How to find large wholesale buyers. How to find a supplier: step-by-step instructions and tips

In order to figure out how to attract wholesale buyers, it is necessary to remember that wholesale sales are B2B sales, the goods are transferred from one legal entity to another, also a legal entity. It is clear that motivating someone else’s business to make a purchase from your company is quite difficult. That's why the main element of attracting wholesale customers is not discounts and bonuses, but the level of service that you can provide to wholesale customers. It is difficult to lure a wholesaler with discounts if you take a long time to collect and ship goods or, even worse, the goods are advertised on the website, but are not in stock. The manager’s inattention, inconvenient logistics, refusal to return defective products and many other little things form the wholesaler’s reluctance to work with the company and serve as a reason for your client to leave for competitors.

So, what is the motivation of wholesale buyers? As in any other line of business, the motivation of wholesalers is divided into monetary and non-monetary components. Non-monetary motivation includes two main tools:

• service and services;
• emotional attachment.

Service is all components of the process wholesale sales, allowing you to easily and quickly purchase and sell quality goods at the lowest cost. The service includes not only logistics services, but also a convenient work schedule for the company, prompt exchange of data with accounting, a convenient and understandable brand book, the availability of advertising products and packaging materials, clear conditions for returning defective products, etc. Any, even the smallest obstacles and obstacles on the path of a wholesale buyer prompt him to look for other suppliers. Now wholesale online sales are gaining momentum. Create the possibility of prompt subsorting, create a “showcase” in a format that is easily uploaded to the client database, create a forum that allows wholesale clients to communicate on your website and study their communication in order to easily and quickly respond to the shortcomings that they see in your work.

Emotional attachment is nothing more than a relationship with a plus sign between a company and a wholesaler. A loyal customer is ready to turn a blind eye to some minor shortcomings or temporary difficulties that accompany the purchase and sale of goods. And if everything is more or less clear with the service, then how to form an emotional attachment? From the very beginning of working with a wholesaler, you should forget about own sales and think only about customer sales. The more and more successfully they sell, the better your business does. You must know where the client's point of sale is located, what is the level of his daily sales and expenses, think about how to increase the profitability of your client's business, what products and what prices are suitable for his region, what else can be done to increase his sales. At the same time, you don’t need to control the client, but help sell. It is important to develop a training program for clients and make it clear and accessible. Having learned the client’s business from the inside, do not forget to praise him and in every possible way “distinguish” him from others. Turn your next seasonal order into a general gathering of your wholesale customers, where you can publicly present certificates and awards to the most successful of them, where you can talk about the collection and provide training. Do not spare titles and regalia, choose the best dealer, the most profitable small entrepreneur, pay attention to all your clients.

When forming an emotional attachment to a company, special attention should be paid to the work of managers. It's no secret that all managers receive bonuses based on sales for the season. What does this lead to? Moreover, it is more profitable for a manager to work with large clients, since the bonus will be higher. Accordingly, the small fry receive much less attention. As a result, the customer base is gradually shrinking. It seems that if a small client leaves, then it’s okay; there will be more time to work with large ones. Actually this is not true. The reasons that prompted a small client to leave can play a cruel joke on those who remain. Business is structured in such a way that small companies are always more flexible than large ones. In the end, the problems of the manager or the company will reach the main large clients, and this will hurt your sales. The loss of any client is a serious reason to understand the reasons and the basis for starting to change something in the work of the wholesale company.

Monetary, or money, motivation for wholesale customers is a system of bonuses and discounts that the company offers. The key to monetary motivation is transparency and reach. The client should learn about what and for what bonuses the client can receive at the time of the first negotiations. The monetary incentive system cannot be changed more often than once every three years and can never be degraded for regular customers. Moreover, the bonus system should be accessible to all sales participants. For example, if your regular and long-term wholesale client is not ready or does not want to become large, this does not mean that he will never be able to reach a 10% discount. Make a cumulative discount or a discount for consistency, which increases every year by 0.5 or 1%. Give everyone who wants to buy your products a chance to stick with your company.

The monetary motivation of a wholesale client also includes implicit monetary incentives. For example, free shipping goods, free promotional items or storing goods in your warehouse. Payment for the client's travel to your company's showroom, packaging of goods and other services for which you pay, but are ready to provide them to your customers free of charge - all this should be conveyed to your customers.

