Wholesale refers to the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services.
Some key characteristics of wholesale:
- Goods are sold in bulk quantities, either to resellers or directly to commercial consumers.
- Purchase quantities are larger than what an individual consumer would buy.
- Pricing is negotiated and often based on volume discounts or purchase orders.
- Customers of wholesale businesses are usually retailers, restaurant chains, hospitals etc. rather than individuals.
- Wholesalers often buy products from manufacturers or produce their own inventory in bulk.
- Products are marketed to target business customers through trade shows, industry events, catalogs and appointments.
- Delivery and logistics focus on bulk quantities and commercial shipping/ordering processes.
Wholesaling serves the crucial role of getting goods from producers into the pipeline of distribution channels where they reach end consumers through retail points of sale.