wholesale suppliers
In India, the Government is creating special zones in cities or marking areas for the operation of wholesale suppliers for them to gain the benefit of infrastructure & warehousing. Locally, they are called mandis ( markets of wholesallers)
Wholesale suppliers operate by buying from the manufacturers and selling to the down the line distributors, dealers or the retailers depending on the product category and location. The manufacturers can also distribute their goods on their own if they have their own network.
The wholesalers normally have network spread across locations. Most wholesalers keep their stock of goods and an inventory size that will vary from industry to industry .Food wholesalers for example will not have a lot of variety but their stocks will run into million tonnes depending on scope of their business. Also their business will be dictated by the seasonality of their products and because it is not something that sells all year round they usually take orders before hand and have a fair idea of the stock they need to purchase. Wholesalers who sell consumer goods will have a lot of stock keeping units but their inventory comprises of fast moving items and will not stay on their shelves for long. Therefore their inventory carrying costs will be low.
Wholesaling any kind of product requires
distribution and for this reason most wholesalers have their depots close to
the linking spots that cover or link maximum markets. It is usually
the factors like price, quality and service that make a difference and with
all wholesalers selling and offering the same service and increasing
competition, personal relationships matter the most these days. Features and
packaging are important for some whereas some customers may find them
unimportant.
The wholesalers operate across all industries and cater to different
consumer groups within that industry. The basic factors to identify remain
the same, however which include
1) Identifying the customer needs and the winning sales combination.
2) Understanding the market segmentation and planning for the future to
maximize revenues and ensure long term relationship.
Some wholesalers also offer drop shipment to the customer and offer a return policy depending on the type of goods, In the fabric industry it can very from 15 25 days with proper reason for return submitted.
Most wholesale suppliers in India sell their
goods on credit basis to old customers, this is the way the market operates.
In return, they too get credit from their suppliers ( manufacturers,
importers etc). The period of credit granted to wholesale suppliers is
usually 30 days to 3 months.
Wholesale suppliers - Author F. Peris. copyright data 2004 Indianchild.com
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