When thinking about how to attract and retain wholesalers, you should remember your pyramid customer base. As a rule, any company has no more than 1% of the total number of customers, large customers - within 4-5%, medium - about 15%, small and inactive - 80%. This is probably why, trying to increase the number of large clients, most companies strive to become a supplier of federal networks such as Auchan or Metro. But is it profitable?

After all, you have to pay not only for entrance. Often large companies, having worked with a wholesaler and convinced of the demand for his goods, they begin to produce a similar assortment on their own and refuse the services of a wholesale supplier. As a result, the base of small clients is lost, few or no large ones remain, and the business is slowly fading away. By properly motivating small clients and growing their business, you turn them into large ones. Thus, you strengthen your own position in the wholesale market.

To develop your own effective loyalty program, you need to know what tools your competitors use. Monitoring competitors is one of the most important tasks of any wholesale company, since your customers can go to them at any time. Now there is no shortage in the fashion retail market. Today there is a struggle not for goods, but for buyers. And you need to monitor not just prices, but service, elements of emotional attachment and other advantages that competitors have, but do not yet work for you.

Thus, attracting wholesale customers is not just a loyalty program that can be written and implemented. This is a set of activities for daily improvement of your own business.

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03.03.2017

The issue of expanding the dealer network is faced by most manufacturers. In recent years, sales volumes at current dealers have decreased, for many by up to 2 times, and new ones are becoming not so easy to find.

I have been proposing moves related to the reorganization of the sales department and the allocation of individual people to search for and attract new clients for more than one year, but most furniture companies“deaf” to this. And this is despite the obvious advantages of this approach and the results of our clients that I cited.

At the same time, at almost every event for owners furniture production They ask me: “How to increase wholesale sales of furniture?” Let's look at this problem from the “other side”.

In this article, I tried to collect different channels for searching for wholesale buyers on the Internet. It will be useful for those who are just thinking about expanding production, and for those who are already actively working with wholesalers and plan to develop further. You can use this article to train new sales managers.

1. Wholesale furniture buyers - who are they?

. Furniture stores

I would divide them into three categories :

First – furniture chains representing furniture from many manufacturers in different cities and different groups goods, for example, “Gromada” in Siberia, “Azbuka” in the Far East. At the same time, they themselves, most often, are not furniture manufacturers.

Second – federal furniture chains of manufacturers, such as Angstrem, Lazurit, Lyubimy Dom. They focus on the main group of products, for example, cabinet furniture; the remaining product groups are related, usually from third-party suppliers.

And still others – small dealers of furniture manufacturers, that is, LLCs or individual entrepreneurs who run furniture stores in the city of residence.

Many offline stores have a “representation” on the Internet: a catalog website or a store website.
Each of them can and should be worked with.

Furniture online stores

Some of them have their own warehouses in Russia, and you will have to work with them, most likely with deferred payment.
The other part will be interested in your products in the region where you are located or your warehouse. Then they won’t have to spend money on large warehouses and logistics. You need to support warehouse stock, since a buyer who orders a sofa, bed or wardrobe in an online store hopes that the furniture will be delivered to him tomorrow, or, in extreme cases, the day after tomorrow, and not in a week or month.

Related stores:

Home goods + furniture, e.g. HOFF
- DIY hypermarkets, for example, “K-Rauta”, “Maxidom”, “Leroy Merlin”
- plumbing + bathroom furniture
- decorative interior elements + exclusive furniture with unusual decor, forged elements, artistic design.
This is a fairly promising sales channel. True, it requires a lot of resources from the manufacturing company. In most cases, the payment deferral is 90 days.

Intermediary companies

They have tens of thousands of items in their assortment. They aggregate many manufacturers (both Russian and foreign) into their database, develop catalogs, and develop their dealer network. They have their own warehouses and transport service. One of the representatives of this category is “BestMebelik”.

Large public and private companies

This refers to large public and private companies - buyers of office furniture, hotel and restaurant furniture (HoReCa segment), which requires regular updating. The cost of the contract can reach hundreds of millions of rubles. Yes, this is a one-time order. But if you make high-quality furniture and deliver it on time, people will contact you more than once.

2. The Internet is a convenient channel for searching for furniture wholesalers

For managers of furniture wholesale sales, the Internet is one of the most effective tools searching for business partners, as it allows you to quickly establish direct contact with them.

Let's figure out how to find furniture dealers on the Internet?

