Comprehension check. 1. Do you agree that the elimination of wholesalers will reduce prices?

1. Do you agree that the elimination of wholesalers will reduce prices?

2. What useful role do wholesalers play in the marketing system?

3. Why are wholesalers more efficient and economical not only for manufacturers, but also for consumers?

WHOLESALERS’ SERVICES TO RETAILERS

Wholesalers help retailers by buying in large quantities and then selling to retailers in smaller quantities and by delivering goods to retailers. They also stock-in one place – the variety of goods that retailers would otherwise have to buy from many producers. And wholesalers provide assistance in three other vital areas: promotion, market information, and financial help.

Promotion. Most wholesalers help promote the products they sell to retailers. These services are usually either free or performed at cost. Some wholesalers are major sources of display material designed to stimulate ‘impulse buying’. They may also help retailers build effective window, counter, and bin displays, and they may even donate their own employees to work on the retail sales floor during special promotions.

Market Information. Wholesalers are a constant source of market information. Wholesalers have numerous contacts with local businesses and distant suppliers. In the course of these dealings, they accumulate information about consumer demand, prices, supply conditions, new developments within the trade, and even industry personnel. Most of this information is relayed to retailers informally, through the wholesaler’s sales force. However, some wholesalers distribute bulletins or newsletters to their customers as well.

Information regarding industry sales and competitive prices is especially important to all firms. Dealing with a number of suppliers and many retailers, a wholesaler is a natural ‘clearing house’ for such information. And most wholesalers are willing to pass it on to their customers.

Financial Aid. Most wholesalers provide a type of financial aid that retailers often take for granted. By making prompt and frequent deliveries, wholesalers enable retailers to keep their own inventory investments small in relation to sales. Such indirect financial aid reduces the amount of operating capital that retailers need.

Insome trades, wholesalers extend direct financial assistance through long-term loans. Most wholesalers also provide help through delayed billing, giving customers thirty to sixty days after delivery to pay for merchandise. Wholesalers of seasonal merchandise may offer even longer delays. For example, a wholesaler of lawn and garden supplies may deliver seed to retailers in January but not bill them for it until May.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-29