A livelihood for any wholesaler or
distributor relies on getting their products into the retail
environment. Cameron Bayley gathers tips from those in the know
about how to get some edge over the competition.
&ldquoIt&rsquos not brain surgery,
being a good wholesaler,&rdquo says Brad Glass, who distributes
golfing apparel line PING for American Golf Supplies.
&ldquoYou&rsquove just got to create a point difference
between you and your competitor.&rdquo While the time-honoured
practice of hitting the pavement and selling your goods to as many
retailers as possible is still as much a part of the process as
ever, there are other channels that can be used to make you and
your product stand out. Here are 10 ways you can maximise your
wholesale deliveries.
1. Believe In Your Product
If you&rsquore doing the hard yards to
get your product(s) into the retail space, it pays to be passionate
about it, and confident that there&rsquos a market out there
for it.
Even though Chris Lambert, general manager
of Russell Corp Australia, distributes well-known sporting names
like Spalding and Sherrin, there are bigger names out there and
plenty of competition from new names and brands, so a commitment to
his products is very much a part of his role in getting retailers
to take his wares. &ldquoThere&rsquos no doubt that product
is key,&rdquo he says. &ldquoYou&rsquove got to have
great product development. You&rsquove just got to show a
little bit of innovation, you&rsquove got to show market
relevance and trend relevance as well.&rdquo
&ldquoIf you don&rsquot have a
product that people want, don&rsquot start up,&rdquo says
Glass. &ldquoYou&rsquove actually got to do some homework
before you jump into the wholesale industry.&rdquo
2. Appeal To Your Retailers
When approaching retailers, Glass says
it&rsquos not merely a case of walking in and asking how much
they want, it&rsquos letting them know you&rsquore aware
they have overheads and their own margins to make, and you can
help. &ldquoI try to sell myself as a business partner, rather
than a wholesaler,&rdquo he explains. &ldquoAnd they like
that, the idea that you don&rsquot just want to go and sell
them stuff for the sake of selling it.&rdquo
David Schwartz, who runs Shanghaied, a
wholesaling company distributing a range of homewares and antiques,
says your reputation is crucial to retailers. Being reliable,
having a good quality product, delivering on time, are all factors
wholesalers can focus on to ensure retailers will come back to
them. &ldquoDo what you say you&rsquore going to
do,&rdquo adds Glass. &ldquoAny industry in this country
tends to be quite insular, they tend to be quite small, so people
find out very quickly who the good guys are.&rdquo
3. Systems Are Go
It costs more and requires more effort for
wholesalers to attract new customers, so holding on to your client
base will save you money. Avoid the &ldquoleaky bucket
syndrome&rdquo, Schwartz warns, where you pour all your
customers in at the top, and then through poor management let them
slowly filter away. At Shanghaied, all clients are entered into a
database which keeps detailed records of all transactions.
&ldquoEvery contact we have, such as telephone or fax, is
monitored,&rdquo he explains. He also makes sure that if they
haven&rsquot spoken to major customers for a while, they make a
conscious effort to get in contact so they have the latest
information and offerings.
4. Online Opportunities
While big distributors with a network of
representatives and a large on-the-ground presence might not use
the web to distribute their goods, Glass admits smaller wholesalers
and distributors can find it a useful tool.
For the Shanghaied team, it has become
invaluable. &ldquoWe now have a secure website that has all our
product range,&rdquo says Schwartz. Current and prospective
customers are given access to the full content of the site, which
includes all details, descriptions, and prices of the Shanghaied
catalogue. And as retailers become far more comfortable ordering
goods online, the website will soon offer them a fully functioning
ordering system. &ldquoSo, for those people, particularly
regional people who might not see sales agents that often, they can
order online,&rdquo he explains. The company advertises the
website in trade publications and mass media, and for any consumers
who end up at the site there&rsquos a list of retailers that
stock his products.
Lambert advises any wholesalers
contemplating having an online presence to realise what&rsquos
involved before launching into it. It&rsquos not a one-off
exercise, and requires commitment. &ldquoHow often will you
update it? How will you keep people interested? How are you going
to get repeat visits? If you&rsquore not going to answer those
questions to begin with, then I don&rsquot think you should be
considering it,&rdquo he says. &ldquoPonder what
you&rsquore doing it for and why, and how it will be managed in
the long term.&rdquo
5. Get Personal
While Schwartz is a big fan of the web for
wholesaling, he knows it should only play a part in a wholesale
strategy. &ldquoYou can&rsquot isolate and forget about
customers who aren&rsquot at this stage computer literate and
who don&rsquot feel comfortable going on the web. You need that
personal contact as well.&rdquo
While Shanghaied has a small team of
in-house sales representatives operating in Melbourne, to cover the
rest of the country they use independent sales agents who work on
commission, representing a small number of similar businesses.