2.1. Creating your own website

Decide who your website will be aimed at: wholesalers or end consumers. If you are going to cover both directions, it is better to make 2 separate sites. By allocating a separate section on your website for dealers of furniture manufacturers, you will still not be able to fully reflect the benefits of working with you and, moreover, will raise doubts among the “physicists” as to whether they are overpaying for furniture.

The screen below is an example of NOT the best positioning of a manufacturer for dealers.

You can make a one-page website - a landing page, designed specifically for searching for dealers in accordance with the requirements of the b2b segment. At the right approach it will work much more effectively than a “for everyone” site. The purpose of the landing page is to collect data from wholesale furniture buyers for subsequent calls or sending commercial offer. As an example, the landing page of the Mebelopttorg company, by the way, was assembled using a fairly simple constructor.

Using Yandex Direct and Google Adwords you can quickly get the first targeted visitors to the page. You will need to select the right key queries, create effective ads, and properly set up an advertising campaign.

2.2. Collection of contacts from the websites of furniture dealers and other wholesalers

By typing in the search bar “wholesale furniture buyers”, “looking for furniture suppliers”, “furniture stores Moscow” (or any other region you are interested in), compile your wholesaler database. When opening a furniture dealer’s website, immediately look for the “Collaboration” or “Partners” page, fill out an application or include the company’s phone number in your calling plan.

It is at business forums that future dealers of furniture manufacturers who are just starting to think about opening their own store most often ask questions.

There is no need to immediately rush to the embrasure shouting “I’m looking for a furniture dealer! Come on, I’ll be your supplier!” To begin with, it’s worth communicating in a neutral manner: helping you choose an assortment, telling you how to set up a showroom, and answering other questions. The trust in you personally, caused by your qualified answers, can result in profitable cooperation.

2.4. Personal page on furniture portals

A furniture portal is a multi-page website that combines the functions of an article magazine and a company directory. Advertising and informational articles are published on it, and furniture manufacturers post their personal pages. The portals Furniterra.ru, 1md.ru, meb100.ru, mebelfirm.ru position themselves as resources that provide ample opportunities for the development of the furniture business.

What can your company's furniture wholesale sales manager do as part of the search for wholesale buyers?

Post news: about the appearance of new materials and new types of products in your assortment, the development of new collections, your participation in exhibitions, receipt of any awards, current promotions and discounts. The conditions for publishing news on different portals are different - check with the administration.

Create a branded page indicating your contact details, office address and email address, adding elements corporate style, listing the advantages of your company and a call for cooperation. You can also post your products with photos. Creating a page is free, you just need to register.

Publish paid advertisements. There are several formats to choose from: banners of various sizes, premium placement (that is, placement of your company’s block in the TOP 3 of the portal catalog). To find furniture dealers, be sure to use the word “wholesale” in the ad text.

Before you start working with portals, check how many users visit it every day. It is desirable that there be at least 2000 visits per day. You can request the necessary information from the administration or look at the meter, if, of course, it is on the website.

This is what the counter looks like on the Sotka portal. The top line shows how many views there were in 24 hours, the middle line shows visitors in 24 hours, the bottom line shows visitors today.

2.5. Placing advertisements in catalogs for wholesalers/buyers

Catalogs of suppliers and manufacturers OptList.ru, Optom.ru, "Wholesale trade - wholesale suppliers" are databases where you can find wholesale buyers and manufacturers of furniture and many other goods.

If you want to find furniture dealers, you can scroll through the section for current requests and tenders retail stores for wholesale supplies:

Or write out contacts of wholesalers from general catalog:

Or register as a supplier so that wholesale furniture buyers can easily find you:

Different platforms have their own functionality. What opportunities can a wholesale furniture sales manager take advantage of?

Adding a company account with detailed information about the product to the supplier database

Posting price lists, photos and files

Placing requests for wholesale supplies

Publication of paid advertisements, banners and paid promotion to the top of the catalog

View statistics

Search for business partner companies based on certain criteria

Publication of company news

Communication with wholesalers via PM

2.6. Tracking wholesale furniture buyers on tender sites

Commercial enterprises and government organizations Electronic auctions are organized for the purchase of large quantities of furniture. Information on them can be found on the government procurement website or on the tender site where commercial tenders are placed.

On the official website of the united information system in the field of procurement http://zakupki.gov.ru you can specify the region you are interested in:

And product type by keyword:

Please note: at the time of writing, there were 817 applications at the “submission” stage electronic auctions for the supply of furniture (a small part of them is a preliminary selection of participants). The contract price varies from 11,184 rubles to 147,229,920 rubles.

