are following you. These messages appeared in their inbox, while mentions are shown in live streaming and in the mentions tab.

Value of Retweet:

Value of Retweet is really really important to keep your link alive. Once you get the Retweet you get the life again on twitter. And this life time depends on number of followers of the person who retweeted it. If you get this Retweet from a star or a brand then its worth increases even more than it was once when it was tweeted by you.

Importance Of List:

If you are a manager and want to have a look what your sub ordinate are doing on twitter can be easily done on twitter. You can easily see their tweets by just going on that tweets rather to go on every one’s profile one by one. Similarly you can have a look on the tweets of you favorite twitter users and on brands of your niche. Do you know how to make list on twitter, it is so simple have a look here

To create a new list, follow these instructions:

1. Visit the profile of the first user you would like to add to your list
2. Click the person icon. This brings up a drop-down Actions menu.
3. Select "Add to list"
4. Enter the credentials of your list and choose whether others can see it or whether it is private
5. Check to see if the user you wanted to add was successfully included in that list: to do this, click the person icon and select "Add to list". A checkmark will be added next to lists in which that user is included (shown below under "Adding or Removing People").

Tell us in the comment section about your reviews about this post and your experience on twitter.

Online Networking and Marketing Tools for your Wholesale Business

 

Don’t be hesitant to establish an online identity for your wholesale business. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to set up an accessible profile for your company on the web, and you’d be even more surprised at the business it could bring in for your company. Whether you’re looking out for retailers to buy from your company or you want to export products overseas, the web can be a great arena for attracting new interests to your wholesale business. What follows are a few resources you can rely on to successfully market and network your wholesale business.

LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for businesspeople and entrepreneurs of all areas. It’s free to start a LinkedIn profile for your wholesale business or for yourself as a representative of the business. Simply follow the instructions on the site’s homepage to set up a basic profile. LinkedIn gives you a completion graph that encourages you to make a “complete” profile. A “complete” profile entails more than just entering your company’s information: LinkedIn counts adding connections and contacting other profiles as necessary to building a healthy profile. It’s clear that this site emphasizes networking, so you know the profiles you encounter here will mean business.

You can use this profile as a springboard into other wholesalers’ business networks which might be able to give you tips and insight to the industry’s current climate. The breadth and depth of professional resources available on LinkedIn are staggering: thousands of professionals join the site every day, so there’s always a chance that you’ll encounter a new valuable resource for your business.

Blogger or Wordpress:

Believe it or not, you can get good exposure for your wholesale business by keeping a company blog. Many businesses maintain blogs to issue releases on current events within the company or regarding news relevant to a business’s trade. With wholesale, you could blog about new products in your inventory, changes in your business’s organization, or personal stories about the staff at your company.

Customize your business’s blog to accommodate your target audience. Blogging is meant to familiarize a reader with the author, and in this case the reader will likely be someone in retail. Focus on writing about items that will interest potential buyers.  Write regularly about daily activities and news relevant to the business. Readers who become familiar to your business’s happenings may be more inclined to contact you as a customer.

License for photo: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/deed.en

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This is a guest post by Susan Wells. Susan is from insurance quote guide, she writes on topics including health/car/life insurance, mortgage, real estate.

 

How to Use Twitter in Your Wholesale Business (Part- I)

The role of twitter is important for a business because of its increasing popularity in the new generation. Almost every person who use internet in UK is aware of Twitter and of course from Wholesale Business too. So to use twitter effectively for your business you should be aware of how to tweet, what should be the time difference in your tweet, who to follow, what is the difference between mention and direct messages and the value of re-tweet. Let’s put light on each factor

How to Tweet:

While adding any tweet related to your business and site you should write those words first which are for buyers. Such words should be telling the reader what you have for him there. These words should be compelling the visitors to click the link and to see the real page. You should take the advantage of limited words scheme on twitter. In 140 characters you should create such a sentence that grab visitor from the eyeball and force him to stay, think and to open the provided Page.  For example if you are running a blog do not write blog name first in your tweet, rather write your post name first then you blog name like

How to Export UK Wholesale Products Overseas – Wholesale Blog……http://goo.gl/q33Bj

Time Difference in your Tweet:

Time Management is always important in every way of life. Specially while running a business you should be well aware of the importance of time management. Twitter is little different from Facebook. It does not remind the user that he/she has sent a link. So you should keep in mind the time when maximum numbers of your followers are online. Then add your tweet so that you can conclude maximum number of hits. The second thing that you should keep in mind is the time difference in your tweet. You should wait for the visitor to come back to twitter after visiting your provided link. Then release you next arrow in the air that if he escape from first should be injured this time and this time he should have to spent maximum on your site. So with a rough idea of senior marketers there should be a time gap of 30 minutes between your tweets to cash maximum hits.

Who to Follow:

The value of your following is as important as breath for a living organism. It is directly related to the age of your tweet. Those persons who are followed by you determine the ratio of clicks on your provided URL to come to your site. Also this improves your ranking in SERP.

The persons you are following should be most relevant to your business. They should have deep interest on the theme you are running. Other wise they would not take interest in your tweet and would not come to your site. Also you should follow those persons who have minimum followers, as this sill increase the life of your tweet on their wall. If they have high number of followers then it will give less and less time to your tweet to be visible and will pass away from their eye. As your basic purpose is to increase your site visitors which will to ultimately increase your sale.

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In the next part we will discuss about few more major techniques and their importance in promoting your wholesale business. 

