How to find the right wholesale supplier for your business

Finding the right wholesale supplier for your business can take more work than just heading to a retailer. Once the connection is established, however, it can stay in place indefinitely. It’s therefore definitely worthwhile making the effort to find the very best wholesale supplier for your business. Here are some tips to help.

Decide what your priorities are

Just like retailers, wholesalers often tailor their services to suit different markets. This means that a wholesale supplier which is perfect for another business might not be the best option for you and vice versa. Some key points you want to consider are as follows.

• Do you need a wide product selection?
• Do you need access to certain brands?
• What is your upper limit on a minimum order threshold?
• Do you need your wholesaler to be based in a specific area?
• Do you need fast shipping?
• Do you need multiple shipping options?
• Do you need supplies to be sent to countries other than the UK?
• Do you need special services such as support for drop shipping?

If the answers to any of these questions are yes, then you can immediately strike off any wholesale suppliers who can’t meet them, no matter how good they might be in other ways. Your other two key considerations are likely to be customer service and price. You’ll only be able to research these when you have some potential candidates in place.

Unless you are absolutely set on competing strongly on price yourself, it’s generally advisable to put them in that order. In fact, even if you are, it can still be advisable to put them in that order. Having the lowest price around only has real meaning if you can actually fulfil orders. If you go for the lowest-priced wholesale supplier around and they let you down, you’ll be the one dealing with the consequences.

Put together an initial list of potential wholesale suppliers

The first step in this process is to work out what type(s) of wholesale suppliers you need. These can generally be broken down into four main categories: manufacturers, exclusive distributors, wholesalers and local distributors (sometimes known as “jobbers”).

As a rule of thumb, if you can, you want to approach them in that order. If you’re a small business, you’re very likely to find that larger manufacturers are reluctant to work with you directly. You may also have problems getting exclusive distributors for larger manufacturers to accept small orders.

Smaller manufacturers and/or their exclusive distributors (if they have them) may, however, be quite happy to work with you. Whether or not a wholesaler will work with you will usually depend on whether you can meet their minimum-order threshold. If you can’t then you may have to default to local distributors.

There are lots of ways you can put together a shortlist of potential wholesale suppliers. Here are some of the places you can check.

• Business directories
• Trade publications
• Trade shows
• Major B2B marketplaces
• eBay
• You can also ask for referrals.

eBay may seem like a surprising option, given that it’s mainly a consumer marketplace. It is, however, worth noting that a lot of its sellers are businesses. They may have a wholesale arm or be able to refer you to a wholesaler (as long as you’re not likely to compete directly with them).

Reduce your list to a final choice

Claire Shaw, Senior Graphic Designer at SOS Wholesale, specialists in wholesale foods shared her insight, “Start with some basic research on the internet. Check the candidate’s website, run an online search on their name and, if possible, speak to people who know them. Often the easiest way to find these people is on LinkedIn and trade-specific forums. In particular, see what you can find out about the quality of their goods, their reliability (including their turnaround speed) and their customer service.”

Once you’ve pared down your initial list to a few key contenders, contact them and “interview them” for the job. Remember, however, that they will be “interviewing” you too. Be prepared to demonstrate your credibility and, in particular, your ability to pay.