In addition to the government procurement website, there are more than 30 tender sites operating in Russia, not counting the thousands of companies that publish purchases on their corporate websites. And their chance of getting an order is much higher due to less competition. Obviously, keeping track of all these resources yourself will take a lot of time, even if you look at them no more than once a week. Therefore, I recommend using aggregators that collect commercial and government tenders from all available sources.

This is exactly how the RosTender platform works:

RosTender is not the only aggregator. Consider several options and choose the one that is most convenient for you.

So, You have contacts of potential wholesale buyers in your hands. Now you need to contact them and present your proposal.

P.S. To help managers of wholesale directions of furniture companies International Furniture Personnel Center developed 2 powerful tools that will allow you to increase sales by 10% or more in 6 months.

Two powerful tools to help managers of wholesale departments of furniture companies

Management kit	Master group “My new furniture life-OPT”
For those who do everything themselves	For those who want to increase implementation effectiveness from 5 times and above
This kit is the newest packaged product developed at MMKTs. It includes 18 of our best ready-made solutions for wholesale that will help you implement the principles of FUNKD* into your company, break out of routine, from the competitive crush, find “solid ground under your feet” and start a new, proper, ordered furniture life. FUNCTION* - Functionality, Controllability, Reliability, Controllability, Dynamism - Aleksandrov S.A.	For wholesale, we are organizing this effective IMPLEMENTATION format for the first time. We can take no more than 30 companies. I give guarantees to participating companies to increase sales by at least 10%. This guarantee was not taken out of thin air, but was tested in practice by the implementations of your fellow participants of the Master Group 2016 in retail. There are 4 options for participation. Choose the one that suits your company, and I guarantee you an increase in sales by at least 10%.
Until March 16, 2017, you can purchase this set with a -65% discount. Click on the button to view the contents of the kit and purchase it:

Happy wholesale furniture sales to you!

Constantly being in an active search for suppliers of goods for an online store is normal for business. Thus, the owner of one successful gift store said that in five years of work he changed almost one and a half hundred suppliers, and over the past six months he made trial purchases from 70 companies.

Even if you have already found partners that suit you, be open to new offers. In this article, we will list five sources where to find suppliers for an online store, list several wholesale companies in different popular niches, and give advice on how to choose a reliable partner and what to look for.

What types of suppliers are there for an online store?

All suppliers are usually divided into two large groups:

An online store for those who have no time to understand development. Ready in 5 working days, over 100 sales tools! Just upload your products and start selling! Shopconstructor will do the rest.

The cost of a unit of goods in the DTshop catalog directly depends on the total order volume. The minimum amount for the first order on the website is 20,000 rubles. Subsequent shipments of goods are possible for smaller amounts.

http://berado.ru/ - wholesale supplier toys and leisure goods from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong. The Berado website presents a wide range of toys, children's furniture, stationery and summer goods.

Belado offers favorable conditions cooperation with wholesale buyers, individuals and legal entities. To obtain special terms of cooperation, you can apply for a wholesale buyer card, which makes it possible to purchase goods in the center wholesale trade Cash&Carr toys. When paying in cash, the minimum amount for the first purchase is 15,000 rubles.

http://portaltoy.ru/import/ is an online exhibition that offers visitors a wide selection of children's products from suppliers from the USA, Great Britain, Asia and the CIS. Portal allows you to search for suppliers at exhibitions or take part in them yourself.

On the Portaltoy website you can see the calendar of the largest exhibitions of children's goods, which will be held in the near future in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. More than 280 suppliers are participating in the online exhibition on the site. Here you can find new business partners, expand the range of your online store and get favorable terms of cooperation.

Search for foreign suppliers

Due to the depreciation of the ruble, Internet providers from Europe, Asia and the United States are no longer as attractive as they were several years ago. But today they offer entrepreneurs exclusive products high quality, often cheaper than domestic analogues.

To find a supplier abroad, you will need at least two things:

1. Knowledge of English. If a website with an assortment is translated into Russian by an online translator, then to communicate with sellers and to conclude an agreement you need to know English language at a level not lower than basic.

2. Time for . Usually, goods from abroad take a month or more to arrive. It all depends on the supplier country and on customs checks.

