If you have yet to start your own wholesale distribution, you probably have a lot of questions.
“What are the risks here?”
“When will I see a return on my investment?”
“Is this a good place to invest my hard-earned money in?”
Wholesale marketing is a true buy-and-sell game that requires several qualities for success. Some of them are a keen eye for trends, good negotiation skills, and clever salesmanship. But even possessing those qualities sometimes isn’t enough.
Finding your place in the wholesale business landscape
Profitable wholesale businesses often have a wide market of buyers that need a certain product. Whatever that product may be, it is up to the wholesaler to supply the customer’s needs. That’s how you find your target client. If you have what people need, you won’t run out of potential customers.
Aside from meeting product demands, you want customers to be fully satisfied when dealing with you. Enhancing the customer experience is a tried-and-tested method of driving sales. Take it from Amazon’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos:
“If there’s one reason we have done better than any of our peers in the internet space over the last six years, it is because we have focused like a laser on customer experience.”
Hence, finding your place in this market will involve customer satisfaction. Aside from encouraging customers to buy from you again, this can also attract new buyers that have heard about your extraordinary service.
A good product is a good start
The product you are selling is one of the cornerstones of a profitable wholesale business. It can be something as mundane as a pencil to something like computer parts or cutlery. The important thing is that you know your product and you believe in it can help people.
Take for example a wholesale business that distributes engine parts. It would be easier to sell this product if the item is well made and from a good company. It may not be the most affordable, but customers are guaranteed of its durability and performance.
However, if you have a competitor that sells a similar, inferior-quality product at a lower price, you can expect this affordability to attract more people at first glance. But there is something you can do to turn the tides in your favor. Convince people that your product reduces their expenses in the long run. Show them the numbers; let them see how buying cheapo engine parts will just harm their business.
Never take for granted what a quality product can do for you. If you are confident in your merchandise, you can convince people to believe in it too.
The customers do matter
The satisfied customer is the best spokesperson for your product. A profitable wholesale business often has its own share of customers that do the advertising for them. These people aren’t getting paid to promote you; they do so because they genuinely like and trust your brand. They’ll tell their closest friends and colleagues, and soon enough, they’ll be buying from you, too.
The takeaway idea here is that a satisfied customer will always share their experiences, both good and bad. So, if you want to increase your business’ exposure, it’s best to make sure that every client is a happy client. Eventually, new customers who have heard about your wonderful service will start pouring in and your sales profits will reach new highs!
Letting the business grow
One problem start-up businesses often encounter is an issue with stock. If you don’t plan for the possibility of a high demand of your merchandise, you’ll have trouble fulfilling all the orders. Or things can go the other way. You may get little to no orders and you have too many items that just aren’t circulating. Before you decide to fill up your inventory, take into account the possibility of high and low demand so you’ll have a backup plan to circulate your merchandise. This way, the company’s growth is controlled and at the same time the business can prevent surplus or in some cases lack of items to sell.
A growth plan can be as simple as looking at the volume of items and reacting accordingly. If there is a perceived increase in demand, then the company should move to meet that increase by stocking more items. And if there is a decrease in demand, then the company secures less of the product. This allows profit to be maximized while expenses are kept down.
Another means of growing is to expand the inventory and carry more items. This allows the business to have a variety when it comes to what they have to offer. But even this method needs to be regulated and studied so that the company can meet demand and maintain profits.
A wholesale business much like any other business can be a profitable venture. However, that does not mean earning money will be easy. It takes a while before the profits really start rolling in. It helps if you know what you’re doing and have a strategy in place that can handle the unpredictable nature of wholesale distribution.
