More and more retailers prefer to shop and make wholesale purchases online. If you fail to address this opportunity, you are losing business … just like if you do not take credit cards. And increasingly, many stores feel slighted, or that you are not serious about wholesaling, if you don’t give them the same online buying options you offer retail customers.
Anytime you enter into ecommerce, you’ll find a HOST of options for building a commercial web site. For our discussion, the type of web site that sells an array of products is often referred to as a “catalog” site – an online analogy to a traditional print catalog. Your catalog site will, of course, need a “shopping cart” system, integrated with a merchant account and/or PayPal for real-time processing.
Operating a basic primary ecommerce website is important for selling your products at retail (direct to end consumers). Retail pricing is where you get the best margins (although the orders are much smaller than wholesale). Even though you are targeting retail customers, wholesale buyers will also find you there, and may call or email you for wholesale information. Of course, you CAN make it easier for them, by pointing them to your wholesale information when they arrive at your retail site.
Over the next weeks, we will be exploring the difference between wholesale and retail websites and how to build a wholesale website.
Hi Sandy! happy to have found you! Do you think a single website can be used to satisy both wholesale and retail customers? My site is currently set up for retail but more and more wholesalers inquire about a website. I was hoping to avoid the expense of a second site!
Hi Eileen,
To answer your question, it depends on how you are using your website. If you are just wanting to share wholesale information with certain stores, it is probably doable. But if you are wanting to have a site where wholesale buyers can place orders, no, it probably won’t work well. Wholesale shipping and terms may be very different from your retail shipping and terms. And if you wanted to promote your site, which target market would you market to: wholesale or retail? Just a few things to consider before making your decision.
Good luck!
Sandy
hi sandy,
I’m facing this exact challenge on my website now. I’m targeting both segments (retail and wholesale) and I’m facing a huge dilemma on how to re- design my hompage. Should i do a pop-up window for wholesalers or should i place a huge text somewhere or this or that, lots of questions. I have already implemented the e-commerce functionality for both segments though, but i find the re-designing part is quite challenging.
Hi Yassin,
I strongly suggest that you set up a form for wholesale customers with a prominent link on your homepage. On the form, make sure to ask for their store name and reseller number along with the contact info. After you receive the form, direct them to a password protected part of your site that lists the wholesale pricing and terms. This way you can monitor and screen your wholesale accounts. Have you figured out how you will handle the shipping for wholesale orders via retail?
Good luck!
Sandy
Hi Sandy,
We have a separate wholesale and retail website. The wholesale site is completely visible to everyone but to see wholesale prices and to order, visitors must create a login. Some of my associates feel this is unnecessary and maybe frustrating for our customers to have to log in. It was suggested to change the site to quantity based orders with no login (so if you buy 1-12 it is $X, if you buy 12-60 cost is $x, etc) I have not been able to survey our customers directly but do retailers mind having to log in? Or would they rather have their wholesale pricing visible to everyone? Thanks!
Hi Jamie,
You pose a good question. There are definitely two side to the story! On one hand, having a log in protects your pricing from the general consumers. Yet, on the other hand, you do discourage folks from buying from your site due to a log-in.
Having run a password protected wholesale website for over 8 years, I can assure you that it does work well. On my site (www.IdahoGiftsWholesale.com), I require that all wholesale buyers fill out a Buyers Registration and Password Request Form. I use this form to weed out the consumers who are trying to pose as wholesale buyers. It has been very effect as I ask questions that will ‘prove’ whether or not they are a true retail outlet. From there, I issue a password to get into the pricing and wholesale buying section.
Before I chose to set up this system, I researched several larger wholesale sites to see there procedure. I found that all of them used a similar system. Several had a much more detailed Registration Form than I used (asked for financial information, for instance). I gather from my research that it was common practice to have a password protect wholesale site.
Another issue I encountered to re-enforce my decision occurred along when I was selling huckleberry picking rakes. The rakes were a new product, so I featured them on the wholesale site — which meant they were listed, including the price, along the side bar of my site. Over the course of the season, I received at least two flaming emails from consumers asking me why they could not buy my rakes at the reduced pricing. Strangely, I was accused of gouging the public etc. etc. (some folks obviously do not understand the retail/wholesale system!). Needless to say, I removed the items from the sidebar immediately!
I am certain that I do loose some sales from having the log in, but I find that serious wholesale buyers do not mind the extra step.
I hope this information helps! Good luck with your site.
Best,
Sandy