You need to search for foreign suppliers for your online store through Google. Enter in the search the name of the product you are interested in in English or in the language of the country where you want to find a supplier. Do not use Yandex to search - it finds foreign sites reluctantly.

How to find a foreign supplier on Google

Here are several proven European and American suppliers for online stores:

http://www.4wholesaleusa.com - sells everything from cosmetics and coffee to children's toys and equipment.

British supplier of goods for online stores around the world. Sells clothing, beauty and health products, household goods, computers and household appliances, auto goods and sporting goods.

europages.co.uk is a large aggregator of suppliers from Europe.

Products from Europe and the USA are the ultimate dream for many customers, because not all of them can order at retail. This type of trade could be called a “gold mine” for entrepreneurs, if not for a number of difficulties: not all companies want to work with Russia, you will have to pay a considerable price for quality, and the passage of goods through customs does not always go smoothly.

If you are looking for a simpler way, contact proven and already well-known suppliers of goods from China. Chinese goods are now sold everywhere, but the number of manufacturers and names is so large that it is quite possible to find something unique or little-known.

The most famous sites where you can find suppliers from China are AliExpress, Alibaba and TaoBao. The first one is simpler - it is translated into normal Russian and is a familiar online store. The other two are seller aggregators, where not everything is even translated into English.

TaoBao. You can't figure it out without intermediaries.

1. High rating And positive reviews seller is not yet an indicator of his reliability. For example, on Alibaba you can buy gold status, and negative reviews users sometimes delete them in exchange for a refund for a product they didn’t like. A more reliable indicator of reliability is the date the seller’s account was created and the number of transactions completed.

2. Before transferring money even for a test batch, communicate with the seller by correspondence - ask about the properties of the product, ask to see more photos, request a quality certificate. This is where you need English.

3. If the seller sent you a sample and you liked it, do not immediately order a large batch - the quality may be worse than the test goods.

4. If possible, use the “secure payment” function. For example, there is one on the Alibaba website. This function means that your money will be frozen in the system and the seller will not receive it until he fulfills all obligations to you.

5. Study the average prices for the product you decide to sell. If the seller offers too low a price, do not rush to rejoice. This is most likely done for one of the following reasons: the product is of poor quality, the seller sells the product without documents and it may be confiscated at customs or scammers are in front of you, whose goal is to collect money for orders and disappear.

A significant drawback of suppliers from China is long delivery times. Usually the goods take about two months, so you need to place orders ahead of time.

China means low prices, but a high percentage of returns due to low quality. Despite this, despite Chinese goods many learned how to do business. If you calculate everything and do it right, you can do it too.

How to find a supplier for an online store and not make a mistake: 5 mandatory rules

As you can see, finding a supplier for an online store is not a problem today. It is much more difficult to find a good partner who you can trust. To ensure that your searches are not too tedious for you and unprofitable for your business, take the following rules for yourself:

1. If possible, communicate personally with a company representative. As a last resort - by phone.

2. Check with the supplier for as many details as possible. What is the price of the product per unit and per batch, what is the amount of the minimum order, what is the minimum purchase for a certain period, is there transport for delivery, is it necessary to make an advance and is it possible to buy the product in installments, how often is the assortment updated, how are returns carried out? does the supplier terminate the contract? unilaterally... There are many nuances. It is better to go to a meeting with a supplier with a list of questions.

3. At first, do not rely on one supplier. Test several.

4. At first, give preference to suppliers from Russia. This way you will receive the first batch of goods faster and start selling.

5. Carefully read the supplier’s contract with the online store. Most likely, you will have to sign an agreement that the seller has drawn up for wholesale buyers and come to terms with its terms. Large wholesalers rarely agree to sign store contracts and work on their terms. You are only a few percent of their profits.

And the last piece of advice is to not linger too long on the question of where to find suppliers. The more options a person is offered, the longer it takes him to choose. This is bad practice. While you are thinking, the product will become irrelevant, competitors will start selling it earlier, or you will simply lose interest in this business.

Make informed decisions, but don't waste time. Good luck!

Almost every person who has his own business faces the problem of how to find a supplier. After all, today there is enough large number the most different companies, which produce products in almost every field, and among all of them you need to choose the one that can provide not only high-quality goods, but will also do it on the most favorable terms.

Categories

All suppliers are divided into two main categories - distributors and manufacturers. When figuring out how to find a supplier, you must immediately remember that in this case, manufacturers are engaged in the direct production of products, and distributors, in fact, are standard resellers who sell the manufacturer’s goods on their own.