Twice a year the company produces a
full-colour catalogue, published to coincide with major trade
fairs. &ldquoIt would be lovely just to go to the
website,&rdquo says Schwartz. &ldquoBut for retailers to be
able to talk to their staff, and sales people, a colour catalogue
showing the product is very helpful.&rdquo
&ldquoThe quality of your sales people
is pretty crucial,&rdquo says Lambert. &ldquoYou want
people who are experienced and, ideally, who know the customers
well. Already bringing a pre-existing relationship is worth that
little bit extra.&rdquo
6. Market Yourself
Retail markets are becoming more
intertwined as niche markets pop up and retailers are trying to
accommodate consumers with multiple demands, as well as trying to
maximise their sales per square metre. Knowing how to fit within
these markets can be a challenge. &ldquoWhat is relevant to us
is having a meaningful position in the marketplace when the world
is getting smaller and all of the business segments are becoming
more and more blurred,&rdquo says Lambert. &ldquoFashion
stores are putting in sports brands and sports stores are putting
in a bit of surf and a bit of street.&rdquo This can make it
harder for any wholesaler and distributor to enter, he says.
&ldquoSo for us, we&rsquove got to decide what we stand for
and ensure we&rsquore damn good at it and convince customers of
it, and deliver to it. That&rsquos our biggest
challenge.&rdquo
For Schwartz, this change in the retail
environment can also mean more opportunities for some wholesalers,
such as those in the gift and homewares industry.
&ldquoNurseries used to be the sellers of fresh plants, but now
with issues like the drought they&rsquove had to look at
different retail streams. Certainly now the cafes, and gift and
homeware stores, are flourishing within nurseries.&rdquo
7. Look At Margins
Margins are a big part in wholesaling, and
this can be crucial in getting your products into the retailer.
Schwartz admits the rising costs of freight and other business
expenses means there&rsquos always pressure on finding products
which offer both consumer appeal and deliver a good margin.
&ldquoYou have to offer your retailer
a margin that&rsquos going to be attractive,&rdquo Glass
agrees. &ldquoYou need to be conscious of what margin your
average retailer needs to make and you need to be offering them a
better than average margin if you&rsquore a fringe
brand.&rdquo
8. Help Please
While there&rsquos no broad assistance
available for wholesalers in general, individual industry
associations can be a great help. &ldquoYou&rsquore mad not
to be involved for at least the information they provide,&rdquo
says Lambert, a member of the Australian Sporting Goods Association
(ASGA). &ldquoThe ASGA provides the only industry stats, and so
you&rsquore crazy not to subscribe and get that
information.&rdquo With ASGA providing publications on various
issues relevant to the industry, such as counterfeiting, it is
helpful to stay abreast of industry trends.
Schwartz, a member of Gift and Homewares
Australia (GHA), agrees, and says GHA offers business partnerships
in areas such as freight, insurance, and telecommunications, which
can help members keep costs down.
And the web is a limitless source of
inspiration and guidance, says Lambert, especially in researching
what is happening in your industry and in others. &ldquoThere
are just so many different avenues for inspiration that you need to
tap into.&rdquo
9. Show and Tell
Trade shows can also offer great
opportunities for wholesalers, and Lambert says they can vary in
relevance depending on the industry. &ldquoIf you&rsquore a
start-up business in an industry where the trade fair model is
important, then, absolutely, you must be there,&rdquo he says.
&ldquoIf you&rsquore small or a start-up, then it probably
makes sense as one of the elements of your marketing mix to be
there.&rdquo
Schwartz attends three trade shows a year
and praises them as being &ldquoan instrumental part in my
growing the business&rdquo.
10. Trendy and New
Covering your market and getting into
newer ones requires staying on top of trends in your industry, and
making sure you have a point of difference. &ldquoIf
you&rsquore a smaller business you certainly need to think
about what you bring to the table,&rdquo says Lambert.
&ldquoBe it a new technology or a new look, or a higher margin,
or that sort of thing, you need to bring a meaningful commercial
argument.&rdquo
Using your advertising or promotions in a
way that offers to increase customer traffic can be a big help in
persuading retailers to take your products, he adds, rather than
just saying your product will convince current customers to switch
brands. &ldquoThe more you can actually say
&lsquoI&rsquoll bring people to your door through my
marketing and investing in the consumer&rsquo, then
that&rsquos a good case as well.&rdquo
This can play a big part in your overall
game-plan, says Lambert. &ldquoUnderstand who you are and where
you sit in the game, and then, with a great sales strategy and
approach, you&rsquore away,&rdquo he laughs.
