Sunday, February 15, 2009

Secrets Revealed !! - Wholesale Distributor Functions

By Susy Lunardi

The phrase "wholesale" means sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services.

Few examples of wholesale distributor are here: The word "wholesale" can be stated as the resale (sale without transformation) of new and used goods to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional or professional users, or to other wholesalers, or involves acting as an agent or broker in buying merchandise for, or selling merchandise to, such persons or companies. Wholesalers frequently assemble sort and grade goods in large lots, break bulk, repack and redistribute in smaller lots. While wholesalers of most products usually operate from independent premises, wholesale marketing for foodstuffs can take place at specific wholesale markets where all traders are congregated.

One can refer a wholesale distributor as decision support systems for wholesale procurement and distribution, which includes responsibilities but are not limited to developing a decision-making framework for the design and operation of a wholesale system. To satisfy the requirements at minimum he proposes an optimization model. Thereby a prototype decision support system comes into picture and helps in building various scenarios and suitable model. Numerous management reports are prepared to help managers negotiate prices or volumes, consolidate warehouses, select transport modes, and test the effectiveness of proposed service packages.

There are different types of wholesale distributors few are given here. Secondary wholesale distributors are generally found only in developing countries these days. They are located in district or regional cities and take the bulk of their produce from rural assembly markets located in production areas, where the transactions are small scale and usually take place between farmers and traders. The distinction between rural assembly markets and secondary wholesale markets is that secondary wholesale markets are in permanent operation (rather than being seasonal in nature or dealing in specialized produce), larger volumes of produce are traded than at the rural assembly markets and specialized functions may be present, such as commission agents and brokers.

Terminal wholesale distributors are located in major metropolitan areas, where produce is finally channeled to consumers through trade between wholesalers and retailers, caterers, etc. Some of them even export their products. Population growth, changes in urban land-use patterns and the development of modern transport systems have all influenced the suitability and functionality of existing sites. - 15437

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