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How To Export Uk Wholesale Products Overseas

Exporting products is most profitable in Wholesale Business for people who are willing to negotiate and to switch companies or products just to increase the bottom line. Few people get rich by being loyal to a middleman.

In addition, being ignorant of the law is never an excuse for breaking it. Learn about the United Kingdom’s rules on exporting and talk to experts on the subject.

Laws and Agents :

Know the regulations on exporting goods. Attempting to ship products with missing or incomplete documents delays the package. Shipping illegal goods also causes delay and the package may be returned to you with a penalty fee. Learning about the United Kingdom’s laws on exporting goods saves time and money in the long run.

You can hire an agent to handle the paperwork for you. Make sure the agent is well-qualified and has experience with exporting products from the United Kingdom. According to HM Revenue and Customs, you are 100% responsible for the legality and correct classification of your goods. This is true even when an agent is handling everything for you.

Rock Bottom Prices :

When looking for a new item to export, buy direct from the manufacturer whenever possible. “A rock-bottom price will increase the spread of your profit zone, allowing a hefty markup,” says the writer of TradeZone.com. This seems simple enough, but a surprising amount of wholesale companies are just middlemen.

If you notice a lot of people selling an item cheaper than you, you are probably buying from the wrong source. Put more effort into searching for the same product for less money. Once that search hits a dead end, negotiate with the best company for a better price.

Many companies are willing to haggle on price, especially if you order enough goods. The main problem is that most people do not try. Remember that the worst that can happen is they refuse to haggle at all, in which case you have lost nothing.

Drop Shipping :

Drop shipping is a way of selling goods without buying them first. You get orders, then place an order for the company to deliver the goods. The great thing about drop shipping is that it does not require capital to get started. In addition, it can be done internationally; for example, you can drop ship beauty products widely available in the United Kingdom but rare overseas.

According to Dummies.com, creator of the “for dummies” book company, you can stand out by not using the same product images and descriptions as everyone else. Get a sample of the product and take your own photos. Change or add to the description to make it less generic. 

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This post is written by Jamie Scott blogs at CreditDonkey, where business owners can search for the best business credit card for their wholesale exporting business.

How To Grow Your Wholesale Business in UK

To be in wholesale business in the UK is a profitable idea because the UK have great forecast for it. If you are getting good profit in your wholesale business in the UK and now you want to further increase your increase the circle of your wholesale business then exporting your products outside of UK is a lucrative option. Occupying international trade is not as simple as performing trade within a country. To export the wholesale products, you should have enough resource and sound knowledge of international market.

Before directly jumping into the exporting business, the first point is to evaluate your one export potential. Export potential consists of two major things i.e. readiness of your wholesale business and that of the products or services. In order to perform these important errands you first need to have thorough market knowledge to assess and classify the target market. Study the industry structure in which you have to step in. Try to find out the demand of the wholesale products which you wish to export in that market. Also try to find out the market competition so that you can make strategies to make your place in this race.

After research, what you have to do now is to make an export plan to follow while doing your business of exporting your UK wholesale products overseas. In making plan marketing strategy has its own importance and it is viral because it helps you in adjusting in International trade. You might also have to arrange twice as many financial resources as needed to support and back up the investment. After arrangement of financial resources, next step is to get knowledge to meet the standards and regulations of international market. To make your wholesale products appropriate for export, British Standards Institution can also guide you. And the last work you need to do for best wholesale business man is to realize the export payment mechanisms and export finances.

After resolving all the issues, now its time to understand how you would systematize your Sales Presence in overseas. Sales Presence totally depends on your wholesale product, for instance you can sell your products online, in trade shows or in exhibitions etc. There are many other ways to sell UK wholesale products overseas. These different ways will determine your success or failure in exporting business. Also try to locate distributors there sold to them then they will sell to local suppliers; you can also use a sales agent who will sell wholesale products on your behalf or put you into contact with potential customers on commission basis.
Lastly if you want to gain full control over your overseas sales then set up a local office or a franchise to spread knowledge about you and your products. This option is of course expensive but generates ultimate profits for your wholesale export business.

Write your reviews about wholesale business in the comment section below.

6 Ways for Manufacturers to Reduce the Cost of Production

In times of economic downturns that had been prevailing in the past thirty months in the Western hemisphere, manufacturers had been compelled to take a hard look at their production costs and methods to reduce them to maintain their profitability or stem the erosion in profits to the extent possible. Several strategies can be adopted to achieve cost reduction in manufacturing process but the most important among them are presented here.

1) Cost Reduction in Product Design:

It had been estimated that nearly 80% of the cost of the product results from the product development stages. Once the products have been designed to certain quality standards and specifications, it is near impossible to reduce production costs when these products are manufactured. Hence, the cost reduction should be carefully considered and implemented in the design stages, with the costs of product development, parts, material overheads, labor, and quality analyzed in complete detail. All possible avenues in reducing costs in each of these factors should be actively pursued.

2) Lean Manufacturing Principles for Reducing Manufacturing Costs:

Lean manufacturing includes improving productivity of labor, cutting down process times, reducing inventory levels, minimizing errors or achieving zero rejection levels in all stages of production, and judicious handling of scrap. The lean manufacturing and Kaizen principles help manufacturers in enhancing the productivity levels of labor and eliminate wastes at every stage.

3) Overhead Costs Reduction:

Overhead costs reduction consists of minimizing inventory costs, reduction in procurement costs by negotiating with vendors and suppliers, and mass customization process to manufacture wholesale products with minimum inventory and at short notices to meet orders quickly.