Which is better?

It is quite natural that it is best to work directly with the manufacturer himself, as this is much more profitable and reliable. We should not forget that even among domestic companies you can find a lot of manufacturers of really high-quality products in almost every field, from representatives of medium and small businesses to fairly large enterprises.

Every person who has ever understood how to find a supplier knows that manufacturers provide much more reliable cooperation, as well as a better price compared to various distributors. It would seem that everything is simple - just contact the manufacturer directly and work with him, but in fact, if everything were so, the distribution business would not exist. The thing is that in the vast majority of cases, manufacturers do not work with small stores, which, from the point of view of industrial volumes, will place too small orders. This is why the problem arises of how to find a supplier.

The conditions that a store must meet if it wants to work with a distributor are an order of magnitude smaller compared to the conditions put forward by the product manufacturer itself.

Features of working with distributors

Often, working with distributors is distinguished by its flexibility, as well as the simplicity of the conditions, but at the same time, the cost of their products is much higher. Distributors do not go overboard with order volumes and work with almost any company. At the same time, they cooperate with several manufacturers simultaneously. Thanks to this, they can offer their customers a good range. In some cases, there may be certain delays in deliveries, as well as the possibility of receiving up-to-date information about the availability of this or that product, as well as the release of various new products, because initially the manufacturer himself will have to provide this information to the distributor.

Possible operating schemes

When trying to figure out where to find suppliers, you need to understand what kind of scheme you are going to work with. In particular, there are only three main ones:

• work with your own warehouse;
• dropshipping, which involves selling goods without your own warehouse;
• a combined option, which provides for the sale of goods with its own warehouse.

You should choose the system that is most suitable for you depending on what kind of products you are going to sell, as well as how exactly the goods will be delivered to customers.

With own warehouse

If we are talking about a start-up store, then in this case you can use this scheme if you are going to sell small-sized products that will not take up a large amount of space. As your store grows, it will be possible to further expand the area and subsequently place large deliveries of goods there. You just need to figure out how to find a supplier from China or another country you need, and then sell their products from your own warehouse.

If you have your own warehouse, then in this case you will always be able to get the most complete information regarding the availability of goods, as well as their quantity in the warehouse. If your warehouse is additionally equipped with a specialized showroom, then in this case you will have the opportunity to demonstrate your product to a potential buyer before it is purchased. The delivery speed will be extremely high, because you will be able to immediately send the buyer’s order directly from your warehouse, and you will not have to wait for it to be delivered from some other warehouse.

Flaws

Of course, there are certain disadvantages in the process of working according to this scheme. In particular, this concerns the fact that you will have to independently deal with all issues of maintenance, security, and supply of the warehouse. At the same time, any products that remain unsold in the warehouse for a long time will constitute a direct freeze of your financial resources. Also, you will not have the opportunity to start with small quantities of goods, as a result of which you will need to have a solid initial capital.

Without own warehouse

In this case, the costs are an order of magnitude lower, that is, you can put into operation own store much faster, without investing a large amount of money into it. You just need to find a reliable supplier who will agree to work with such a system, and then start selling. In the vast majority of cases, companies work even with those stores that initially do not intend to purchase large quantities of goods, although not everyone adheres to this vision.

At the same time, you must understand that in this case there is an order of magnitude longer delivery time, and you will have to constantly update information about whether a certain product is present in the supplier’s warehouse, because there is always a possibility that the product you have order, the company will not have it in stock, as a result of which the waiting time will be significantly longer. Among other things, we should not forget about such a thing as the human factor, because the more links in the supply chain, the greater the chance that this or that error will pop up somewhere.

In the vast majority of cases, this scheme is used only during the first time of operation. In this case, you work out in detail all the various mechanisms of your own business, and after everything acquires a certain clarity, you begin to gradually switch to operating your own warehouse.

Combined option

By combining both schemes, you can, for example, keep the most popular products on own warehouse in order to deliver them to the buyer as quickly as possible, and those that are sold less efficiently are delivered through the supplier’s warehouse.

Domestic suppliers

In fact, there is nothing difficult in finding a domestic supplier, and there is no difference in what exactly you are looking for, since you can find suppliers of clothing or any other products using search engines or all kinds of catalogs. You always have the opportunity to extremely refine the search criteria you are interested in in order to ultimately find exactly those companies that will work with your region, as well as eliminate in advance those whose conditions are unacceptable to you.

