Twenty years ago, the wholesale industry was practically non-existent, but today you can find thousands of online stores that have made a name for themselves in the world of business, particularly in the WooCommerce space.
With the start of another new year, people have begun to look at their plans and make resolutions. You might find that blank page staring back at you and wonder what to write next.
In this article, we’ll offer some tips to help you think through your wholesale store’s future as we move from 2023 towards 2024 – and beyond. A little preparation can go a long way before something comes along that will knock you off track completely. Let’s get into it!
Why You Need To Prepare For 2024
You know what they say: if you can’t stop and smell the flowers, then you’re bound to miss out on the biting bee or beekeeper. This is true when it comes to wholesaling as well.
Preparing for next year is important for your business. It doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. You can spend up to 30 minutes a day for the next year and plan for success by setting goals and going through the steps that will take you where you want to go.
You can even consider using project management tools to help you plan effectively.
In any case, whether it’s planning large projects or just an email forward, the process of setting small things that can make a big difference in your business helps set the tone of your business ahead before the new year starts. It, most especially, saves you from any unforeseen events.
Start Of The Year Guide For Wholesale
Wholesaling provides an opportunity for you to expand your business and make a lot more money in the process; however, it can be easy to forget your responsibilities when it comes to planning ahead.
We came up with a 6-piece guide to help you keep track of your priorities:
1. Automate Wholesaling
Many people claim that the best way to grow your business is through sales. Now, here’s a little secret for you — this is not really true.
In order to grow your business successfully and sustainably, you need effective systems in place that create work efficiencies, streamline processes, and free up resources so that you can dedicate them to growing the business instead of running it themselves.
The first step in maximizing profit is optimizing your wholesale operations by using inventory management software.
While many people may think this is the most boring and time-consuming part of running a wholesale business, you have to realize that it can be one of our strongest levers for growth and revenue.
The success of your small wholesale business is largely dependent on inventory management software. When used properly, third-party inventory management software will streamline your company’s processes and prepare you for any unforeseen event that could appear in the future.
2. Data is Key
A major part of your success as an entrepreneur or business owner is going to come from data.
Do you know what types of products your customers purchase? What are their questions, fears, and frustrations? How many of them liked a recent product launch and what were the main reasons for their purchases? These are just some of the important questions that you need to figure out.
For example, you’re a wholesaler. You know your primary demographic, you know what they like to buy and why. But, do you know their price points?
This is not a trick question…if you want the right products in front of the right people, then you need to have an understanding of market demand – not just by product line or category but across all products in your store.
Data is key. It will allow you to maintain awareness of your customers and their habits – like shopping on Amazon and buying toothpaste through eBay, for example. And the more data you have at your disposal, the better off you can be in improving your business overall.
3. Streamline Ordering
Bringing everything together as a single point of contact for orders provides benefits that aren’t duplicative. With this approach, you’ll be able to respond to customer needs with better speed, fewer errors in the filling process, and more focus on ensuring everything runs smoothly.
In order to scale effectively, putting together an automated order fulfillment process that moves orders across your organization seamlessly will allow you to scale faster in a scalable way. Wholesale Order Form lets you do just that.
If you haven’t installed this powerful plugin yet, now is the perfect time to do so. This tool brings in a lot of powerful wholesale-ordering-specific features like a one-page catalog setting, product sorting, customizable forms, no page reloading, mobile & tab responsiveness, and many more.
4. Optimize Online
If you’re not online yet, you’re behind!
The internet has made it easier than ever to purchase and sell more items, which means you’re competing with a lot more retailers. Gone are the days when you could only compete with those stores in your immediate area; now you’re competing with everyone who has access to an online store.
However, if you’re already an e-commerce store owner, you might want to consider SEO-proofing your store. This will give you more exposure and increase your store’s traffic. Plus, it gives you a competitive edge over other brick-and-mortar stores since your product can be found on the web quickly.
5. Wholesale Pricing
If you’re a wholesaler and have been running one of these businesses for a while, I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage “you’re only as good as your last sale”.
This holds true in any business or industry because it all starts with volume. You may be able to charge more money for your product if you have a long-term history with them. They’ll come back because they know they can get a great product at a lower price now, even if it means losing money in the short term.
The good news is that there are many plugins that can help you easily set wholesale pricing in your store.
For instance, Wholesale Prices is the best wholesale pricing plugin in WooCommerce. This makes it easy for you to set wholesale discounts, product visibility, shipping and tax configurations, purchase rules, and many more.
6. Overall Customer Experience
Customers are not just a commodity, they are the lifeblood of your business. Without them coming back time and time again, your business will crumble like a house of bricks.
They provide the money that keeps your lights on when the business is slow, and can also be used to expand into other markets with their high ratings and reviews. If you have one bad experience, your customer never wants to do business with you again.
That’s why if you want to be successful in the coming year, the number one area you should look into is your customer service and loyalty. All in all, the more people you help and the faster you are about it, the better for your business.
Conclusion
If you really want to succeed in the wholesale business, you’ll want to keep the points mentioned above in mind. There’s a lot more involved with being successful in this space, but at least you know what to watch out for as we move into 2024!
In this article, we shared 6 Start of the Year Wholesale Tips to help you prioritize better this year:
- Automate Wholesaling
- Data is Key
- Optimize Online
- Streamline Ordering
- Update Wholesale Pricing
- Improve Customer Experience
Do you have any questions about wholesaling this coming 2024? Or maybe you have some tips you’d like to share? Let us know in the comment box down below or send us a message!
