The role of distributors is changing at an increasing rate. There has been a constant growth in the B2B market of India. After the all-time fall in sales last year, the industry has started to pick up by innovating the methods of sales and distribution. The wholesale markets are finally learning and implementing the trends of the modern retail markets such as omnichannel selling, growing commerce ecosystems, expanding into global markets via online selling, transparency, automation, etc. to fight against the dying markets.
Here are the five wholesale distribution trends of 2018:
Omnichannel Selling: In 2018, the way of selling goods and services is customer-centric. From an online store to an offline physical store, the focus is on providing a consistent experience to the customers. The B2B markets are venturing into the omnichannel selling system where a step further is taken to offer the customer a streamlined and connected purchasing experience across all platforms.
Online Selling Ecosystem: More and more B2B businesses are investing in the eCommerce ecosystem to provide better facilities to the customers in terms of sales and after-sales services. The best part about the Online wholesale stores is that they are easily discoverable through search engines, price negotiations are real time, the ordering process takes place virtually using online catalogues and payments happen via payment gateways making the process easier and better.
Expanding Beyond Borders: The aftermath of industrialization and globalization is the expansion of businesses beyond borders. With online marketplace facilitation, it is becoming imperative for the wholesale businesses to grow beyond specific coordinates. Sellers need to utilize the power of digitalization to ensure the transformation of the cross-border trade and implementing cross-marketing strategies for ensuring a pie piece in the market profits.
Inventory and Online Order Management: Inventory and order management are a crucial part of the wholesale business. Hence, the businesses are implementing data-driven business decisions to handle business operations centrally. All this is creating a marketplace with the price points of the B2B markets and the B2C market’s customer experience.
Automation: Efficiency and effectiveness go hand in hand. Automation in order taking, processing and delivering services help the wholesalers in making informed decisions about investments, costs, and savings in terms of shipping, staffing, and warehousing. With AI, businesses can now implement a data-driven approach to attract and retain more customers, which reduces the cost of planning and operations.
There are more trends to the above-stated ones. Some of them include warehouse robotics, warehouse automation, mass customization, etc. which are in place to help traditional wholesalers to move beyond the price war to stabilize in the market. Those distributors who will innovate and embrace these new methods will see the greater business success than those who stick to be traditional methodologies. It is finally time for the marketers to move out of their shells.