It is also possible to use the services of specialized companies that engage in professional search for suppliers. Due to the fact that recently the number of offers in almost every area has increased significantly, this service is quite relevant if you do not want to spend several weeks or even months searching.

Among other things, you can attend all kinds of exhibitions or meetings of entrepreneurs on certain products, since finding suppliers for a store there is also quite easy. This option is the most profitable among all for the reason that you will be able to personally get to know your supplier, because it has been repeatedly proven that personal contact allows you to achieve a trusting relationship between partners much faster.

What are the advantages?

By working with a domestic supplier, you significantly speed up the possible document flow and also reduce transportation costs. It is worth noting the fact that in the vast majority of cases, certification is undertaken directly by the supplier himself, and you will only need to check all the relevant documents. Delivery is much faster, but there are many more options for mutual payments. If necessary, you have the opportunity to visit the supplier yourself in order to resolve certain issues or directly check the quality of the products supplied to you. This is especially true for those who want to find a food supplier.

What are the disadvantages?

If we talk about what are the disadvantages of domestic products, as well as markups on imported goods, then due to the significant diversity in choice, you can always find a supplier who will fully meet your needs regarding the terms of cooperation, as well as the parameters of the products you need .

Foreign suppliers

If we talk about foreign suppliers, then finding them is quite more difficult, since finding a supplier for an online store that has only recently started operating is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. At exhibitions, people generally prefer to cooperate with large stores, while you can only find a supplier through search engines or various sites if you speak the appropriate language.

You just have to go forward - everything behind is already trampled.

Vladimir Leontievich Havelya

to whom: owners, top managers, internet marketers

How to catch big fish?

Obviously, a wholesale buyer is different from a retail buyer. What exactly? He is often an expert in the product, he can work on a number of important tasks simultaneously and has a limited resource of time. He is well aware of the product's characteristics, including its shortcomings. In first place for the wholesaler - ease of purchasing and speed of delivery.

Wholesale online store is one of the cornerstones of excellent service.

Conclusion from this mini-analysis very simple: Wholesalers need a store website with specific special features. Unfortunately, often there is no wholesale section. And it turns out that a large client is forced to call you in the hope of getting a price list. You open 1C, manually make a table in Excel, and waste the client’s time. As a result, he receives a file by email, which still needs to be opened in the correct version of the program, studied, sent... In this hour, he could already study the sites of your competitors, download the price list from the site and place a large order with them ( and so he did!).

You will say - That’s how everyone works, but we have the best prices favorable prices . What if you take a step towards wholesale clients? The days of choosing a supplier at the lowest price are gone forever. The winner is the one who provides not only good prices, but also convenient service.

We again studied a number of sites - this time, wholesale companies, collected current tips and compiled a checklist by which you can check your wholesale online store. Read, check, implement and make the lives of your customers easier! A pleasant bonus, of course, will be the fact that after implementing these features you will have more clients :)

10 tips for increasing sales in a wholesale online store

1. Clear “wholesale” positioning

Often, owners of wholesale online stores fall into a typical trap: if I know what we do, then everyone knows.

No, this is not always fair. Need to state clearly and loudly about the wholesale focus of your store.

How? Display this same “in all positioning elements” wholesale" Logo, slogan, visual design of the site... It is advisable to adjust the name of the store so that your target client comes from search engines. However, try to avoid the hackneyed " The world... of suitcases (fish, smartphones, floors)”.

It’s also good to emphasize your positioning as a wholesale store visually - use images of large boxes, warehouses, forklifts, trucks, shelves, etc.

What if positioning is not included in the title? Indicate a description next to the logo on the main page, indicating that the visitor is on the website of the wholesale company.

2. Section “Wholesale Buyers/Wholesalers”

What to do if you sell both wholesale and retail? Start from the main direction and make clearly visible informative and convenient sections on the website: “Wholesalers” and “Private Buyers”.

The “For Wholesalers” section is reminiscent of the “Dealers” section on the website of a manufacturing company (we wrote about this quite recently, in the article “”).

In the example above, you see: “Wholesale” is in the positioning, there is a transition to the catalog for existing wholesale clients, there is a section “Wholesalers”, which provides information for new and potential clients. This section contains discounts and answers to frequently asked questions. Here it is, a virtual sales manager! That's how it should be.

