A C T A U N I V E R S I T A T I S L O D Z I E N S I S FO LIA OECONOMICA 17, 1982
R ichard Lopata *
M ERCHANT W H O LESA LIN G IN THE UN ITED STATES
Today w holesaling in th e U nited S ta te s is a big, grow ing in d u stry th a t is changing rap id ly and significantly. In this article I w a n t to p u t w holesaling in a b e tte r and m ore realistic perspective, and especially to show how it is changing, and m u st continue to change, in response to th e challenges of th e p re se n t-d a y A m erican economy.
1. W H O LESA LER-D ISTR IB U TO R S
F irs t of all, w ho are th e w h o lesaler-d istrib u to rs? T oday th e re are som e 205,000 in d ep en d en t m erc h an t w holesalers. A lto g eth er th e y w ill g en erate m ore th an $ 800 billion in rev en u es in 1979. T hey are a highly diverse group — i.e., big, sm all, pro fitab le, u n p ro fitab le, satiated , h u n -g ry, sm art, dum b, conservative, and chan-ge-seekin-g. T he new w hole-saling m ilieu is a „scram b led ” w orld in w hich th e re are w holesalers w ho m an u factu re, w holesalers w ho reta il, an d w h o lesalers w ho are u n c e rtain w h e th e r th e y a re producers, w holesalers, jobbers, reta ile rs, financiers, or w h atev er.
In a n u m b er of w ays, th e w h o lesaler feels th e im pact of co n stan t changes and innovations in th e w hole m ark etp lace. T echnological ad v a n -ces, p ro d u ct line p ro liferatio n , changing re ta il stru c tu re s, and social a d ju stm e n ts a re on ly a few of th e real problem s th a t com plicate his life. Each im proved p ro d u ct passing th ro u g h th e w holesale level genera te s a new dem and for in v estm en ts in w arehouse space, m a rk e t a n a -lysis, and sales train in g , and for m y riad ad ju stm e n ts in th e w h o lesaler’s in fo rm atio n system s. Each m ajo r re ta ilin g sh ift designed to satisfy cu -sto m er needs obliges him to a d ju st his selling p a tte rn s , to rev iew th e
cu sto m er service levels, to stu d y p ro d u ct asso rtm en ts, and to rev ise his strategies.
He m ust also deal w ith th e grow ing asp iratio n s of his o n ce-co n ten t em ployees, th e changing values of th e available lab o r pool, and th e increasing dem ands of th e com m u n ity fo r social service. T he ty p ical w h o lesaler faces such challenges w ith each new day — o ften w ith o u t th e resources of th e la rg e r m an u fa ctu rin g organizations th a t sell to an d th ro u g h him. If one still reg a rd s to d ay ’s w h o lesaler as th a t tra d itio -nal, u n so p h isticated m iddlem an of th e past, he m u st w o n d er how th e w h o lesaler has su rv iv ed a t all — le t alone grow n stro n g — in o u r com plicated social and economic system .
F U N C T IO N S A N D C H A R A C T E R IS T IC S
A n in itial problem in discussing w holesaling is th e m a tte r of d e-finition. The W ebster d ictio n ary defines th e w h o lesaler as „a m erc h an t m iddlem an w ho sells chiefly to reta ile rs, o th er m erch an ts, or in d u stria l, in stitu tio n a l, and com m ercial u sers m ain ly for resale or business use”. T his is so m ew hat vague fo r m y p rese n t purposes, and I should like to n arro w dow n th e d efinition of th e w holesaler. T he w h o lesaler is one who:
1. P urch ases goods fro m m an u fa ctu rers for his ow n account (as d i-stin g u ish ed from th e agent, w ho ty p ically does n o t p u rch ase fo r h is ow n account) and resells th em to o th er businesses.
2. O perates one or m ore w arehouses in w hich he receives and takes title to goods, sto res them , and la te r resh ip s them . (In. some cases, h e m ay have goods shipped d ire c tly by th e m a n u fa c tu re r to th e cu stom er, so th e goods do n ot actu ally pass th ro u g h his w arehouse. S till, a good p art, and usu ally all, of th e goods w hich th e w h o lesaler h an d les do, in fact, pass th ro u g h his w arehouse).