4) Cost Reduction by Standardization:

Standardization of products, parts, and processes had been observed to bring down manufacturers costs by 50%. Organizations can benefit from economies of scale by bulk purchasing of standardized parts and reducing inventory overheads to 10% of normal levels.

5) Rationalization of Production Lines and Processes:

Manufacturers should strive to isolate products that are causing losses on the basis of production and shipping costs to sales value. These products should be removed from the portfolio, unless they have strong brand loyalties. In those situations, the overheads for these products should be cut down to reduce or eliminate losses from these products.

6) Simplification of Supply Chain Management:

The other step in reducing production costs for manufacturers is to simplify supply chain management. Implementation of Kaizen and 6 Sigma principles can also be helpful in reducing quality costs and constant measurement of total costs in all categories involved with production.

  

Do you have any more? Tell us in the comment section below.

Who Are Free Wholesale Dropshippers And How to Find Them?

As a newbie in wholesale business, most of us find the concept of availing the facility of dropshipping most attractive and profitable. It is somewhat true because it does not involve stocking wholesale supplies and managing inventory. Finding a reliable wholesale dropshippers and working with him can bring fortune for any wholesale business. All you need is to set up a portal where buyers can place orders. Note down the orders and ask your dropshipper to handle rest of the task. Free dropshippers are the best option where you can make money out of everywhere without spending a lot.

Free Dropshippers

If you are assuming that free dropshippers are the ones who do not charge you a penny and ship goods on your behalf, for free, then it is wrong. These kinds of dropshippers do not exist in any corner of the world.

A free dropshipper is the one who does not charge wholesalers for utilizing his services. Dropshippers are the linkers and in simple words we can define them as a wholesale courier company. Not all the dropshipping companies are free. They charge their clients in form of monthly or annual fee or charge per transaction which are other than the regular shipping charges. These fees or charges are quite significant amounts that you cannot ignore but these charges are the cost to work with reliable dropshipper.

Free dropshippers give you an opportunity to supply your wholesale products at lower prices as compared to their competitors. At the same time few dropshipping companies come up with the option of further discounts if you are ready to work with them in the long run. Working with a wholesaler in the long run can enhance their repute in the market and increase your profit margins as well. This option is good for both sides. However, it is recommended not to sign the long term contract with them after initial few transactions.

The first way to get a reliable free dropshipper is through reference of wholesalers who are in your sphere. If you are new in this business then it is the best way to get started. The next way is to actively participate in the live wholesale forums where members can answer your questions and guide you properly. The other way is to find free dropshippers through Yellow Pages and online paid directories. Your luck can work any time and you might get some good free wholesale dropshippers.

                       If you find free dropshippers helpful. Tell us in comments section below

How To Tackle Risks In Wholesale Business

Risk can be defined as an uncertainty associated with the exposure or the probability of loss. Rewards and risks always go hand in hand. You see a lot of successful online wholesalers on E-bay and Amazon. What do you think? Have they gained success without bearing any risk or loss? Obviously not! Every business move or activity endures a considerable amount of risk of loss. As in wholesale business large quantities are dealt with, the chances of loss are more. A single blunder in a wholesale business can ruin your entire business and throw you out of the market.

Wholesalers and distributors should know clearly what types of risks are involved in their business and what can be the possible ways to reduce them. Though they cannot eliminate the risks completely yet they can minimize them with effective planning. This article elaborates how different wholesale business risks can be avoided.

Insurance of wholesale products:

There is always a risk that wholesale products may loose their value in warehouse or in transit as a result of wear and tear or may damage due to fire, rain or any other natural disaster. This risk can be reduced by insurance. There can be two types of insurances for wholesale products;

1. Insuring the goods in transit
2. Insuring the goods in warehouse

Though insurance requires constant premium to be paid by the wholesalers yet it is a big shield against any potential loss.

Research your suppliers:

In online wholesale business there is always a risk of choosing fake suppliers or dropshippers. If you place orders with them, you lose your money. They are especially successful in trapping wholesale newbie. There are many examples newbie and their sad experiences with fake suppliers. This risk can only be eliminated with proper research. You should search the internet, talk to the old customers of your suppliers and gather their history before placing your order.

Check credit worthiness of your customers:

As wholesale business deals in large quantities the risk of defaulter is also great. Large quantities have massive profits at stake. The default risk can only be eliminated if you check the credit worthiness of your debtors properly. If your debtor has a bank account you can ask from the bank about the credit worthiness of your customer. Also, you can take advance or a security deposit just in case.

Devise effective marketing strategy:

For wholesalers, there is always a risk of lack of demand. This risk can be avoided by proper market research and proper forecasting of the demand of wholesale products. Also, if wholesalers have procured the wholesale products but their demand does not seem to be good in the market they should create the demand by devising a proper marketing plan. They should use advertising media to bring their produce in the eyes of their potential customers.

Risks are always there in any business. All you have to do is to follow the above guidelines or tips to tackle them.

          If you have any other risk or strategy in your mind share with us in comments below.

Best Products To Maximize Profits In Wholesale Business

Being wholesale business entrepreneurship is a great idea and because it is one of those businesses which generate high profits. In order to further maximize your profits in wholesale business you need to scout for the best products. Hunting for the best products generates huge profits as good products with high demand attract more customers. Dealing in good quality items matters a lot since at the end of the day, a wholesale business can only last if it delivers quality products.

