The different kinds of Wholesale Businesses
Wholesale businesses are all around us. From fueling the dropship revolution to supplying critical pandemic supplies worldwide; wholesalers are an important part of our economic infrastructure.
Research Germany explains, “the German wholesale and retail trade represents an annual turnover of 2.19 trillion Euros and 6.4 million employees. There are about 150,000 wholesalers and about 300,000 retailers.”
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B2B Wholesale & Distribution: Challenges and Triumphs of Industrial Wholesale Companies Facing Insolvency in Germany
Insolvency? A debtor that cannot pay its debts and liabilities to creditors. No cash, no business.
In Germany, specialist wholesalers and industrial distributors who can no longer meet their payment obligations due to current or foreseeable overindebtedness must, by law, file for insolvency protection. Forget your revenue, your brand, your years in the market. If you will not be able to meet your obligations, insolvency is cast.
The Statistisches Bundesamt counted 34,000 fewer wholesalers in the past ten years. Additionally, we’re seeing an increase in insolvencies in Germany’s industrial wholesale and retail segment, with several high-profile companies filing for bankruptcy. It’s essential to understand the significance of this trend and take necessary actions to address the issue.
Five Strategies for Raising Prices in Wholesale
Wholesale is also affected by global crises such as the Ukraine conflict and the Corona pandemic. On top of that, inflation is on the rise. Manufacturers' and suppliers' prices are rising. What strategies are available to raise prices in turn?
While private consumers are trembling over how high their next gas bill will be or by what factor their monthly gas bill will increase, many companies are already facing rising energy costs.
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Current Challenges in B2B Wholesale
Between supplier price pressure, supply chain problems and customer anger: Why wholesalers win with value-based customer management.
Many wholesalers are currently struggling with sudden increases in purchasing and cost prices as well as unprecedented restrictions on their own ability to deliver. This has consequences. According to a recent survey by the IFO Institute, 62.4% of wholesalers see the need to significantly increase sales prices in the near future.
In a press release, the Central Association of German Electrical Engineering Trades (ZVEH) angrily complains that orders for almost all relevant products can no longer be processed due to worsening supply bottlenecks in the wholesale trade.
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Is Dynamic Pricing Optimization in B2B Wholesale Financeable?
Wholesale market leaders are investing a lot of resources and expertise in advanced AI technologies for pricing optimization to set their prices dynamically. How can medium-sized wholesale companies also benefit from dynamic pricing?
Optimizing pricing in B2B wholesale is a big topic. No wonder pricing has the greatest leverage on margins. In our private lives, we have all had experiences with dynamic pricing. For example, at peak times, Amazon changes some product prices up to 70 times a week.
The History and Downfall of a German Wholesale Company "Wollschläger" - Part 4
It continues with the last part of the story and the downfall of the wholesale company "Wollschläger". What can wholesale companies learn from this? Click here, if you have not read part 3 yet.
The history of Sanistål dates back to the mid-19th century when several Danish metal entrepreneurs joined forces through a series of mergers.
In 1853, A. Schjøth started his business in Vejle. Twelve years later, L.S. Lange started selling castings in Aalborg. He would later take over Schjøth’s business.
The History and Downfall of a German Wholesale Company "Wollschläger" - Part 3
It continues with part 3 of the story and the downfall of the wholesale company "Wollschläger". What can wholesale companies learn from this? Click here, if you have not read part 2 yet.
As a company grows, integration, coordination, and profitability become critical. As a company grows, integration, coordination, and profitability become critical. You can sell more, and more, and more. If you are selling at a loss, you will soon run out of cash. Nonetheless, running out of money did not seem to be a problem in 2013 for Wollschläger.
Carsten Wollschläger, son of Frank, declared his family business “a real solid one”. And the past two decades seemed to prove him right. The Wollschläger group was 2013 a respected company in the Ruhr region and nationally.
The History and Downfall of a German Wholesale Company "Wollschläger" - Part 2
It continues with part 2 of the story and the downfall of the wholesale company "Wollschläger". What can wholesale companies learn from this? If you have not read part 1 yet, click here.
If acquiring an entire company (Essener Arbeitsschutz GmbH in 2007) was not a complex project already, the introduction of SAP (ERP, EWM, PI and BI) followed in 2009. In the same year, Haberstock left Hamburg for the headquarters in Bochum to work in controlling and in the e-procurement business area, under the name of fuxx4trade.
The Wollschläger Group now had 12 branches throughout Germany and employed over 600 people, including 130 sales field experts.
The History and Downfall of a German Wholesale Company "Wollschläger" - Part 1
How one of the biggest German industrial distributors went down – 79 Years of the Wollschläger Group.
In 1961, a 14-year-old ambitious young individual, Frank, sat alone in a car near an industrial building. He was cold. The region around Bochum is chilly in winter, with temperatures below 5°C on average. Coming from Gdańsk (Danzig in German) two years ago, he was now waiting for his father.
Heinz Wollschläger, was a successful company founder and businessman visiting a new customer. He had founded his company in 1937, before Frank was born, in Danzig, close to the former Poland border. Like many entrepreneurs, his story began in a garage.
Establishing Private Labels in the Wholesale sector: This is What Matters
The development of a private label can mean additional sales potential for wholesalers. But before this can happen, a few basic considerations are needed to ensure that the private label brand does not remain a slow seller.
When wholesalers decide to develop their own brand and include it in their product portfolio, they do so to differentiate themselves from the manufacturing industry. Their own brand or private label is then generally a product or a product range that the wholesaler offers under its own brand name and thus competes with branded products.
These private label products are usually cheaper than branded products because third-party products are more expensive to buy due to the manufacturers' additional sales and marketing costs.