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.

What can be the competitive edge in a wholesale business?

Wholesale

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.