You do not need a degree in business to understand that buying products at a low cost and selling at a high price is a fundamental step in sales. And even then, while listing the ways of product sourcing for an eCommerce business, even the best professionals overlook this.
Buy low often means that you have to purchase in bulk. The generous price breaks you get as a result of buying large quantities are the merchants’ way of thanking you for taking a chunk of their inventory from their hands.
Wholesale Product Sourcing
In several cases, wholesale product sourcing can be considered a passage for smaller companies to step up into a more professional level. When a company gets quite big and reaches a specific number of sales and customers, they have to think big to sustain in the competitive market.
Now, the local product sourcing methods start showing their logistical and manpower limitations like physically acquiring products, researching, storing products at home and more. These methods are perfect when your customers are few in number. But when you are trying to cater to a hundred orders per day, these measures are not helpful.
So, the next viable step is wholesale product sourcing. When you opt for this type of sourcing, you have lots of inventory at your disposal. Additionally, your profits grow as your bulk quantities increase. With the higher number of orders you receive and the sales you make, the bigger will be your price breaks.
This model is ideal for B2B companies. In fact, the wholesale suppliers selling goods to retailers, are B2B wholesalers themselves. As long as you have storage space and a supplier, you can try the wholesale model for any product for any audience.
The Best Product Sourcing Strategies For Wholesale
In the event that the wholesale model for sourcing products impresses you, keep in mind the following tips.
1. Be Careful While Buying From Manufacturers
Usually, online sellers procure their goods from wholesale supply intermediaries, who are basically the “middlemen” between retailers (those who sell products) and manufacturers (those who create products). So, would sellers not earn more if they directly buy from manufacturers and remove the middlemen. The answer will be yes in theory, but practically it is not as easy.
The truth is, manufacturers, do not want to worry about sales, marketing, distribution and all of those aspects of the business. That is why wholesale suppliers are important for manufacturers as they outsource this part of the business to the former. While the manufacturer focuses on making the products, the wholesale supplier deals with the searching of buyers.
Hence, a manufacturer who willingly sells in bulk directly to the retailer is not just rare but also gives rise to suspicions. The first question that comes in the minds of the retailers while product sourcing is – why are they not making use of a proper wholesale supplier like their competitors? They might as well be suspected as scammers disguised as a manufacturer. Maybe, they are manufacturers in reality. But their goods were probably rejected by mainstream suppliers for reasons, such as they did not work as advertised.
However, most of the time, the manufacturer is simply too small to come up on the radar of the wholesale suppliers. At times, sellers can utilize that to their advantage and strike exclusive deals with the manufacturers as the only retailers of the products. You can also use this to negotiate a better price and pass the savings to the customers for establishing your store as one which offers the lowest price.
But, the size of a manufacturer can influence its performance. For instance, they cannot meet the demands. Manufacturers producing goods on a small scale may also face issues in catering to sales spikes like unexpected successful marketing campaigns or holiday shopping. The problem is that unfulfilled orders may be more harmful to a brand than not getting any order at all.
To sum up, if you come across a manufacturer who wants to sell directly to you at a decreased rate, make sure that they can fulfil your sales demands.
2. Negotiate With Suppliers
In case you have a personal relationship with your supplier or even your intermediaries, leverage that to strike a better deal with everyone.
You can start with an early bird discount. In exchange for making a full payment earlier than required, you seek a 2 to 5% discount from them. Suppliers usually like this as they get their money quickly.
What needs careful consideration is whether the discount is worth it or not. With the interest that you get from keeping your money, will you be able to make more than the discount? Will you be able to spend that amount somewhere else for a higher return.
Another point of negotiation is, who doles out the money for shipping? Some suppliers pay the shipping amount if the retailer orders a certain amount. Therefore, to ensure you do not have to pay the shipping charges, all you have to do is increase the number of orders you place. However, there is a catch here. Suppliers do not always make this offer. It is, hence, up to you to improve your negotiation skills prior to making the offer.
Of all eCommerce business model strategies for product sourcing, wholesale is the most uncomplicated. The strategy depends more on the calculations than how well you implement it. When you are creating an outline for your wholesale strategy, make sure to triple-check the calculations. This guarantees that the approach you take is not just workable but also fetches you the maximum returns out of the investments you make. And, do not be scared to integrate this strategy with other models. At times, altering your tactics as per the product can bring you the best deals.