Wholesaling

Products Carried

Similar to how retailers can be categorized, wholesalers can also be classified by the width and depth of product lines they handle.  The categories include:

• General Merchandise – Wholesalers carrying a very broad line of products fall into the general merchandise wholesaler category.  Like general merchandise retailers, the product lines these wholesalers carry may not offer many options (i.e., shallow depth).  These wholesalers tend to market to the smaller general merchandise retailer such as smaller convenience or general stores.
• Specialty Merchandise – Wholesalers focusing on narrow product lines but offering deep selection within the lines fall into the specialty merchandise category.  Most specialty merchandise wholesalers direct their marketing efforts to specific industries.  For example, specialty wholesalers supply such industries such as electronics, seafood, and pharmaceuticals.

Promotional Activities

Wholesalers can be separated based on the importance promotion plays in generating demand for products handled by the wholesaler.  Two basic categories exist:

• Extensive Promotion – The main job of some wholesalers is to actively locate buyers.  This occurs most often where a wholesaler is hired to find buyers for a supplier’s products or where the wholesaler is very aggressive in finding new customers for their business.  Under these arrangements the most common promotional activity is personal selling through a sales force, though advertising may also be used.
• Limited Promotion – Nearly all wholesalers engage in some promotional activities.  Even in situations where a wholesaler dominates a channel and clients have little choice but to acquire products from the wholesaler, some promotion will still occur.  For instance, at times a wholesaler may need to use their salespeople to persuade buyers to purchase in larger volume than normal or to agree to stock a new product the wholesaler is handling.  In other cases, especially for wholesalers selling products for business use, promotional activities may be more extensive and include advertising and other promotional methods.