T he w h o lesaler’s custom er group v aries according to his p ro d u ct m ix. F o r exam ple, th e re is one broad class of w h o lesalers w ho sell to re ta ile rs such diverse com m odities as food, drugs, tobacco, h a rd w a re , d ry goods, and appliances. A n o th er class sells such item s as food, p a-per products, m edical goods and supplies, and so on, to re s ta u ra n ts and in stitu tio n s. A th ird class sells building m aterials to b u ild ers and con-tracto rs. A fo u rth class sells m an u fa ctu rin g supplies such as tools, chem icals, abrasives, and so on, to chem an u factu rers. In th e cochem plex a u to -m otive p a rts a fte r-m a rk e t, th e re are even w arehouse d istrib u to rs w ho sell only to o th er jobbers — i.e., w holesalers w ho sell to re ta il outlets.
F inally, we m ay classify w h o lesalers in term s of ow nership. The w holesaling fu n ctio n can be p erfo rm ed by „ m a n u fa c tu re rs’ b ran c h e s”
or by re ta il chains. T he bran ch es are captive w holesaling op eratio n s ow ned and o p erated by a m an u fa ctu rer; this practice is com m on in electrical supplies (e.g., W estinghouse E lectric S up p ly C om pany and G en eral E lectric S up p ly Com pany), and in p lum bing (e.g., C rane Supply C om pany and A m erican S tan d ard ). C aptive b ran ch o perations are also com m on am ong tru c k m an u fa ctu rers, fu lllin e farm eq u ip m en t m an u -fac tu re rs, and th e large pro d u cers of m ajo r appliances. In th e re ta il food field, A. P. G roger, and o th er chains o p erate w areh o u se system s w hich do, in fact, perfo rm a w holesaling function.
H ere I shall be m ain ly concerned w ith th e m erc h an t w h o lesaler as described by th e U.S. D e p a rtm en t of Com m erce. T he m erc h an t w hole-saling house m ay be p riv a te ly or publicly owned, b u t in e ith e r case it stan d s in the m a rk e t as a d istinctive, in d ep en d en t e n terp rise. A ccording to th e D e p a rtm e n t’s d efinition, th e m erc h an t w h o lesaler is p rim a rily engaged in buying and selling in th e dom estic m ark et. M ore specifically, he buys and sells m erch an d ise on his ow n account; sells p rin cip ally to re ta ile rs or to in d u strial, com m ercial, or professional users; u su ally carries stocks; assem bles in larg e lots and g e n e ra lly red istrib u te s in sm all q u an tities, u su ally th ro u g h salesm en; ex ten d s cre d it to custo-m ers; custo-m akes deliveries; services custo-m erch an d ise sold; and re n d e rs advice to the trad e.
W hile th e e n tire w holesaling categ o ry includes fac to ry bran ch es, p etro leu m b u lk stations, m erchandise agents, b rokers, and so on, th e m erc h an t w holesaling categ o ry excludes such operations.
C U R R E N T IM P A C T
Sales by m erc h an t w holesalers in 1979 a re expected to reach ap p ro x im ately $ 810 billion, risin g 11 p e rc e n t above an estim ated $ 730 billion level in 1978. Sales by d u rab le goods w holesalers a re expected to advance a t a 13 p e rc e n t ra te to $ 385 billion. N ondurable goods w holesalers should realize a sales in crease of 9 p e rc e n t of $ 425 billion.
E m ploym ent, w hich has grow n 3 p e rc e n t each y e a r since th e 1974— 1975 recession, is expected to ex p an d a t ab o u t th e sam e ra te in 1979. M erch an t w holesalers in v en to ries a re expected to grow a t ab o u t th e sam e ra te as sales in 1979, allow ing a co n tin u atio n of th e p a st th re e y e a rs’ sta b ility in stock-sales ratios.
The 1978 sales p a tte rn w as again c h aracteristic of a business cycle upsw ing, w ith th e ra te of sales gains in d u rab le goods ab o u t double th a t in n o n d urables: 19 p e rc e n t com pared w ith 9 p ercen t. W holesalers in 10 of 16 m ajo r com m odity lines experienced d o u b le-d ig it g ro w th
rates, led by gains approaching 20 percen t or m ore in m o to r vehicles’ and eq u ipm ent; m achinery, eq u ip m en t and supplies; electrical goods; and fu rn itu re and furnishings. In flatio n accounted for p a rt of th ese sales gains, alth o u g h it slow ed to a 3.1 p ercen t ra te in w holesale tra d e d u -ring 1977 com pared to 5.9 p ercen t for overall GNP, according to Com-m erce’s B ureau of EconoCom-m ic A nalysis. The to tal e x te n t of in flatio n in w holesale sales is not know n, b u t estim ates are available in certain com m odity lines. F o r exam ple, th e N ational and S o u th e rn In d u stria l D istrib u to rs A ssociation estim ate th e 1977 in flatio n level a t 7.1 p ercen t (up from 6.2 p ercen t in 1976), w hich accounted for ap p ro x im ately h alf of the 1977 sales increase.