&ldquoSimple really!&rdquo
A livelihood for any wholesaler or
distributor relies on getting their products into the retail
environment. Cameron Bayley gathers tips from those in the know
about how to get some edge over the competition.
&ldquoIt&rsquos not brain surgery,
being a good wholesaler,&rdquo says Brad Glass, who distributes
golfing apparel line PING for American Golf Supplies.
&ldquoYou&rsquove just got to create a point difference
between you and your competitor.&rdquo While the time-honoured
practice of hitting the pavement and selling your goods to as many
retailers as possible is still as much a part of the process as
ever, there are other channels that can be used to make you and
your product stand out. Here are 10 ways you can maximise your
wholesale deliveries.
1. Believe In Your Product
If you&rsquore doing the hard yards to
get your product(s) into the retail space, it pays to be passionate
about it, and confident that there&rsquos a market out there
for it.
Even though Chris Lambert, general manager
of Russell Corp Australia, distributes well-known sporting names
like Spalding and Sherrin, there are bigger names out there and
plenty of competition from new names and brands, so a commitment to
his products is very much a part of his role in getting retailers
to take his wares. &ldquoThere&rsquos no doubt that product
is key,&rdquo he says. &ldquoYou&rsquove got to have
great product development. You&rsquove just got to show a
little bit of innovation, you&rsquove got to show market
relevance and trend relevance as well.&rdquo
&ldquoIf you don&rsquot have a
product that people want, don&rsquot start up,&rdquo says
Glass. &ldquoYou&rsquove actually got to do some homework
before you jump into the wholesale industry.&rdquo
2. Appeal To Your Retailers
When approaching retailers, Glass says
it&rsquos not merely a case of walking in and asking how much
they want, it&rsquos letting them know you&rsquore aware
they have overheads and their own margins to make, and you can
help. &ldquoI try to sell myself as a business partner, rather
than a wholesaler,&rdquo he explains. &ldquoAnd they like
that, the idea that you don&rsquot just want to go and sell
them stuff for the sake of selling it.&rdquo
David Schwartz, who runs Shanghaied, a
wholesaling company distributing a range of homewares and antiques,
says your reputation is crucial to retailers. Being reliable,
having a good quality product, delivering on time, are all factors
wholesalers can focus on to ensure retailers will come back to
them. &ldquoDo what you say you&rsquore going to
do,&rdquo adds Glass. &ldquoAny industry in this country
tends to be quite insular, they tend to be quite small, so people
find out very quickly who the good guys are.&rdquo
3. Systems Are Go
It costs more and requires more effort for
wholesalers to attract new customers, so holding on to your client
base will save you money. Avoid the &ldquoleaky bucket
syndrome&rdquo, Schwartz warns, where you pour all your
customers in at the top, and then through poor management let them
slowly filter away. At Shanghaied, all clients are entered into a
database which keeps detailed records of all transactions.
&ldquoEvery contact we have, such as telephone or fax, is
monitored,&rdquo he explains. He also makes sure that if they
haven&rsquot spoken to major customers for a while, they make a
conscious effort to get in contact so they have the latest
information and offerings.
4. Online Opportunities
While big distributors with a network of
representatives and a large on-the-ground presence might not use
the web to distribute their goods, Glass admits smaller wholesalers
and distributors can find it a useful tool.
For the Shanghaied team, it has become
invaluable. &ldquoWe now have a secure website that has all our
product range,&rdquo says Schwartz. Current and prospective
customers are given access to the full content of the site, which
includes all details, descriptions, and prices of the Shanghaied
catalogue. And as retailers become far more comfortable ordering
goods online, the website will soon offer them a fully functioning
ordering system. &ldquoSo, for those people, particularly
regional people who might not see sales agents that often, they can
order online,&rdquo he explains. The company advertises the
website in trade publications and mass media, and for any consumers
who end up at the site there&rsquos a list of retailers that
stock his products.
Lambert advises any wholesalers
contemplating having an online presence to realise what&rsquos
involved before launching into it. It&rsquos not a one-off
exercise, and requires commitment. &ldquoHow often will you
update it? How will you keep people interested? How are you going
to get repeat visits? If you&rsquore not going to answer those
questions to begin with, then I don&rsquot think you should be
considering it,&rdquo he says. &ldquoPonder what
you&rsquore doing it for and why, and how it will be managed in
the long term.&rdquo
5. Get Personal
While Schwartz is a big fan of the web for
wholesaling, he knows it should only play a part in a wholesale
strategy. &ldquoYou can&rsquot isolate and forget about
customers who aren&rsquot at this stage computer literate and
who don&rsquot feel comfortable going on the web. You need that
personal contact as well.&rdquo
While Shanghaied has a small team of
in-house sales representatives operating in Melbourne, to cover the
rest of the country they use independent sales agents who work on
commission, representing a small number of similar businesses.
