Businesses

A Primer on Wholesale Food Distribution for Grocery Stores

A Primer on Wholesale Food Distribution for Grocery Stores

Many years back, if a customer wanted to purchase a food item, they have to go to many shops to buy whatever they need. For instance, a customer would usually visit a butcher to buy meat, a bakery for bread, a creamery for ice cream, and so on.

As the distribution networks evolved and became more superior, these services became more sophisticated in the sense that supply, buying, and delivery were centralized in a particular location or in a modern grocery store that is capable of stocking all the food products that buyers needed from a shop.

What does this mean to the average consumer: value delivery and saving of a great deal of time!

A popular adage has it that “change is constant”. The grocery store business is changing continuously to meet customer expectations and add value to their lives. What it means is that many Americans spend more time shopping, working and less time cooking. But this is not how it was in the last 75 years. More to this is the arrival of electronic commerce (eCommerce) which has changed the way people shop online. All these factors combine to shape the way and manner in which companies offer products and services that help to save the customer’s time in food preparation and shopping.

Amazing Statistics

As of 2018, about 10 percent of U.S. consumers said they prefer shopping for groceries online. In aggregate, U.S. online grocery market grew from $12 billion in 2016 to 26 billion in 2018 and there is still room for more growth. The size of the total grocery market was put at $632 billion in 2018 and the online grocery sales are expected to hit $18 billion in 2020.

The big players in the grocery business such as Walmart and Kroger as well as new entrants like Amazon are all striving very hard to improve on their pickup and delivery strategies by using different strategies that suit their business size and capacity. Most of them have headed the online grocery store direction already.

These changes at both the wholesale and retail end are bringing about increasing economic effects on food distribution channels. Consumers can now ask for lower prices and prompt services. They have equally created room for increasing higher quality products and having the right product at the right time.

All of these transformations and positive growth combine to create a good business environment where margins and expectations for service are high, errors become minimal and adding value to the distribution process.

Wholesale Food and Beverage Distribution Model for Grocery Stores

Food products reach the tables of the final consumer after passing through a complex food supply chain that moves the products from the manufacturer to wholesale food distributors and grocery store locations from where they are taken to store shelves. This channel of distribution is best suited for a large inventory of shelves and packaged products.

One of the major characteristics of this kind of food distribution model is that it costs a lower amount to ship and store them. Apart from this, there are other advantages of packaged and shelf-stable food.

  • They are less likely to spoil or damage during shipping.
  • You don’t need expensive equipment to prevent wastages.
  • They are easily distributed in large boxes, as much careful handling is not required.

However, food products that cannot be stored and handled through this model are easily distributed by another model. They are specialty items that are used in limited quantity or during seasons, of which they are not shelf-stable. In this case, such specialty products are distributed by specialty distributors who have invested in the equipment used for storage and ensure that the product is fresh.

Some of these distributors are wholesalers or growers who supplement their products with that of others. They deliver their products to wholesale distributors for grocery stores, grocery store warehouses, or other wholesalers who in turn distribute them to the stores and retailers.   

There is another category of wholesale food distributors who supply food products that take up the space between the fresh produce and shelf-stable products. For instance, dairy food products, baked food, meats, and so on. These products, their shelf-life can be measured in weeks instead of days or months. They are distributed using a distribution model called Direct Store Delivery, as they are solved and delivered directly from the producer to grocery stores and retailers.

Last Words…

The customer end of the grocery business is changing and these changes are influenced by changes in customer lifestyles and need for variety at the lowest cost possible. The consumer of today is increasingly seeking ways to save time and money on their grocery expenses while the wholesale distributors for grocery stores are looking for a way to increase profit and add value to the customer. It is indeed a world of choice!

Why Retail Businesses Are Failing

One of the most important resources a retail business should have are profitable wholesale contacts. Whether it is wholesale video games, getting wholesale DVDs and among others-on the Internet many rising businesses have the opportunity for much greater profits when making a wholesale purchase directly from a legitimate wholesaler or distributor. The big problem today regarding wholesale businesses failing is not primarily do to the business itself, but mainly because of the failure of the business owner finding time to find true wholesalers and distributors. Many of them just buy from middlemen who appear in all those wholesale contact lists sold all over auction sites and nickel-and-dime websites. Businesses are failing both on the Internet and offline due to a lack of reliable and profitable wholesale contacts.

