Wholesale sales: 3 cutting-edge techniques to boost operations

The opportunities offered by the market for wholesalers and production companies have changed radically in the last 5 years. And, paradoxically enough, the outcome is still the same. If we had highly competitive markets at the beginning of the decade, today we find the picture is effectively a mirror as many companies struggle to stay relevant in an increasingly online market with fewer barriers to entry. In this climate, securing wholesale sales is a complex task and responsibility for the Trade Marketer, who must use all the technological tools at their disposal so as not to be left behind.

We have taken on the challenges of wholesale selling in this article and provide you with new 3 techniques to streamline the process with Big Data.

Optimise the distribution network to improve the price per unit

One of the biggest problems of the FMCG industry has always been the optimisation of its distribution process. In a market where dozens—or even hundreds—of points of sale must be supplied, getting cheaper delivery (even by only a few cents), can result in significant profits for the company. This is why companies that have traditionally had teams dedicated to solving these issues are now gearing towards new technological solutions that offer even better results.

A new system that these companies have begun to implement heavily into their workforce is Big Data. This technology uses large databases that were previously not possible to process to automate their workloads.

Delivery man for the company Uber Eats, which uses AI and Big Data to optimise its food delivery service at home

Minimise investment in market analysis when launching new products

Companies face many big challenges when they prepare to launch a new product. Launching a new product isn’t just about designing the packaging and performing production tests. It’s a combination of many other steps as well—such as market analysis and small-scale product tests—which are also necessary to ensure that our product will have the welcome we want from the general population. These studies are characterised by their need for time and investment. Preparing for a launch can last several months, sometimes even more than a year to do successfully. This is what makes finding ways to reduce the time and the need to invest in this process a “must” for all types of companies.

One of the methods that is gaining more traction in recent years, is the use of predictive analysis being implemented at the point of sale. This system captures sociodemographic information about the local population around any given points of sale for a company. This means that once you know where your product has triumphed, it is much easier to find similar places where you can also release it with success. Using this technique reduces the need to conduct market studies, which ultimately translates into savings for the company and less time spent getting their product to market.

Recognise and anticipate market trends

One of the most difficult tasks of a Trade Marketer is, by far, to foresee the sales that a certain product will produce in the market. Even then, after having completed all the necessary marketing and commercialisation tasks, the demand for the product will fluctuate over time, depending on variables that are likely not controllable by the company.

Some of these fluctuations are quite easy to predict, such as the Christmas or holiday periods, but other more minute fluctuations, such as fashionable places in a city or on-trend meeting points for young people, are usually much more complicated to forecast, let alone to capitalise on.

The solution that some companies are veering towards is the use of GPS footfall traffic with information on the regular movement patterns of the population. With this data, finding out possible places to carry out a push marketing campaign in specific points of sale is easier, and requires less economic investment and research time.

‘Location Intelligence’ as a basis for the wholesale sales of the future

Given the way companies are advancing now, it is easy to assume that there will be many companies that will follow suit in using systems based on Big Data and geolocated data in the future. ‘Location Intelligence Technology’ is another step in that direction, offering all the advantages of Big Data to optimise processes, along with the possibility of knowing more about the general population in the local areas immediately surrounding our businesses.

Designed for professionals in the FMCG and retail industry, this technology promises to be the solution to the large part of the difficulties that the industry faces, as well as a source of competitive advantages to face the competition.