Who buys from whom

The wholesaler sits between the producer and the business that sells to the end customer or uses the goods. A food producer may sell to a wholesaler by the pallet. The wholesaler breaks that down into cases, or single units, for a corner shop, a café or a care home kitchen.

Delivered wholesale and cash and carry

In delivered wholesale, the distributor takes the order and brings the goods to the customer. In cash and carry, the trade customer comes to the depot, picks the goods and takes them away. Some wholesalers run both: delivery routes, and a trade counter at the depot.

What a wholesale distributor manages

Behind every delivered order sit five jobs that have to agree with each other.

  • Orders from several channels: reps, telesales, email and a trade portal.
  • Customer-specific prices, promotions and credit terms.
  • Stock across one or more depots, with batch and expiry control for food and drink.
  • Picking, loading and multi-drop delivery routes.
  • Invoicing, statements and credit control, then posting to the accounts package.