Internet sales have an increasing weight for most sectors. So much so that for some companies, it has become the main source of income. For businesses that are planning to start their online wholesale business, it is important to understand how and why wholesale is different from retail.
Wholesale sellers who increase their sales take deliberate action based on proven sales principles and techniques, combined with marketing actions, to get the attention of their prospects. Here is everything you need to know on how to plan essential strategies to encourage bulk purchases in WooCommerce.
Main characteristics of wholesale trade
- A wholesaler has the ability to sell large quantities of their product at one time and to sell them indirectly to consumers in many stores simultaneously.
Wholesale carries less expense, at least compared to the money spent year-round on in-store marketing and other overhead involving retail operations. - A large part of the working time must be devoted to managing the logistics of transport and distribution of the merchandise, taking the product to specific stores, managing the manufacturing process, and maintaining inventory.
- As a wholesaler, you must supply large quantities of your products at the same time. For many manufacturers, fulfilling large orders within a tight deadline can be difficult.
- The wholesaler does not interact directly with the customer (in most cases) but instead interacts with business executives who purchase their products in high volumes.
Analyze the Market Before Starting Your Business
If you are a wholesale seller, analyze the wholesale market and your direct competition, knowing their products and their price promotions. Look at what their sales and distribution strategy is like, and look at who their customers are.
Then, determine a good promotion by giving trial products, better prices, higher volumes, better service, and more.
In this, consider all aspects. If your direct competition has the same products and the same prices, they may not be choosing you due to the lack of punctuality in deliveries or the quality of the service. Check the relationship between distributors and customers, the timeliness of deliveries, the product’s appearance, and the comprehensive quality of the service to know in which areas you should train staff or improve your services. Then, you can get those customers with an extra promotion or benefit.
WooCommerce works great for direct web-to-consumer sales, but selling from business to business requires additional extensions or plugins. Fortunately, there are several WooCommerce plugins that can help you have your wholesale store, and you can either create a store that sells products to wholesalers exclusively or sell to both regular and wholesale customers.
Wholesale for WooCommerce can help you kick-start your sales without setting up a complex system:
- Create and manage multiple wholesale user roles.
- Manage wholesale prices for single or variable products with ease.
- Manage Approval/Rejection requests – Manually or Automatically.
- Define different prices just for your wholesale customers.
- Easy-to-use back-end interface that lets you manage user requests via the wholesale registration form.
- Tax-Exempt (Exempt wholesale user roles from paying taxes)
- Control product visibility (Control product visibility settings specifically for wholesale user roles.)
- Define different pricing options and discounts for your customers.
- Set minimum order quantity limits as per your requirements.
Due to the handling of large quantities of product volume, wholesale is a business from which you can benefit very well and make profits quickly. Here are some tips on how to do that:
Tips on how to sell wholesale products to retailers
1. Create different prices for different clients – B2C or B2B
Since your store can be accessed by anyone online, it is advisable to think about your target audience (B2B/wholesale customers), but also about individual consumers (retailers) who are looking for specific products. Create different prices for different clients: expose a base price with VAT included for retailers and volume discounts that vary with the quantity for your wholesale customers.
You must bear in mind that you will have two types of clients, consumers, and retailers, so the prices you offer cannot be the same. Remember that consumers are going to use the product, and retailers are going to resell it, so you have to differentiate it so that the retailer can be more profitable.
2. Require a minimum purchase quantity
This point is more important for retailers. It establishes a minimum purchase quantity for each product so that they can have rotation and always have a presence in the market. This way you can also offer them better prices.
In order to achieve volume sales and increase revenue, you must adhere to a minimum order rule. This means that retailers (wholesale buyers) have to purchase a minimum quantity of products or the value of money when ordering.
3. You can set special prices
In addition to the previous point, you can offer better prices to retailers depending on how much sales they make. The more units they sell, the more discounts and payment benefits they will get.
The idea is to encourage bigger orders and more revenue. It is probably wise to always start with something and see how your business adjusts to this new way of selling.
What are the Secrets of Wholesaling Success?
Some wholesalers have managed to make a name for themselves in the industry, while others have yet to overcome the slump. Here are some tips to ensure the viability of your business.
– Online presence is a fundamental asset
Nowadays, every wholesale business has a WooCommerce website. Indeed, the presence on the web is essential in the face of competition, which is becoming increasingly harsh. Having a website and a blog is a major asset for the wholesale business.
Impeccable presentation, content capable of interesting readers, and a pleasant visual will allow you to conquer new markets and retain your customers. However, it is very important to update the information in real time and to leave a page dedicated to consumers where they can give their opinions and suggestions. In addition, the possibility of ordering online could also attract more customers. It’s practical, simple, and fast.
– Offer home delivery to simplify the life of your customers
Customers are constantly looking for a quality product at the best price. Why? Because they are trying to save as much as possible. Apart from the competitive price in the wholesale trade, other options may also capture the attention of your targets, such as home delivery. With such a service, they will be able to manage their budget better.
They will have peace of mind: no delays, no incidents en route. In short, they will have the assurance that the products will arrive at their destination without incident.
– Customer service is a factor not to be overlooked
Customer service should be a top priority for every company that specializes in wholesale. As the saying “the customer is king,” says, it is crucial to set up a service capable of meeting customer expectations. The telephone number must be reachable at least during office hours. And if customers send emails, the response should be sent as soon as possible. In addition, in the event of a complaint, a solution should be found quickly to remedy it.
In addition, the company must respect its commitments whether in terms of time, price, number of items to deliver.