The “Wholesalers” section has a clear goal - using content (text, images, interactive elements) to convince potential customers that working with you is as profitable as possible.

Lay out all the arguments: ease of use, comfortable conditions cooperation, loyalty programs and discounts.

We will describe in more detail each “must have” item in the section. What should be in the “Wholesalers” section:

Communication methods

Use maximum channels. The minimum set in our time:

• telephone,
• application form,
• feedback form,
• online consultant or chatbot,
• e-mail,
• messengers Skype, WhatsApp, Viber.

Terms of cooperation, wholesale supplies and others

Write down and confirm with numbers all the pleasure and benefits of working with you. Delivery and payment schemes, bonus programs, product marketing materials, assistance and training - it’s time to provide wholesalers with maximum useful information!

It will be useful to place a subscription form here if you are running a mailing list for wholesale clients.

Go to the catalog for wholesalers

Wholesalers need a detailed, easy-to-use catalog. We won’t dwell on the features of the catalog separately; we’ll tell you about it another time. A wholesaler needs a clear entry into the wholesale catalog, the quantity of goods in stock, and a detailed page of characteristics in the product card.

Wholesalers do not make impulse purchases. They don't need one-click ordering. Such a client needs to be “fed” not only wide range And low prices, but also the convenience of working with you, on your website.

Information about promotions, discounts and bonuses

A wholesaler is also a person. Saving is his duty both as an employee of the company and as a businessman. Provide favorable purchasing conditions, but also pamper regular customers with gifts and all sorts of bonuses in exchange for loyalty. Here B2B meets B2C, because nothing human is alien to wholesalers.

3. Wholesale prices

Price is important for a wholesaler. Therefore, you need to work with wholesale prices from all sides, both pricing (including dynamic - give discounts depending on the volume of purchase, etc.), and presenting prices on the website.

As we mentioned above, discounts, loyalty programs, buyer cards, and bonuses are appropriate in a wholesale online store. And also - holiday sales, markdowns and promotions.

The wholesale price is always different from the retail price. In addition, it is also dynamic - it changes depending on the volume of purchase. Hence the moral: the site should have a convenient and intuitive interface for changing and viewing prices. Give the client a price with feeling, with sense, with arrangement.

Don't forget about strategic pricing to secure buyers for years to come.

4. Easy navigation and search by article

You won’t be able to attract a wholesale buyer with bright banners, large pictures, or flashy discounts. Very often, wholesalers know the product perfectly, and they do not have a choice. For such customers, make a convenient search by article.

Navigation in the catalog should be simple but fast and accurate. There is no need for frills and parallaxes, no need to embellish. Much more important is a simple but working search by article number and other parameters.

5. Description of goods

You don’t need big words in describing products in a wholesale store either, so moderate your copywriter’s ardor. It is extremely important here not to confuse numbers, sizes, quantities. Each product card can and should contain maximum technical characteristics and less advertising. But introducing as many elements of fast communication as possible will be useful. Let the client easily clarify all questions on the fly.

A retail buyer needs pictures to visualize and examine the product, but a wholesaler will draw it for you with his eyes closed. Fewer pictures, more numbers: technical specifications, volume of delivery (minimum and maximum, in what containers it is transported).

6. Wholesale catalog view in table format

It is convenient for a wholesaler to use the tables directly on the website. It’s great when you can see the description of the product and the characteristics are selected in real time, order volumes are regulated.. And the most interesting thing is how the price changes and the discount grows :)

7. Working with multiple orders

A wholesale buyer often needs simultaneous management of several orders. To prevent him from creating an “alter ego” and going to other stores, provide the opportunity to place different orders at the same time. For example, you can give the opportunity to create several baskets, split bills, create different profiles within one.

8. Personal account

Main difference personal account wholesaler from the office of a simple buyer - the presence of a convenient system for long-term relationships. This idea runs through all of my material today: long-term cooperation is built on respect and special treatment. Long live cumulative discounts, flexible payment schedules and delivery calendars!

Essentially, your wholesaler client needs strict but comfortable, simple but functional online logistics account: with a detailed history of orders, necessary documentation, payment account and accounting of payment obligations.. Everything you need is at arm's length!

9. View available balances

The availability of goods in the warehouse is the most important information for the buyer. Give the wholesaler the opportunity to “look” into your warehouses: where the goods are and how much. This will make it easier and calmer for him to build the logistics chain.