Sure, you can buy from a middleman and expect 10-20% in net profits once you make the sale, but that is not wholesale. Particularly when the middleman is charging you a 30%-50% markup! But when you buy from legitimate wholesale contacts, you purchase at genuine wholesale or distributor prices. For example, for a product that would retail for $ 140, you would probably have to pay a middleman $ 80 and think you got a great wholesale price. But, if you had bought it from a genuine wholesaler, you could have bought the same item for $ 40-$ 50! Whose pocket do you want that extra $ 30-$ 40 going into? This is real wholesale. Such differences will make your business either thrive or fail. Ask yourself the failing rate in business locally. Nationally, the average rate is between 70-90%. On the Internet, the averages are almost the same. The difference between success and failure is in losing and winning capital.

While offline, you need thousands of dollars to start a business- on the Internet you can
start a wholesale business from scratch for less than $ 100. Regardless of startup costs, though, the price you buy your products at is what is going to make you a fortune or break you. This is obvious for many knowledgeable marketers, but it is not for many new entrepreneurs that have not yet found their complete potential with wholesale. While some are making thousands of dollars a month, only a few are making thousands of dollars in a single day and all because of not having the correct wholesale list. This is why true wholesale must be a factor in your business, while middlemen should be no factor at all. The fact of the matter is, if you want a highly profitable wholesale business, you need to buy at the lowest possible price and sell at very competitive market prices, or the competition will practically demolish your profits and income.

You must be sure that the entrepreneur that you are taking suggestion knows the retail market well. For example, if you want to purchase DVDs at wholesale prices you need to purchase from someone that has made thousands of dollars from such market. If you want to make thousands of dollars like many mini-mall store owners do every single month by selling tangible items on the Internet- you need to trust and rely your business on the right people who can give you the right contacts.

Reality is, trust your business on someone that has walks the walks, not an Internet wannabe that is struggling to pay hosting fees online. I made this mistake years ago on the Internet and it cost me. I learned from this through years of research and focus, and I am now financially free. Many of you can do the same. The best of success for the many that want to build a wholesale business through buying wholesale DVDs, video games or any other tangible item that is indeed profitable.

A Look At Wholesale Clothing Businesses

Thinking of starting a business that is both affordable and easy to start? A business which requires little capital yet easy enough to start is a business that depends on selling clothes. A retail business or a wholesale clothing business is one of the many types of types of business popular among many people today. The popularity is that clothing is always in demand and that starting one is usually easier than any other types of business.

But did you know, that starting a wholesale clothing business can be more affordable than starting a retail one? According to many experts, starting a wholesale clothing business may not be as complicated as many may think. The reason why a wholesale clothing business can be cheaper than starting a retail business is that a wholesaler could easily start a business of wholesaling by only using his/her own home as storage.

The reason why other wholesaling businesses became expensive is because of its specialized storage. Another is that most of these types of wholesaling business may involves office spaces. However, in terms of wholesale clothing businesses, many people have gained success by only using their own homes as their office while a spare room or their basement serves as storages.

So what is it that a wholesale clothing business can be cheaper than starting a retail business? One reason is that retail businesses heavily relies on its location, if its accessible enough for people. Popular places of starting a retail business is in shopping centers as well as in malls. Although retail businesses doesn’t require the same number of stock that wholesale clothing business require, it does require for one to own or rent a place to start their business, and renting a space in shopping centers or in malls are very expensive.

However, even though a wholesale clothing business is known for its simple beginnings, maintaining one and keeping a close watch of clients are another thing. The good about a wholesale clothing business is that it doesn’t need a location which people could easily access. What’s important is that the owner has the necessary skills and experience to get clients. It is also important that one should have enough experience to handle a business.

Remember, a business which is usually easy to start is usually those that is hard to maintain, especially if one lacks the necessary experience and knowledge of handling a business.For more information visit to our site at http://www.sevenwholesale.com.