If you, as wholesaler, adopt good marketing techniques or make your operations fast but offer low quality products then it will be very difficult for you to survive as honest and reputable wholesalers. You would not get returning customers and ultimately the suppliers and dealers will realize that dealing with you not a profitable deal. Wholesale business is all about getting permanent customers as they are the backbone of any wholesale business.

To get permanent customers, wholesalers need to scout for the best products. Here we can categorize the best products in two types. Firstly select the products which are popular in market like clothing and accessories, electronic products, bags and jewellery items etc. These are products which are highly popular in the market as they are everyday usage things. Always deal in products which are much in demand in market as otherwise the boring products will not sell out fast and rot in your inventories.

Secondly, best products can also be characterized in terms of their quality. In market there are certain levels of quality and the rates are set accordingly. Whatever niche you are dealing in, always get products which are high in quality. Low quality wholesale products might get sold in the beginning but as soon as the customers realize that the products provided by you is of low quality, they will stop buying and will also notify others not to buy from you. In the end you will be empty handed and your wholesale business will turn out to be a complete failure.

So, in order to prevent your business from ending up in a failure you should always scout for the best products. You as a wholesaler would also need to be cautious as some distributors and manufacturers also try to entice by offering special discounts in order to sell their low quality of products. Always have qualified quality assurance officers in your office and give a complete check to the supply before making any kind of payment. It is guaranteed that good quality of products will earn good name for you.

So do you agree with us? add your reviews in comment section below

Trade White Paper and UK Economy

As the world recovers from global economic crisis, trade and investment has become a central thing to regenerate strong and stable economy of the UK as well as in the rest of Europe. The British government is striding hard not only to ensure full economic recovery but also to become the world’s leading economy. In order to do so, the UK government has set out some new rules and policies which are expected to enhance the Britain’s trade exposure. This new policy is called Trade White Paper, the main focus of which is to enhance the support of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Trade White Paper proposes to give extra support to exporters, new trade finance and insurance products. The policy will be launched to ensure that the UK wholesale suppliers, exporters, manufacturers and wholesalers compete well against their competitors, not just in their local markets but also in overseas markets. The proposal also advocates that regulatory environment should be improved with the European partners while reducing accounting and audit requirements. So, according to the proposal hailed by the Prime Minister that the British Government’s trade policy must act on a certain number of levels which are discussed below.

• Best domestic environment must be created in order to support the competitive business and make Britain an attractive place for foreign investment. It is also important to create business opportunities in the UK wholesale market for developing countries, while removing all kinds of hurdles and barriers from the path of effective import and export. Maintaining good working relations with EU, WTO and G20 in order to foster trade and investment and to overcome specific market challenges. Also promotion of low carbon transition and resource efficiency for technological innovation has been proposed for the betterment of the UK economy.

• Special attention to be paid on trade with foreign countries like securing significant contracts with the US in public private-partnerships and high speed rail transits. Initiate negotiations on a comprehensive EU-Japan free-trade agreement while completing the EU-Canada economic and trade agreement during 2011. Also orders of ensuring free-trade agreement with ASEAN countries are given.

• Work closely on trade and investment with countries like Singapore, Switzerland, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand while also supporting the UK wholesale trade within these countries. Encourage stronger partnership with Israeli companies to excel in high technology and science. Give full support to the delivery of agreed bilateral trade targets with India, China, Turkey and South Africa. As China is the biggest contributor of the world’s economy so encouraging greater Chinese investment in the UK and urging China to join Global Procurement Agreement can be a good step towards the stabilization of UK economy.

• Build opportunities like London and Rio Olympic and Paralympics for the year 2012 and 2016. Generate aids for Conflict-affected, war-torn and fragile states. Last but not least, structuring a general law to protect intellectual property rights of business entrepreneurs across the world was also proposed.

According to the UK government this Trade White Paper policy will surely give a boost to the UK economy in the short term as well as in the long term. More precise implementations will be devised in the UK’s 2011 budget.

                  Tell us in comment section is it going to happen? What do you think?

Some Guidelines For Online Shoppers Of Wholesale Products

 

Online shopping is quickly becoming a prevalent mode of shopping for various reasons. It is fast, convenient, offers the consumer more choices and most importantly, it is economical. Buying wholesale merchandise online is less expensive, especially if you can find and directly buy from the manufacturers. However online shopping is still considered a relatively risky medium, in particular for people who are not well versant with the ins and outs of the trade. Following are some guidelines for online shoppers of wholesale products to make sure that they are dealing with a trusted and reliable wholesaler or supplier.
Almost all of dependable ecommerce websites have SSL certificates. Therefore, the first thing that you should check is the URL of the webpage, where you are about to enter your personal information. It should start with https (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) and not just http. Always try to purchase wholesale products from a reputed and well known supplier or manufacturer, even if you’ve to pay a little more.
Nowadays many offline manufacturers and suppliers have their online portals in place, buying wholesale products from these wholesalers is relatively safer than buying from companies that exist only in cyber world. Always be on guard when buying from a website for the first time, especially if the website is selling wholesale products at unbelievably low prices. Avoid websites that doesn’t have a physical address and phone number. Remember that if they are not traceable, they are most likely frauds. Try to buy from businesses which are located in the same state or country.
A typical eCommerce website is updated on regular basis; make sure the product images and prices are current. Read the terms and conditions carefully, especially the company’s policies regarding refunds, shipping and liability. Seek answers for the questions like, who will bear the cost of shipping for the wholesale products (especially if you have to return the product) or what percentage of the paid amount is refundable? Most websites have a separate section for such queries (FAQ), if you’re not finding the sufficient answers to your queries, do not hesitate to call and ask the merchant directly. Shipping costs or refund policies can make a lot of difference; therefore do not decide on the basis of price alone.
Take a look at the company’s privacy policy and make sure your private information will be collected and stored in a secure way. Credit cards are considered to be the safest method of making online payments (though they are not totally risk-free). Make sure, you are not providing unnecessary information (like social security number). Be extra careful when following and using a link from your email. Following all these guidelines an online shopper of wholesale products can avoid a lot of risks and uncertainties.