On balance, then, th e in d ep en d en t w holesaler rem ain s a v ita l and significant p a rt of th e A m erican economic system . So long as th e re are m en w illing to take on the risks, problem s, and specialized fu n ctio n s of han d lin g and selling a changing v a rie ty of goods to changing m ark ets, th ere w ill be a large, vital, and in d ep en d en tly operated w ho lesaler-d i- s trib u to r sector in th e U.S. economy.
T he w h o lesaler’s success w ill depend on his response to th e m an u -fac tu re rs and re ta il chains th a t w a n t to absorb his fu n ctio n an d on his a b ility to ad ap t and ap p ly new concepts and techniques. J u s t as th e m a n u fa c tu re rs’ strateg ies change w ith technological, political, and so-cial developm ents, so m u st those of th e m erc h an t w holesalers.
It is possible to id en tify some com m odity w holesalers who w ill pass from th e scene. O th ers w ill sw iftly sh ift to new com m odities. Some will build regional or n ational netw o rk s of w arehouses along single com m o-d ity lines, as have th e p a p e r m erch an ts, electrical su p p ly com panies, ano-d autom otive p a rts d istrib u to rs. O th ers w ill form tig h te r w h o lesale-re-tail fran ch ised group, such as S u p er Valu, Ace H ard w are, B u tler B ro-th ers, and W estern Auto. S till o ro-th ers will becom e m u lticom m odity su- p e m ark e tin g system s, w ith all th e acco u trem en ts of sophisticated m a r-k etin g technology.
2. CH ANGE IN A TTITU D E
M any w holesalers have stopped reg ard in g them selves as stric tly w arehousing or b rea k b u lk points in th e d istrib u tio n com plex, and h a -ve begun to stim u late and respond to th e ir m ark ets on th e ir own. This new m ark etin g p o stu re req u ires th a t th e w holesaler dissect his av ailable m ark e ts to d eterm in e w hich segm ents are p o ten tia lly th e m ost p ro -fitable and ex ploitable ones. In some instances, he has sh ifted selling em phasis from tra d itio n al m ark ets to new ones. F o r exam ple:
M any electrical and electronics d istrib u to rs h av e d irected a new sales effo rt in rec e n t y ears to in d u stria l and com m ercial m ark ets, to su p p lem en t th e ir established electrica l-c o n tra c to r m ark et.
The progressive plu m b in g house has ex p anded its m ark e t from n e a rly com plete relian ce on m a ste r p lu m b ers an d craftsm en to include in d u stria l accounts as well.
M any grocery w holesalers, bo th th e v o lu n ta ry food groups and th o -se in d ep en d en ts w ho still exist, have added a sales e ffo rt geared to th e grow ing in stitu tio n a l m ark e t, including hotels, airlines, re sta u ra n ts, ho-spitals, and schools.
In terestin g ly , th e 1967 business census show ed th a t m erc h an t w holesa ler sales for th e first tim e w ere divided ab o u t eq u ally b etw een r e -taile rs (or resellers) and business and in d u stria l users. Today, business and in d u stria l users account fo r m ore th a n 60% of w holesale sales.
M ark et analysis is stro n g ly in flu en cin g th e ty p e and v a rie ty of m erchandise and com m odity lines h an d led by th e w holesaler. One effect is th a t th e w holesaler is now in creasingly sensitive in his selection of product lines, and ten d s to rev iew and a d ju st his p ro d u ct ran g e in response to th e needs of his various m ark e t segm ents. A t th e sam e tim e, how ever, he is m ore cautious th a n before; he carefully w eigh th e cost of e n try into new m ark e ts against th e cost of satisfy in g new needs of established m arkets.
