Starting a wholesale business can be a rewarding and lucrative venture, but it also requires careful planning and execution. Wholesale businesses are responsible for supplying other companies with products that will be resold to consumers, and as such, they face unique challenges and opportunities. This article will explore the essential elements and strategies for building and growing a thriving wholesale business, including developing a strong product offering, finding and managing customers, and utilizing marketing and sales techniques to drive growth.
What is a Wholesale Business?
A wholesale business involves buying products in large quantities from manufacturers or distributors and reselling them to retailers or other businesses at a higher price. Wholesale business companies often operate as intermediaries between manufacturers and retailers, helping to facilitate the distribution of goods to the end consumer.
One main difference between wholesale and retail is how products are sold. Retail businesses sell products directly to consumers through physical storefronts or online platforms. On the other hand, wholesale businesses sell products in bulk to other companies, which in turn sell the products to consumers. Generally, a wholesale business targets a different market and has a different pricing strategy than retail businesses.
What's the Difference Between Retail and Wholesale Business?
A wholesale business and a retail business are two different types of companies selling products to customers, but they operate differently and serve diverse consumers. Let's learn more about the distinctions between wholesale and retail businesses.
1. Types of customers
A wholesale distribution business typically sells products to other companies, such as retailers, distributors, or manufacturers, while retail businesses sell products directly to end clients. This means that the target audience and customer base for these two types of companies are totally different, and the features of their websites should be tailored to these markets.
To know more about your customers in selling wholesale, run a survey using Strikingly's custom form feature. You can choose from various form types, including contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, and surveys. Customize the form fields to fit your survey needs, and add text fields, radio buttons, checkboxes, and other form fields to gather the necessary information. You can also add a title and description to your survey to explain the purpose and goals of the survey to your respondents.
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Using Strikingly's custom form feature to create and publish a survey on your website, you can gather critical feedback and insights from your audience, dramatically impacting how your wholesale business operates.
2. Order size and frequency
Selling wholesale means dealing with products in larger quantities and at a lower price than retail businesses because they sell to other companies who will resell the products to consumers. A wholesale website may need to accommodate larger orders and offer features like bulk ordering or recurring orders to accommodate these needs.
As a wholesale business, you can use Strikingly's website-building features to streamline your shipping process and improve the customer experience. Use your Strikingly website to create a page that outlines your shipping policies, including shipping rates, delivery times, and any restrictions or exclusions. Employing that technique helps set customer expectations and reduce the number of shipping-related inquiries you receive.
3. Pricing
Starting a wholesale business typically offers lower prices to their customers than retail businesses, as they sell in larger quantities and are not responsible for the final sale to the consumer. The pricing structure of a wholesale website may differ from that of a retail website, with different pricing tiers for additional quantities or different pricing for wholesale customers versus retail customers to meet the needs of its target audience.
4. Payment methods
Wholesale and retail businesses may accept different payment methods, depending on the type of customers they are serving and the size of their orders. For example, a retail business may accept a broader range of payment methods, including credit cards and online payment platforms. In contrast, a wholesale business may require bank transfers or cheque payments for larger orders.
Image taken from Strikingly
Strikingly offers several payment methods to help you sell products or services on your website. Here at Strikingly, we have the following payment options:
- Credit card: Strikingly accepts Visa, Mastercard, and American Express credit cards for online payments.
- PayPal: You can use PayPal to accept payments on your Strikingly website. Customers can pay using their PayPal account or with a credit card through PayPal's secure payment gateway.
- Apple Pay: Strikingly supports Apple Pay for customers who want to make secure payments with their Apple devices.
- Google Pay: Customers can use Google Pay to make payments on your Strikingly website using their Android device or Google account.
- Stripe: Stripe is a payment gateway that allows you to accept credit card payments on your website. Stripe integrates with Strikingly, making setting up and accepting payments easy.
By offering a variety of payment methods, you can make it easy for customers to purchase products or services from your website and improve your chances of making a sale.
5. Marketing and promotion
Wholesale and retail businesses may use different marketing and promotion strategies to attract customers. Retail companies may focus more on consumer-facing marketing efforts, such as advertising and social media, while wholesale businesses may rely more on business-to-business marketing and sales efforts. The content and features of a retail website may be geared towards consumers, with promotions and consumer-focused information, while a wholesale business website may have more product information and tools for business-to-business sales.
Strikingly's pop-up feature can be a valuable tool for marketing your wholesale businesses in several ways:
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- Promote sales and discounts: You can use pop-ups to promote sales and discounts to your customers. It's an effective way to drive traffic to your wholesale website and increase sales.
- Collect email addresses: Pop-ups can collect email addresses from visitors to your website. And this strategy can help you build a list of potential customers that you can use to send marketing emails or newsletters.
- Display important information: By using pop-ups to showcase important information like shipping policies, return policies, or contact information. Having such details improves user experience and can lower the volume of questions you receive.
- Upsell products: Utilizing Strikingly pop-ups to recommend related or complementary products to customers while browsing your website can help increase the average order value and drive sales for your wholesale business.
By using Strikingly's pop-up features, wholesale businesses can effectively promote their products and services and improve the customer experience on their website.
How to Start a Wholesale Business
If you want to dive into wholesale business opportunities, there are a few things you'll need to take into account. Check them out below:
1. Product selection: What products do you want to sell?
When starting a wholesale business, selecting products that are in high demand, have a good profit margin, and are relevant to your target market is crucial.
2. Suppliers: Where will you source your products from?
Establishing relationships with reliable suppliers who consistently provide high-quality products at competitive prices is essential.
3. Target market: Who will you be selling your products to?
Identifying your target market will help you determine your business's best pricing and marketing strategies.
4. Distribution: How will you get your products to your customers?
You must determine if you want to sell your products through physical storefronts, online platforms, or both.
5. Financing: How will you fund your business?
You need to consider your financing options, such as loans, investors, or personal savings, and create a financial plan to support your business.
Starting a Wholesale Business with Strikingly as Your Platform
Image taken from Strikingly
A wholesale distribution business can profit significantly from a solid online presence, and building a professional website is essential to establishing and promoting your business. Fortunately, platforms like Strikingly make it easy for a wholesale business to create a stylish and functional website, even if you have yet to gain prior web design experience.
Take a look at the benefits of using Strikingly to build your wholesale business website:
- User-friendly design tools: With Strikingly's drag-and-drop feature, you can easily customize the appearance of your wholesale business website without any coding skills. You can choose from various customizable templates or create your design from scratch.
- E-commerce functionality: With Strikingly, you can easily create an eCommerce store and start selling your products directly from your website. It's a convenient and cost-effective way to reach a wider audience and increase sales.
- SEO optimization: Strikingly's website builder is designed to be search engine friendly, and it can also help your wholesale website business to rank higher in search results and attract more traffic. Check out these tips to improve SEO for your wholesale website.
- Mobile responsiveness: With more and more people accessing the internet on their smartphones, it's important to have a website that looks and functions well on mobile devices. Strikingly's website builder is optimized for mobile, so you can be sure that your website will look great on any device.
- Professional appearance: A well-designed website can help your wholesale business look more professional and establish credibility with potential customers. Strikingly's templates and design tools make it easy to create a sleek and modern website that reflects your brand and values.
By considering these factors and utilizing the tools and features offered by a website builder like Strikingly, you can set your wholesale business up for success and build a strong customer base. By carefully planning and executing your business strategy, you can establish a successful wholesale business that meets your customers' needs and drives growth.
