5 tips to increase wholesale sales in the post-COVID economy
In the post-COVID economy, customer trends and expectations are changing rapidly in the B2B wholesale industry. Wholesale customers are demanding the level of service of B2C e-commerce. Of course, the advancements in technology make it easier to provide better customer experience. However, wholesale companies can lose customers if their businesses cannot keep up with the latest customer demands.
Fortunately, there are ways to improve customer loyalty and to increase B2B wholesale sales.
Below are 5 good strategies to increase sales for your wholesale business.
Advanced Wholesale Pricing: Move your pricing one step forward
Have you ever offered pricing tiers? It may be a good idea to test your wholesale pricing strategy.
For example:
- If you buy 10 units, you pay $10/unit.
- If you buy 50 units, you pay $8/unit.
- If you buy 100 units, you pay $5/unit.
You can apply this pricing strategy to your business. The idea behind it is to encourage your retailers to buy more units. This would enable you to get more sales and revenue. Read our article if you’d like to learn more about wholesale pricing.
Incentivize Retailers: Consider referrals and allow your retailers to dropship
In business, it is all about your network. The more people you know, the better chance you have to increase your wholesale sales. But, do not ignore the fact that your customers have their own networks too. Why don’t you offer your customers to bring their friends into your business? Many wholesale owners benefit from a referral system.
See how Metrobi Referral system works
Dropbox increased signups by 60% thanks to its referral system. PayPal’s refer-a-friend program is also a very good example. Wholesale businesses can use this strategy to increase their sales. The reward you offer to your customers should be tailored to your products.
Another way to increase wholesale sales is to allow other online retailers to dropship your products. The idea is that their customers buy your products from their websites and you ship them to their customers. By doing so, you increase your sales through co-marketing opportunities. This might be a complicated system to implement, but it is worth spending time on a spreadsheet to find out if this is a profitable business decision. If you have a dropship program, you might have the opportunity to meet many online shop owners who will gladly sell your products.
Create a Good Delivery System: Offer fast shipping and on-time delivery
Customers have become accustomed to services like Amazon Prime, which delivers products within a day or two. The good news is that customers are ready to pay premiums as long as they get their products fast. If you are able to offer quick delivery options, your customers can choose them, even if they are more expensive. If you’re a local business, make sure to understand the differences between local delivery options.
You can consider using a local delivery solution like Metrobi, which enables you to control delivery processes and automate them in such a way that you can track your fleet and products in real time and be notified when a delay occurs. The system also records travel data from each vehicle in your fleet to guarantee there won’t be any conflicts in the distribution schedules. In this way, you can deliver more properly and increase wholesale sales.
Provide Great Customer Service: Learn more about your customer
Your customers may have unique needs, demands and priorities. You can’t serve your customers in the best way until you know what these are. You can provide them with specific promotions and avoid offering them products that do not interest or meet their requirements if you know what your customers are looking for.
You should also make sure you give the assistance to your customers when and wherever they need it. Customer care is one of the key points in wholesale sales. Encourage your sales and customer care team to communicate nicely and professionally with your customers while motivating the team to make decisions in a way that puts customers first.
Target New Customers: Get more wholesale buyers
Another strategy to increase wholesale sales is to find new wholesale buyers. But, how do you target new customers?
One of the best strategies to acquire new wholesale customers is by offering special promotions and campaigns. For example, you can encourage your customers to buy from you by offering “no minimum order” on their first purchase.
It is known that there usually are some minimum-order limitations in wholesale. But if you offer no minimum order amount for your new customers, that would encourage them to buy from you. Please be aware that it might be a better idea to run this campaign for a limited time; the execution of this offer is up to you.
In conclusion, there are several ways to increase wholesale sales. To sum up, in order to increase your B2B wholesale sales, you can think of implementing new wholesale pricing, incentivizing retailers, creating a good delivery system, providing good customer service and targeting new customers.
Images: rawpixel.com / Freepik