Four Misconceptions About Online Wholesale Business
Despite the fact that internet has revolutionized the world and almost all businesses are busy setting up their online presence, there still are a good number of conventional wholesalers, who operate through traditional stores. These wholesalers are mostly those who do not operate internationally and they feel that spending time and money on online presence does not go well with their small-scale operations. These wholesalers are mostly unfamiliar of the fact that online presence not only helps international business but it also gives a tremendous boost to local businesses.
I have personally met many wholesalers who are very rigid about not moving their operations online due to some misconceptions. Last weekend I met Mr. John Mclairewho deals in wholesale clothing business and when I asked him about the URL of his website he bluntly replied, ” Operating my traditional store gives me peace of mind, Its far better than wasting time, money and resources on internet”. When I asked him the reasons of saying so, he listed many. Among many of them, I would like to share few, which I feel are based on pure misconceptions.
Website development eats much money!
Many wholesale suppliers think website development is expensive. Yes, it is, but only for those who are unfamiliar with the basic HTML language. There is no need to hire special web developer and pay him an extra amount when you can do it yourself. It is a common saying that doing your own work always gives you more satisfaction. Even if you are not so efficient in web development, remember that design of a website matters less than the value of the content on it. You can make it attractive by adding colors, pictures and exciting text and get ready to win.
Website management is quite hectic!
Website management seems hectic when you do it daily. Though specific types of businesses require the website to be updated daily, yet this is not a compulsion to operate your online store. Just provide details of the products and choose an attractive theme and there is no need to update it unless you bring any change in your offers. If you are running a blog to promote your business, still updating it daily is on your own discretion. If hosting blog posts daily seems hectic, you can publish them bi-weekly or even once in a week.
Success of business depends on its size!
Wholesalers mostly think that their online business heavily depends on their size. This is because on internet, retailers are always looking for the suppliers who provide more personalized services and if your scale of operation is small, they feel as if they would be served better. This is true to some extent especially in the case of clothing wholesale business but not completely true, because retailers always search for such online wholesalers who are real and promise high quality and in-time delivery, no matter what your scale of operation is.
Huge discounts attract more customers!
Many wholesalers think if they would set up their online presence, they will have to offer huge discounts because mostly customers search for huge bargains on internet. This thinking was true when internet was a new technology but this does not apply on the modern way of conducting online business. Now if wholesale suppliers offer extra ordinary bargains, retailers suspect them to be fake. Retailers have to protect their reputation before the end customers, so they keep quality and in time delivery at the top of their priority list.