Useful Tips To Acquiring Cheap Wholesale Products

In order to build a successful large retail or ecommerce business, it is recommended to get right products at right prices. For traders & dealers, right products stands for the products that are in demand and right price means nominal price of supplies. All retailers and wholesalers of any country dealing in any kind of product are concerned with steady and regular procurement of products at cheap rates that can earn maximum profit for them. Buying wholesale products at cheap rates is the most important aspect of any successful business to earn reasonable profit. That is why, it is important to find the best sources of wholesale products in which you are dealing.

There are many tips to buy cheap products and few of them are described as follows:

1. If a wholesaler deals in such products on which trends and seasons do not affect then he must buy last season’s wholesale products. These products are relatively cheaper and will be good on customers’ wallets as well. In this way, he can make good profit.

2. There are plenty of ways to get cheap wholesale products and one such reliable source is trade show. There are various trade shows catering different types of wholesale products and almost every industry. For example, if you deal in electronic, furniture or bags, just look around and you will surely get a clue of the trade show you were looking for. You can get wholesale products on cheaper rates from these trade shows easily.

3. Third tip of getting wholesale products in low price is to search useful products available at discount rates. The selection of discounted products is really important because the ultimate purpose is to sell products ahead. If the products are cheap and also of low quality then complete lots of wholesale products will be wasted and can’t earn profit. Carefully select products and make sure there will be no major defects in products manufacturing or in the outlook. Useful products that are bought on discount will be good opportunity for you to earn profit.

4. A dropshipper or a wholesaler can be a good option to get cheap wholesale products for your retail business. This is so because majority of wholesalers or dropshippers do not work on minimum order required and you will also not have to deal with shipping charges. That is why it is a better option for you to get cheap wholesale products from these reliable sources especially if you are a starter.

5. Always keep an eye on the closeout deals of local stores as they can also have some great deals for you. Few manufacturers have established liquidation stores where they give overstock, last season or slightly damaged products. They also arrange sales on end line of their products so it is possible that you can find several good products at low rates. There are always good discounts and different deals available on these products. Therefore it can be another good option for you to get cheap wholesale products.

If you want to be a successful trader, do consider these tips and start making money by selling cheap wholesale products ahead at nominal rates.

How opening a retail outlet can help wholesalers

Opening a retail outlet of wholesale business is in every way helpful and beneficial. Any person without prior knowledge of supply chain management finds it difficult to open and run the retail store. While on other hand a wholesaler who is a veteran in supply chain management techniques, when opens a retail outlet it is quite easy for him to run the retail store. Some of the major benefits for wholesalers in opening retail out are discussed below.

Manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, etc all are links in supply chain and all holds important position. They all work independently on their positions and generate profit for themselves.  If one link is removed then the supply chain becomes incomplete and disturbs the whole B2B dealings. In other case if two links merge themselves together then result will be opposite. In simple words it means that if wholesaler merges it self into retailer then the wholesaler would generate unprecedented profits while delivering the products to end-consumer in less prices and the whole supply chain circle will be completed sooner then the later.

As talked earlier that wholesaler and retailer are two separate entities; if a wholesaler merge itself into retailer then he will not have to bear the hassles of old inventory as he will transfer it on retail shop and when a product reaches at retail outlet it is sold out quickly.  Wholesalers will also have to bear less transportation costs as they will be able to save a lot of money. The biggest benefit is that a middle-man (retailer) will be removed as the wholesaler will buy product from manufacturer at low bulk rates and will directly sell out the products on his retail outlet at low prices.

Wholesalers can also boost up their sales by providing discount offers to end consumers. They can do it easily as they have quite large profit margin. This discount offer on retail outlet will also help them a lot in inventory management and they will buy more products from manufacturer, making their supply chain circle to complete in less time.

Another benefit is that the wholesalers will have no tension of credit payments to be received from retailers. Many retailers delay the payments which put wholesaler in a difficult position as his capital money is blocked and he become unable to purchase new products. When wholesaler also becomes a retailer then there is no hassle and tension of credit payments. In nutshell it can be said that opening a retail outlet greatly benefits wholesaler in every way as he produces more profit and on other hand his expenditures becomes less due to less marketing and other extra costs. 

Some guidelines for online shoppers of wholesale products

Online shopping is quickly becoming a prevalent mode of shopping for various reasons. It is fast, convenient, offers the consumer more choices and most importantly, it is economical. Buying wholesale merchandise online is less expensive, especially if you can find and directly buy from the manufacturers. However online shopping is still considered a relatively risky medium, in particular for people who are not well versant with the ins and outs of the trade. Following are some guidelines for online shoppers of wholesale products to make sure that they are dealing with a trusted and reliable wholesaler or supplier.

Almost all of dependable ecommerce websites have SSL certificates. Therefore, the first thing that you should check is the URL of the webpage, where you are about to enter your personal information. It should start with https (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) and not just http. Always try to purchase wholesale products from a reputed and well known supplier or manufacturer, even if you’ve to pay a little more.