B ut successful w holesaling is founded on th e service satisfactions of p ro x im ity , broad p ro d u ct asso rtm en ts, and rap id response to th e needs of local reta ile rs, co n tracto rs, and o th er custom ers. W holesaling organizations by n a tu re m u st count as th e ir m ost im p o rta n t resource th e ir in tim ate know ledge of th e p ro d u ct and service req u irem e n ts of a p a rtic u la r m a rk e t segm ent. In th e sense th a t m an u fa ctu rers can best re ly on th e ir know -how fo r producing fo r selected m ark ets, w holesalers can best re ly on th e ir know -how fo r servicing selected m arkets. V en-tu rin g beyond th e av ailable know ledge and skill req u ires significant in v estm en ts of tim e and m oney, and in sta n t success is b y no m eans guaran teed .
T he point to be am phasized h e re is th a t lo n g -ru n tru th m u st arise from sh o rt-ru n reality . T he cost of m u ltip le sh o rt-ru n ad ju stm e n ts to exotic m ark e t segm ents is real and high. A line of b uilding m ate ria ls can be added to th e o rd in a ry lines h an d led by a p ap er m erch an t, for exam ple, b u t th e a tte n d a n t tra u m as m ilita te ag ain st a n y significant increase in sh o rt-ru n profit.
3. BA SIC TRENDS AND CHALLENGES
This co n g lo m erate-ty p e expansion is n ot th e m ost significant kind of change th a t is tak in g place in w holesaling p a tte rn s today. The m ore im p o rta n t developm ents lie closer to th e tra d itio n al o perations of w ho-lesaling; and w ith in th e c u rre n t sw irl of changing p a tte rn s one can d istinguish several m ajo r tre n d s th a t are shaping th e fu tu re of w hole-sale distrib u tio n .
I N C R E A S E D IN T E G R A T IO N
H istorically, th e goods-producing and d istrib u tio n area of th e econom y has been sep arated into four d istin ct lev elsm an u factu rin g , w h o -lesaling, retailin g , and consum ing. This stru c tu re of levels is becom ing b lu rred . Because of w h o lesale-retail franchising, conglom eration, an d jo in t v en tu rin g , vertical and horizo n tal m ark etin g system s are e m e r-ging. In some of these system s th e m erch an t w holesaler holds a p ivotal position.
Most in terestin g ly , and c e rtain ly significantly, these system s seem to have evolved th ro u g h creative e n tre p re n e u rsh ip r a th e r th a n as a re -su lt of stu d ied co rp o rate effort. If this is tru e , th e n th e tre n d is q u ite lik ely to co n tinue as th e m erc h an t w h o lesaler (who is essen tially an e n tre p re n e u r) becom es m ore so phisticated and searches fo r new oppor-tunities.
M O R E „ A G G R E S S IV E ” S E R V IC E
As n e w e r technologies develop, new m ark e tin g system s evolve, and m ore sophisticated fin an cial concepts come into use, th e m erc h an t w ho-lesalers are a d ju stin g th e ir service em phasis. F o r exam ple:
— A m ong in d u stria l eq u ip m en t and su p p ly d istrib u to rs, service and m erch an d isin g effo rts are being tailo red in th e lig h t of b o th OEM (i.e., original eq u ip m en t m an u factu re) and MRO (m aintenance and re p a ir operations) activities. To provide b e tte r service for its in d u stria l custo-m ers, Englewood E lectric S up p ly C ocusto-m pany of Chicago has sh ifted its em phasis from perso n al-co n tact sales to p rogram m ed reo rd e rin g via D ata Phone.
— A n u m b er of w holesale dru g g ists now h an d le th e re ta il d ru g g ist’s cu stom er account records. T his „serv ice” is re a lly a device to „tie ” th e re ta ile r m ore closely to one w holesaler.
— In th e grocery field, cred it ex tension used to be a p rim e function of th e w holesaler. Today alm ost all w holesale gro cery p ro d u cts flow into re ta il stores on a cash basis, for all in te n ts and purposes. H ere
service has shifted from cred it ex ten sio n to m erch an d isin g support, in v en to ry m anagem ent counseling, and p ro fit an alysis on b eh alf of the retailer.
These changes suggest th e vigor w ith w hich th e w holesaler is se a rching for com petitive ad v an tag e and his w illingness to b rea k w ith t r a -ditional m ethods. Such action, I m ig h t say, is h a rd ly in keeping w ith th e view of th e w h o lesaler as a ste rile anachronism .
