Wholesalers primarily buy from producers and sell to retailers and other businesses, providing essential services in the supply chain despite being considered unglamorous. There are various types of wholesalers, including full-service and limited-service wholesalers, as well as brokers and agents who facilitate transactions without taking title to goods. Retailing involves activities that add value to products for consumer use, including providing product assortments, breaking bulk, holding inventory, and offering services to enhance customer experience.

1. WHOLESALING AND
RETAILING

2. Wholesaler

3. Introduction
 Mostly buy from producers and sell mostly to
retailers, industrial consumers, institutions and
other wholesalers
 Includes all activities involved in selling goods
and services to those buying for resale or
business use
 Sale of product between businesses, as opposed
to ultimate household consumers
 Provides added by providing channel flows.
Value of these flows are often underappreciated
 Tasks are mundane, but bundled with valued
services at low cost, treated as unglamorous
unlike other channel members

4. Types of Wholesaler
Types of
wholesalers
Merchant
wholesalers
Full Service Limited Service
AgentBrokers

5. Merchant Wholesalers
 Independently owned businesses, take title to goods
 Full-Service wholesalers: Provide a full line of
services, carrying stock, maintaining a sales force,
offering credit, making deliveries, providing
management assistance.
 Wholesale Merchants – sell to retailers
 Industrial Distributors – Sell to manufacturers

6. Merchant Wholesalers
 Limited Service Wholesalers: Offer few services than
full-service wholesalers.
 Cash-and-carry wholesalers: Carry a limited line of
fast-moving goods and sell to small retailers for cash.
 Truck Wholesalers: Perform a selling and delivery
function (semi perishables)
 Drop Shippers: Do not carry inventory or handle the
product. On receiving order, select a manufacturer, who
ships directly to customer.
Assumes title and risk from order to delivery. (coal,
heavy equipment, lumber)
_ Rack Jobbers: Serve grocery and drug retailers, in
non-food items. Bills only goods sold by retailers, title
retained.

7. Brokers and Agents
 Do not take title to goods. Facilitate buying and selling on a
commission
 Broker: Bringing buyers and sellers together and assisting in
negotiation. Paid by the party who hired them. Do not carry inventory,
do assume risk
 Agents: Represent either buyer or seller on a more permanent basis
than brokers do
 Manufacturers’ agents
 Selling agents
 Purchasing agents
 Commission merchants

8. Trends in Wholesaling
 Wholesale industry is facing considerable challenges
 Fierce resistance to price increases and winnowing
out of suppliers who are not adding value based on
cost and quality
 Distinction between large retailers and large
wholesalers is getting blurred

9. RETAILING

10. RETAILING
Retailing is the set of business activities that adds
value to the products & services sold to the
consumers for their personal or family use.
 It is not only sale of products in stores but also
sale of services
 Not all retailing done in stores
- direct sales of cosmetics, catalog sales, home
shopping n/w on cable TV ,haircut

11. RETAILING
Distribution channel
Manufacturing wholesaler
Consumer RETAILER

12. Retailer
 Retailers are at the end of the distribution chain &
involve in direct interface with the customer
 Referred as intermediaries – pass on products from
producers & wholesalers to customers
 Provision of channel in a convenient location to
provide a successful channel of distribution
 Key objective: availability of right product, in right
qty, at right time – successful channel
Annual sales of Wal – mart, kmart. Sears are much
greater than annual sales of P&G,Pepsico

13. Functions of Retailing
 Retailers perform business activities that increase
the value of product & service they sell to customers
 Activities:
* Providing an assortment of products & services
* Breaking bulk
* Holding inventory
* Providing services

14. Providing an assortment of products
 Supermarkets carry 15000 different items made
by over 500 companies
 This assortment enables customers to buy wide
selection of brands,designs,sizes.colors & prices
in one location
 Not the case in individual manufacture’s retail
outlets

15. Breaking Bulk
 To reduce transportation costs, mfr’s ship whole
cases of their products to retailers
 Retailers then offer the products in smaller
quantities tailored to individual consumers usage
pattern
 Breaking the large shipments into smaller
consumer quantities – Breaking Bulk

16. Holding inventory
 Function of retailers – to make the availability of
products when consumers want them
 Consumers can have small inventory of products
at home as retailers will have the availability
 By maintaining inventory,retailers reduce
customer’s cost of storing products

17. Providing services
 Provide services that make it easier for customers
to buy & use products
 Offer products on credit
 Display products for ease of use by customers for
purchase
 Assistance provided by sales people on purchase