Who is a wholesaler? What are the services rendered by the wholesalers?

Meaning and Definition of Wholesaler and the services rendered by the wholesalers.

Buying goods in large quantities from the manufacturer and selling them in small quantities to the retailer to cater the needs of the consumer is termed as wholesale trade. The person who undertakes such a trade is known as wholesaler. The wholesaler acts as an intermediary between the producer and the retailer. He is known as the first intermediary in the channel of distribution. The wholesaler distributes business works amongst the members of the staff in such a way that the whole enterprise may work as a complete unit. The distribution of work should be done in such a manner as to yield maximum efficiency at minimum troubles.

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Services

The wholesaler renders a number of services to trade, industries and commerce. The services rendered by the wholesaler may be classified as:

• Service to Manufacturer.
• Service to Retailer.
• Service to Consumer.
• General Services.

To Producers

1. The wholesaler provides valuable information to the producers regarding the needs and the requirement of the consumer.

1. As the wholesaler takes the responsibility of collecting order from retailers, he relieves the producers from this task and thereby encourage producers to concentrate on production.
2. The wholesaler provides finance to the producers at the time of need.
3. The wholesaler helps the producers in determining the quality and quantity of goods to be produced as he is in direct contact with the retailers.
4. The producers are helped to maintain steady prices for the product because wholesaler buys when prices are low and sell when prices are high.

To Retailers

1. The retailers are relieved of maintaining huge stock of goods because the wholesaler fills up the stock regularly. The wholesaler buys in large quantities and sell them at convenient lots to the retailers.
2. The wholesaler provides finance and credit facilities to the retailer and thereby relieves the financial difficulties of the retailer.
3. The wholesaler saves retailers from many types of risks. The retailer is not required to carry huge stock as he can get them from the wholesaler at regular interval. By extending credit has saved the retailers a lot.
4. The wholesaler provides valuable advices to the retailer on all matters relating to new product and market condition and thereby relieves him from collection of market data.
5. The wholesaler gives trade discounts on bulk purchase and as such it enables the retailers to earn handful amount of profit.

To Consumer

1. He enables the consumer to purchase required quantities of goods at the desired time because he supplies goods regularly to the retailers.
2. He provides goods at a cheaper rate because he facilitates in large scale production.
3. The wholesaler is in a better position to stabilize prices of the products by adjusting demand and supply. The consumers are benefited a lot on account of stabilization of prices.
4. There is no shortage of goods as the wholesaler goes on large purchasing.
5. The wholesalers are wealth of information and as such these information are shared by the consumers.

General Service

1. There are certain goods which are to be assembled or graded before they pass to the retailer or the consumer. For these goods the presence of wholesaler is a must.
2. Wholesaler helps in standardization and grading of the products.
3. For marketing food-grains the services of the wholesalers cannot be dispensed with because they help in packing and re-packing of goods.