P R I C I N G A N D C R E D IT
The w holesaler has been c ritically review ing pricing and c re d it policies, and he has m ade nu m ero u s changes. F irst, he has exam ined h is prices in term s of th e in te rn al costs bo th to h im self and to his cu sto-m er. He has found, for exasto-m ple, th a t pricing arran g esto-m en ts such as system co n tractin g o rd in arily re su lt in low er cost and b e tte r service for th e cu stom er th a n do older and m ore conventional p ricin g m ethods. T o day’s m erc h an t w h o lesaler is likely to reg a rd th e im p ro v em en t in service as a decisive ad v an tag e of system co n tractin g , even given th e fact th a t th e selling price resu ltin g fro m it m ay fre q u e n tly be h ig h er or low er th a n th e c u rre n t p rice in th e open m ark et. In fact, a n u m b er of w h o le sale r-d istrib u to rs have been successful in sw itching custom ers from d irect account b u ying by p ersu ad in g th em th a t „our price m ay be higher, from tim e to tim e, b u t rem em b er — y o u r in te rn a l possession costs will be low er because of o ur im proved serv ice”.
He is also review ing cre d it policies and rev ising th em to tak e a d v a n -tage of sophisticated financial m ethods. F o r exam ple, a m ajo r e le c tri-cal and electronics d istrib u to r in C anada has revised his cred it ope-ratio n s and policies to em phasize tw o m o dern concepts: a) a concept of accounts receivable m an ag em en t w hich includes th e use of p ro b a b ility assessm ents of tra d e c a te g o ry risks, and b) co n tro l by im p o rta n -ce and ex-ception. This revision led him to red u -ce th e te rm of cred it from 60 days to 40 days, a step th a t released a su b sta n tia l am o u n t of cap ital w hich he p u t to m uch m ore p ro fitab le use in b uilding in v en -to ry an d ex ploring his m ark ets.
W holesalers will continue to ex p erim en t w ith new approaches to pricing and credit. One evidence of this is th a t it is n o t u n u su al to find a w holesaler applying only d irect costs to a special sale as a m eans of com petitive pricing, ignoring tra d itio n al gross-m arg in req u irem en ts. Also, it is not unusual to find a w holesaler req u estin g an „e x tra 5 % ” from a su p p lier fo r a special deal and th e n giving th e cu stom er an e x tra 7%! This tre n d reflects th e restlessn ess and inquisitiveness of m o d ern w holesaling m anagem ent.
R E G IO N A L C O V E R A G E
One can cite n um erous new approaches to regional coverage. T hus, su b sid iary bran ch es and „tw ig s” w ith lim ited, fast-m oving inventories, b u t w ith rea d y access to th e c e n tral w arehouse, are sp ro u tin g all over th e m ap. This new p a tte rn is w ell established am ong plum bing, heatin g , and cooling d istrib u to rs, and w holesalers of electrical p a rts and eq u ip -m en t a re adopting it as rap id ly as th ey can id en tify w hich ite-m s -m ove faste st and w here.
Of p a rtic u la r in te re st is a leapfrogging stra te g y of m a rk e t p en e-tra tio n th a t some w holesalers are now following. In stead of an „oil slick” ty p e of expansion, th ese w holesalers are try in g „b ack fire” ta c -tics: th e y are reach in g out as far as 1,000 m iles from h e a d q u a rte rs to estab lish o perations w hich ho p efu lly w ill sp read back to th e hom e base. T hese new operations have b een sta rte d both b y m issionary effo rt and th ro u g h acquisition. This closing of distance is bound to increase as com m unication and p h y sical-d istrib u tio n tech niques advance.
O R G A N I Z A T I O N A L F O R M A N D S I Z E
The tre n d to w ard la rg e r co rp o rate organizations th ro u g h public fi-nancing, m erger, and acquisition in p erv ad in g th e econom y, and it is p a rtic u la rly no tab le in th e w holesaling area.
C u rre n t d a ta indicate a d efin ite sh ift from p ro p rie to rsh ip s and p a rtn e rsh ip s to th e co rp o rate form — th e trad itio n al, fam ily-ow ned o perations are declining in n u m bers, and the publicly held w holesaling corp o ratio n s are increasing. T here is ev ery reason to ex p ect th is tre n d to continue, inasm uch as th e form alized co rporate stru c tu re enhances th e ab ility to grow.