Nowadays many offline manufacturers and suppliers have their online portals in place, buying wholesale products from these wholesalers is relatively safer than buying from companies that exist only in cyber world. Always be on guard when buying from a website for the first time, especially if the website is selling wholesale products at unbelievably low prices. Avoid websites that doesn’t have a physical address and phone number. Remember that if they are not traceable, they are most likely frauds. Try to buy from businesses which are located in the same state or country.

A typical eCommerce website is updated on regular basis; make sure the product images and prices are current. Read the terms and conditions carefully, especially the company’s policies regarding refunds, shipping and liability. Seek answers for the questions like, who will bear the cost of shipping for the wholesale products (especially if you have to return the product) or what percentage of the paid amount is refundable? Most websites have a separate section for such queries (FAQ), if you’re not finding the sufficient answers to your queries, do not hesitate to call and ask the merchant directly. Shipping costs or refund policies can make a lot of difference; therefore do not decide on the basis of price alone.

Take a look at the company’s privacy policy and make sure your private information will be collected and stored in a secure way. Credit cards are considered to be the safest method of making online payments (though they are not totally risk-free). Make sure, you are not providing unnecessary information (like social security number). Be extra careful when following and using a link from your email. Following all these guidelines an online shopper of wholesale products can avoid a lot of risks and uncertainties.

Useful tips to acquiring cheap wholesale products

In order to build a successful large retail or ecommerce business, it is recommended to get right products at right prices. For traders & dealers, right products stands for the products that are in demand and right price means nominal price of supplies. All retailers and wholesalers of any country dealing in any kind of product are concerned with steady and regular procurement of products at cheap rates that can earn maximum profit for them. Buying wholesale products at cheap rates is the most important aspect of any successful business to earn reasonable profit. That is why, it is important to find the best sources of wholesale products in which you are dealing.

There are many tips to buy cheap products and few of them are described as follows:

1. If a wholesaler deals in such products on which trends and seasons do not affect then he must buy last season’s wholesale products. These products are relatively cheaper and will be good on customers’ wallets as well. In this way, he can make good profit.

2. There are plenty of ways to get cheap wholesale products and one such reliable source is trade show. There are various trade shows catering different types of wholesale products and almost every industry. For example, if you deal in electronic, furniture or bags, just look around and you will surely get a clue of the trade show you were looking for. You can get wholesale products on cheaper rates from these trade shows easily.

3. Third tip of getting wholesale products in low price is to search useful products available at discount rates. The selection of discounted products is really important because the ultimate purpose is to sell products ahead. If the products are cheap and also of low quality then complete lots of wholesale products will be wasted and can’t earn profit. Carefully select products and make sure there will be no major defects in products manufacturing or in the outlook. Useful products that are bought on discount will be good opportunity for you to earn profit.

4. A dropshipper or a wholesaler can be a good option to get cheap wholesale products for your retail business. This is so because majority of wholesalers or dropshippers do not work on minimum order required and you will also not have to deal with shipping charges. That is why it is a better option for you to get cheap wholesale products from these reliable sources especially if you are a starter.

5. Always keep an eye on the closeout deals of local stores as they can also have some great deals for you. Few manufacturers have established liquidation stores where they give overstock, last season or slightly damaged products. They also arrange sales on end line of their products so it is possible that you can find several good products at low rates. There are always good discounts and different deals available on these products. Therefore it can be another good option for you to get cheap wholesale products.

If you want to be a successful trader, do consider these tips and start making money by selling cheap wholesale products ahead at nominal rates.

Intelligent ways to overcome overhead expenditures in wholesale business

Wholesale business like any other business has overhead expenditures which are often not unchecked and they consume the major part of spending. There are two types of expenditures; direct expenses and indirect expenses. Direct expenditures are the ones done on buying, selling, giving pays to employees etc. indirect expenditures are rent, utilities, taxes, licensing fees, insurance of employees, travel, accounting services, extra services given to employees and employees’ allowances etc.

In order to generate healthy profits it is necessary to check all the indirect or over head expenditures. There are also some other over head expenditures which are not indirect expenses but if remained unchecked can cause the profits to drain out e.g. lack of time management, transportation problems, surplus or shortage of employees.

To control overhead expenditures the wholesale supplier has to adopt some intelligent techniques. There is no rocket science involved in this process, the wholesaler himself has to take initiative and devise a plan on how to stop or decrease overhead expenditures. In the plan he has to list all those things which are consuming the income (no matter how small or big). After listing, concentrate on the possible ways to cut the expenses to minimum level. Time management is one of the major problems due to which expenses increase. To solve time management problem the should intelligently redefine all the duties of his employees according to his new plan. In his newly defined plan he should focus on the consumption of time. This plays a vital role in saving expenses because if the whole process which includes buying wholesale products, storing in warehouse and listing in inventory, is completed in lesser time then obviously the pending orders will also be performed earlier.

Transportation is also one of the main hole from which the income is drained out. Define fixed and shortest possible transportation routes; also try to define them on off traffic hours. It will greatly impact on the overhead expenses as the fuel will be consumed far lesser then before with lesser vehicle maintenance. The managers and other senior authorities in a business sometimes misinterpret the required number of employees to run a wholesale business which in return causes employee surplus or shortage of employees.