Twice a year the company produces a
full-colour catalogue, published to coincide with major trade
fairs. &ldquoIt would be lovely just to go to the
website,&rdquo says Schwartz. &ldquoBut for retailers to be
able to talk to their staff, and sales people, a colour catalogue
showing the product is very helpful.&rdquo
&ldquoThe quality of your sales people
is pretty crucial,&rdquo says Lambert. &ldquoYou want
people who are experienced and, ideally, who know the customers
well. Already bringing a pre-existing relationship is worth that
little bit extra.&rdquo
6. Market Yourself
Retail markets are becoming more
intertwined as niche markets pop up and retailers are trying to
accommodate consumers with multiple demands, as well as trying to
maximise their sales per square metre. Knowing how to fit within
these markets can be a challenge. &ldquoWhat is relevant to us
is having a meaningful position in the marketplace when the world
is getting smaller and all of the business segments are becoming
more and more blurred,&rdquo says Lambert. &ldquoFashion
stores are putting in sports brands and sports stores are putting
in a bit of surf and a bit of street.&rdquo This can make it
harder for any wholesaler and distributor to enter, he says.
&ldquoSo for us, we&rsquove got to decide what we stand for
and ensure we&rsquore damn good at it and convince customers of
it, and deliver to it. That&rsquos our biggest
challenge.&rdquo
For Schwartz, this change in the retail
environment can also mean more opportunities for some wholesalers,
such as those in the gift and homewares industry.
&ldquoNurseries used to be the sellers of fresh plants, but now
with issues like the drought they&rsquove had to look at
different retail streams. Certainly now the cafes, and gift and
homeware stores, are flourishing within nurseries.&rdquo
7. Look At Margins
Margins are a big part in wholesaling, and
this can be crucial in getting your products into the retailer.
Schwartz admits the rising costs of freight and other business
expenses means there&rsquos always pressure on finding products
which offer both consumer appeal and deliver a good margin.
&ldquoYou have to offer your retailer
a margin that&rsquos going to be attractive,&rdquo Glass
agrees. &ldquoYou need to be conscious of what margin your
average retailer needs to make and you need to be offering them a
better than average margin if you&rsquore a fringe
brand.&rdquo
8. Help Please
While there&rsquos no broad assistance
available for wholesalers in general, individual industry
associations can be a great help. &ldquoYou&rsquore mad not
to be involved for at least the information they provide,&rdquo
says Lambert, a member of the Australian Sporting Goods Association
(ASGA). &ldquoThe ASGA provides the only industry stats, and so
you&rsquore crazy not to subscribe and get that
information.&rdquo With ASGA providing publications on various
issues relevant to the industry, such as counterfeiting, it is
helpful to stay abreast of industry trends.
Schwartz, a member of Gift and Homewares
Australia (GHA), agrees, and says GHA offers business partnerships
in areas such as freight, insurance, and telecommunications, which
can help members keep costs down.
And the web is a limitless source of
inspiration and guidance, says Lambert, especially in researching
what is happening in your industry and in others. &ldquoThere
are just so many different avenues for inspiration that you need to
tap into.&rdquo
9. Show and Tell
Trade shows can also offer great
opportunities for wholesalers, and Lambert says they can vary in
relevance depending on the industry. &ldquoIf you&rsquore a
start-up business in an industry where the trade fair model is
important, then, absolutely, you must be there,&rdquo he says.
&ldquoIf you&rsquore small or a start-up, then it probably
makes sense as one of the elements of your marketing mix to be
there.&rdquo
Schwartz attends three trade shows a year
and praises them as being &ldquoan instrumental part in my
growing the business&rdquo.
10. Trendy and New
Covering your market and getting into
newer ones requires staying on top of trends in your industry, and
making sure you have a point of difference. &ldquoIf
you&rsquore a smaller business you certainly need to think
about what you bring to the table,&rdquo says Lambert.
&ldquoBe it a new technology or a new look, or a higher margin,
or that sort of thing, you need to bring a meaningful commercial
argument.&rdquo
Using your advertising or promotions in a
way that offers to increase customer traffic can be a big help in
persuading retailers to take your products, he adds, rather than
just saying your product will convince current customers to switch
brands. &ldquoThe more you can actually say
&lsquoI&rsquoll bring people to your door through my
marketing and investing in the consumer&rsquo, then
that&rsquos a good case as well.&rdquo
This can play a big part in your overall
game-plan, says Lambert. &ldquoUnderstand who you are and where
you sit in the game, and then, with a great sales strategy and
approach, you&rsquore away,&rdquo he laughs.
&ldquoSimple really!&rdquo
