Wholesaling Over the Internet — How to Start and What to Know

Cartum has created a B2B module that helps online stores to update wholesaling processes and make them as comfortable as retail. This article covers the advantages of the B2B module, who can use it, and what mistakes you should avoid.

Cartum has created a B2B module that helps online stores to update wholesaling processes and make them as comfortable as retail. This article covers the advantages of the B2B module, who can use it, and what mistakes you should avoid.

Features of wholesale trade on the Internet

Wholesalers sell goods to intermediary companies, who then sell them to end consumers. Such orders are much larger than retail orders; customers buy dozens and hundreds of products simultaneously.

Most wholesalers work the old-fashioned way: they send prices by email and take orders by phone. Managers spend a lot of time daily creating a price list with goods and sending it to the clients. 

Even if you simplify this process and send the price list automatically every morning, it becomes outdated after the first order. Hence, customers still have to check the availability of the products and order by phone. Moreover, such communication can cause errors: someone is confused about something or didn’t hear all the details, and that's it, the order went to the wrong place.

With retail stores like Rozetka, users can simply go on the website, find a full range of products, estimate prices, and order in a few clicks. Most wholesalers can't provide clients with the comfort level they're used to, so those businesses can have a significant advantage.

How to create a wholesale online store

To start selling bulk goods online, you have to create a convenient platform to minimize routine work. B2B Cartum helps various types of businesses to solve this problem.

Companies specializing in wholesaling

B2B module in an online store allows you to exclude the manager from the order placement process. The user enters the site, immediately sees the available products, current prices, and availability, and in a few clicks, makes an order. The manager comes into play at the end of the process to confirm the order and let it proceed for further processing.

Furthermore, it eliminates situations when the manager leaves the company and takes customers with him. All user data is in the system, so managers can’t monopolize clients.

To make the ordering process even more convenient, Cartum added the ability to display products in the catalog as a list and add the number of products to the order with one click of the «+» button. After the customer chooses the products he likes, the total amount and the button «Make an order» will appear at the bottom of the page.

Suppliers who want to optimize processes

Cartum will help you have up-to-date information about the number of goods in stock. If you don’t have this knowledge, it can cost a lot for your business. As a result of inaccurate information, many online stores lose customers daily and are not happy with their suppliers. 

It is very unpleasant to invest in an advertising campaign, to guide the client through all the stages of the sales funnel, and to be disappointed because the warehouse has run out of the needed product. When information about the balance of goods is passed down a long chain of managers, it often needs to gain relevance.

The solution to this problem is to transfer information directly from the accounting system. B2B Cartum makes exchanging data via API or integration with one of the popular CRM systems possible.

Retail stores that want to add wholesale offers to their website

Cartum has created a flexible solution that combines B2B and B2C sales on one platform. All thanks to the ability to configure separate groups of users of the online store and show them different products and content, such as the «About Us» page and payment and delivery methods.

You can install the settings so that users from the «Retail» group see one product category, users from the «Wholesale» group see another, and users from the «Large Wholesale» group see a third version. 

It’s the same system for the prices. For example, retail buyers can see the crossed-out old price and the new one, and wholesalers — wholesale and retail prices.

Dropshipping companies

The biggest problem of cooperation with dropshipping sellers is the need for automated transfer of information about customers who must receive the goods. The date is often passed on over the phone, through messengers, etc. As such, information can be confused, forgotten, or accidentally deleted, resulting in the parcel being sent to the wrong place.

Cartum is preparing a function to transfer customer information to the supplier automatically. This eliminates the human factor from the process, so you can form invoices and send orders without hesitation. It will help both dealers and manufacturers.

How to start selling 

It is enough to go through five steps to create a wholesale online store on Cartum’s platform.

1. Leave a request.

2. Choose one of 100+ designs in the gallery.

3. Import the information about the goods to your online store with the help of our specialists.

4. Integrate the online store with the accounting system.

5. Launch the site and test its capabilities for free for 7 days.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Disorganized management of the warehouse

If you manage the warehouse not carefully enough, you will have to solve problems constantly. That means some goods can lie around in the warehouse or expire without the manager knowing. The other side of the coin is a demand for certain goods, but you do not order them on time. As a result, you lose profit and get dissatisfied customers.

To avoid these problems and ensure the online store has up-to-date balances, you should manage the warehouse carefully and conduct an inventory from time to time.

There is no unified format for sharing content 

If you work with dealers, you should periodically send them photos and product descriptions. A lot of suppliers don’t pay enough attention to this, which is why dealers have to hire individuals who spend weeks doing the routine work of filling online stores with content. At the same time, the supplier can make their lives easier by simply delivering the content in a convenient structured form.

B2B Cartum allows you to download content in XML and XLS formats, which most dealers already know how to work with. The structured format of such files allows dealers to upload content to their online stores in a few clicks.

No dealer order history

Dealers need to understand what products, quantities, and at what prices they have purchased from you before. This will make life easier for them to compare prices or duplicate their pre-orders.

B2B Cartum allows you to use a personal account with the history of orders and the status of new orders being processed. Also, you can immediately see the number of mutual settlements with the supplier and information about the manager in charge. 

How to increase the volume of wholesale

A massive advantage of wholesale over retail sales is that promotion requires much smaller budgets. The market is not so competitive, so the investment in contextual advertising, Google Shopping, and SEO will be relatively small.

For example, if you google «buy smartwatch», at the top you’ll see ads from big players with huge budgets, which are incredibly difficult to compete with. And the request "buy smartwatch in bulk» doesn’t have such serious competition, so getting to the top of the list is more accessible.

Internet stores based on B2B Cartum have ready tools for SEO and the ability to generate feeds for uploading to Google Ads and Google Shopping. Thanks to them, promotion is simplified by many times.

Conclusion

B2B Cartum opens up new opportunities for wholesaling. It allows you to automate routine processes and apply a different approach to different groups of buyers. B2B Cartum also makes life easier for dealers, who can compare prices and balances simply on the site. Leave a request to test B2B Cartum for free for 7 days.