Surplus employees are like parasites who are just consuming the income of wholesalers whereas shortage of employees makes it difficult to manage different tasks. So wholesalers should evaluate the duties of all employees and hire the employees accordingly. Also try to minimize the services and allowances provided to employees. If you can easily relocate to a place with lower rent then do it as soon as possible. All these things together will reduce the overhead expenses for wholesalers and they can utilize the amount in growing their business more and more.

What is in your mind? share in the comment section below.

Think out of the box - Offline marketing for your online wholesale business

Marketing is the lifeline of all businesses, be it online or offline, businesses cannot survive without marketing. Online marketing, though comparatively new, has made its mark and one can find many people swearing on the importance of online marketing and they are absolutely right. However, this obsession with the cyber world can make the online wholesale business owners fail to realize the benefits of offline marketing. If truth be told, offline marketing can be equally effective for wholesale businesses. In fact the gaps are fast closing between online and offline marketing methods. Ideally a wholesale business must approach both online and offline marketing with the same vigor. The point is that you’ve got to reach your customers in one way or another and it doesn’t really matter if they are online or offline.
To start with, you should be promoting your URL (domain name) on all of your packaging, letterheads, ads, and anywhere else when applicable. If you are running a website that targets local customers for your wholesale supplies then you should go for classified ads that appear in the local newspaper, with your URL given in the end. It will enable the customers to come directly to your website when they need your services (instead of searching at Google and going to the top ranked websites).
You must get your wholesale business submitted into locally published yellow pages and wholesale business directories. Apart from that, you need to be active on local wholesale business scene. Take part in seminars, wholesale trade shows and other business events and get into conversations with the people coming from similar field. Hand out your business cards (with your domain) and request them to visit your website and give feedback.
Another very effective method is to distribute flyers about your online wholesale business. You can also go for the posters and stickers or even banners to promote your online wholesale business. If you are an expert providing some sort of coaching or consultancy services, you can try appearing on a radio or local channel program as an expert. Mentioning your website at the end of the show will make your website known for general public and prospective customers. Doing so will also add credibility to your business name.

You can offer a career coaching service, you can try and appear on some program for fresh graduates and offer basic tips for the starters in the wholesale business. If the tips or information shared by you were good enough, you will be having lots of customers visiting your website in the next few days, depending on how good is your website when it comes to converting visitors into customers (you need to make sure that your website has been mentioned by the anchor along with your introduction or during the show). To become a successful wholesale supplier one needs to create a blend of online and offline marketing strategies.

Why is it important for your wholesale business to accept credit card payments?

There is a little ambiguity when we search for the person who actually invented credit cards, or came up with the idea (apparently it was John Biggins from New York who is said to be the mind behind first Bank credit card). Businesses are dealing on credit for a long time, but E-Commerce industry should be thankful to the person who first came up with the idea of credit cards. It is only because of the convenience, provided by credit cards, in making online payments, that eCommerce industry and global wholesale industry has flourished with an amazing speed. Credit cards are prevalent in all developed countries, and some people carry up to a dozen credit cards in their wallets. A credit card allows the bearer to make immediate payments even if they don’t have the amount in their bank account.
Coming to the point of why is it important for your wholesale business to accept credit card payments, online shopping is a little different than offline shopping. A big majority of the purchasing decisions are made at spur of the moment, it’s very rare that an online shopper will leave and come back again to buy the product. Therefore, you need to have a system in place, to facilitate the procedure of making a purchase, for these buyers.
Similarly, distributors need to entertain international customers. Otherwise you will be missing a huge segment of the market. There’s hardly any website that targets only the local customers (except when the website is about a local business like car rent or attorney’s service). Even though, there are various ways for receiving international payments but no method comes close to credit card payment, which is fast, convenient and reliable for both buyers and sellers of wholesale supplies.
There are different means for accepting credit card payments. First one is to get a merchant account but it is an expensive option. Another option (which is recommended for small wholesale businesses) is to accept payments through a third party merchant account (e.g. PayPal). If you have any idea about eCommerce or online business, you’ll be aware that what kind of a difference “PayPal” can make to online wholesale business sales. wholesale businesses who do not accept payments through “PayPal” find it hard to compete with the businesses that do. Online customers often insist on making payments via PayPal. In addition to that, accepting credit card payments will add credibility to your wholesale business. Therefore, start accepting credit card payments if you want to grow your business.

What is in your mind, share in the comment section below.

Why manufacturers must learn to use ERP software

The long term focus of any business is to expand itself, to gain and retain customers but currently, the competition is quite intense and customers are more demanding. Due to this everyone is facing tough situation and wholesale manufacturing companies are not exception to this. Wholesale manufacturers need to be unique and put additional efforts for designing and developing wholesale products to cater customers’ demands and to beat the competition. To stand out of all, one needs to have a proper system or software that can integrate all the activities within the system. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is one such approach to improve and update the complete system. Few other benefits of ERP software are given below:

Managing the Diverse Environment
Obtaining raw materials, managing them and converting into final products are common activities of manufacturing company. Most of the operations are versatile in nature and it is quite difficult to manage them altogether. ERP manages all activities such as material sourcing, purchasing management, product planning, product development and inventory handling. It connects all activities so it becomes easy for a manufacturer to monitor and integrate the processes. Once the work flow becomes efficient and unified, the productivity improves.
Lowering the Cost
The biggest advantage of using ERP software for manufacturers is to bring down the overall manufacturing cost. There is less paper work, less data inputs, resultantly less repeated tasks and the input data is available to all departments. Due to open data availability and fast communication, decision making is improved, accurate and based on real information. It increases efficiency and productivity on the whole that lowers down the cost.
Inventory Management
ERP software automates and standardizes the manufacturing processes to improve the outlook. It provides an easy access to manufacturers to the transparent information about inventory and stocks availability and automates the process of buying and managing materials. It becomes possible for the manufacturer to predict the market demand, how much supplies to be purchased and how final products be distributed. It reduces the inventory cycle time and increases inventory turnover as well.
Better Response Time
ERP software is developed for the manufacturers specifically to help them in taking better decisions in terms of time. It integrates the complete data of a company, makes the data available to the manufacturer and supports him to take the right decision based on true information. Data credibility and in-time data availability allows him to take quick actions that can increase his response time.
Providing Proficiency
Every wholesale manufacturer wants to be big but for this he must understand his customers’ demand and provide them top quality products by adding value to it. ERP software addresses this situation by guiding the manufacturer to follow the practices that are best. It can improve the manufacturer’s relationship with the customers by understanding their interests, giving them good quality products and quick product delivery.

If you want add anything related to this you can share it in the comments section.

What will happen if the wholesalers are eradicated from the supply chain?

Wholesalers are the first link in the supply chain that performs a number of useful functions besides facilitating manufacturers and retailers. In spite of their useful services wholesalers are loosing some ground in the current era. Dropshipping is a new concept that has eliminated the need of wholesalers from the supply chain. A drop shipper appoints his own distribution staff or opens his own retailing outlets to sell directly to the retailers. This seems to be very beneficial for the large wholesale manufacturers. According to me, a wholesaler cannot be eliminated completely from the supply chain due to the valuable services he provides to the manufacturers as well as retailers.

The question here arises what will happen if wholesaler is eliminated completely from the supply chain? The answer lies in the significance of its services for the supply chain members. First of all, if wholesaler is eliminated from the supply chain, there should be someone to perform his functions. Dropshippers are the ones who manage to perform the functions of wholesalers themselves. But is every producer of wholesale products capable of doing so? Obviously not, as majority of producers are small ones who manufacture a small fraction of the total wholesale supplies. They do not have enough resources to capture clients directly. Most of them have no large resources to perform marketing functions themselves i.e. packing, shipping, grading etc. So, without wholesalers in the supply chain, the business of the small manufacturers gets greatly affected as they are not able to perform the functions of wholesalers alone with small scale of operation and shortage of resources.

Secondly, it is not all about small manufacturers only it is about many other small retail businesses as well which are served by the wholesalers. If manufacturers don’t perform these functions, their burden falls on to the shoulders of retailers. Here again availability of resources becomes a major problem for the small retail businesses in performing the tasks of wholesalers.

Thirdly, if wholesalers are eradicated from the supply chain there will be no one to create time utility and to keep the wholesale price steady? Wholesalers buy when the products are widely available and prices are low and sell when the prices are high. In this way, they create time utility and help the retailers to earn high profit margins on resale.

Fourthly, the wholesalers relieve the retailers to hold large inventories and bear their burden of cost. Besides that, they bear all the storage and distribution risk and help the retailers in steady flow of goods from reliable resources. On the other hand, wholesalers give bulk orders to the manufacturers and access the demand of the wholesale products and help the entire wholesale industry to operate efficiently. If they are eliminated from the supply chain, either the manufacturer or the retailer will perform these functions. It becomes very difficult for them to spend extra time, effort and huge cost on these functions. Even if they do so, they would not be able to manage these functions as efficiently as wholesalers do because they have many other things to manage besides performing these functions.

Therefore due to efficient handling of wholesale orders and effective distribution of wholesale products, the wholesalers cannot be eliminated from the supply chain. They are bound to exist since decades and their valuable services can never let them get eliminated from the supply chain ever.

Tell us if you have something to share in the comments section.

What can be the competitive edge in a wholesale business?

Wholesalers have a rather limited set of customers, and when they lose one of these customers, it is quite hard to regain, because wholesale buyers do not change their suppliers as often as the individual customers. Therefore, as a wholesale business, you have got to have some competitive advantage right from the onset, to be able to win as many customers as you can. Gaining a competitive advantage is not difficult if you know your customers and their requirements.

Price:
When you are dealing with commercial users, there's no competitive edge more compelling than the low wholesale prices. If you are starting as a wholesaler in an already saturated market, you have got to start with offering somewhat lower prices than your counterparts. You can do this by going for lower profit margins, or even better, by finding a cheaper source or supplier for your targeted products. Retailers will need no second invitation when they see a supplier offering low prices and high profit margins.

Lead-time:
Having a better lead-time than your competitors can be a huge competitive advantage. There is always some delay between the time when you receive an order and the time when you deliver the products to your customers. Distributors can not eliminate the lead-time, but they can surely reduce it. Besides, you've got to provide your buyers with an accurate estimation of the lead-time so that they can adjust their replenishment process accordingly. Inaccurate information of lead-time will result in some inventory related problem for your customers and they will just move on to another supplier.

Payment Terms:
If you are not able to offer lower prices, you can still have an edge over your competitors by providing better payment terms. For example, wholesalers can offer perks on big orders or discounts when the customers make the payments in a given time period.

Value added Services:
There's so much you can provide to your customers, other than the actual products. For example, you can provide them with training or information about the products that will help them provide better customer service, or you can keep them updated about the possibility of up coming trends or demands.

Packaging:
Branded products come with their own packaging, but when you are providing non-branded products, you can always come up with better packaging. Talking of the retailers, you can also provide support and ideas to the retailers to help them improve their display.