In ou r continued contact w ith w holesalers, m y colleagues and I have also noted th e ir m o unting in te re st in settin g values on th e ir eq u ity and th e ir w illingness to loosen th e ir hold on ow nership th ro u g h public issues and em ployee stock plans. Tax law s have u n d o u b ted ly stim u la te d th is o pen-m indedness, and in th is sense have e x e rted a h ig h ly beneficial influence. P ublic o w nership brings m ore capital resources and, a t the sam e tim e, brings p ressu re on m an ag em en t to use m ore sophisticated m an ag em en t techniques. It also sp u rs a search for o p p o rtu n ities to a u to -m ate in such areas as in fo r-m atio n syste-m s, -m aterials h an dling, o rd er selection and processing, and d eliv e ry operations.
The Census B u reau also rep o rts th at, according to sales volum e fi-gures, m erc h an t w holesalers are grow ing in size.
Still, of some 205,000 m erc h an t w holesalers, only about 4,000 w ere g en eratin g ov er $ 10 m illion in an n u al sales.
E vidently, th e w h o le sale r-d istrib u to r is changing his co rp o rate form an d grow ing in size. This tre n d , along w ith o th er tre n d s a lre ad y noted, show s th a t w holesaling is responsive to its e n v iro n m en t and th a t it can effectively ad ap t to th e p ressu res fo r low er-cost d istrib u tio n from both su p p liers and custom ers.
T he w holesalers m u st continue to in te rp re t th ese p ressu res an d r e -spond and ad ap t to them . T here is considerable evidence th a t w h o le-salers realize this. T hey have, fo r exam ple, con v erted th e ir tra d e asso-ciations into cen ters for research in g p rese n t and fu tu re problem s of d istrib u tio n and ed u catin g th e ir m em bers about them . T hey h ave also pooled th e ir effo rts in o rd er to gain from th e ir collective experience.
A t th e ce n te r of th e pool is th e N ational Association of W holesaler- -D istrib u to rs, a fed eratio n of over 100 com m odity-line organizations. If offers a com prehensive education and d ev elopm ent p ro g ram fo r all ty p es of w holesalers. Its lead ersh ip has both followed and been sp u rre d on by th e individual com m odity associations.
A second source of in novative lead ersh ip is th e m an u fa ctu rin g sector. The w h o le sale r-d istrib u to r and his supplying m a n u fa c tu re r sh are a com m on goal: to reduce th e cost of d istrib u tio n w hile a) obtaining sufficien t p ro fit or ad eq u ate r e tu rn on in v estm e n t and b) p aying for innovation necessary to en su re g ro w th of th e e n te rp rise. The m an u -fa c tu re r, w ith his la rg e r resources, h as a stro n g m otive fo r h elping th e w h o lesaler develop an op eratio n al n e tw o rk th a t can m eet th ese ch allen -ges, and in fact m an y m an u fa ctu rers h av e come fo rw ard to offer useful assistance. T he w h o lesaler is basically an e n tre p re n e u ria l p ersonality, and fre q u e n tly has plow ed ahead on his own; b u t he is th e firs t to acknow ledge th e im p o rta n t c o n trib u tio n th a t th e m a n u fa ctu rin g sector has m ade to im proving financial, prom otional, sales, and in v en to ry m a-n ag em ea-n t w ith ia-n w holesalia-ng.
I N V E N T O R Y M A N A G E M E N T
Ju d g in g from v arious surv ey s and tra d e discussions, th e w holesa-le r ’s m ajo r probholesa-lem is in v en to ry control and m anagem ent. One m ight ex p ect this, since in v en to ry com prises th e m ain p a rt of a w h o lesaler’s assets and th e n u m b er of d iffe re n t item s k ep t in stock can be v e ry la r -ge indeed. Beyond th at, how ever, our econom y has a n n u a lly g en erated a m onum ental n u m b er of new products, p a rtic u la rly in th e past few y ears. As com panies fu rth e r increase th e ir RD ex p e n d itu re s on new
--p ro d u ct developm ent, th e in v en to ry problem of w holesalers will grow m ore and m ore acute.
P ro d u c t p ro liferatio n is m ost a p p a re n t in th e gro cery area, w h ere th e n u m b er of n ew -p ro d u ct in tro d u ctio n s has been m atched, and even exceeded, by the n u m b er of m odifications in th e size and packaging of older p ro d u ct lines. S im ilar p ro d u ct expansions are tak in g place in th e autom otive parts, electronic eq u ip m en t and com ponents, building m a-terials, plum bing, heating, air conditioning, electrical, in d u strial papers, and num erous o th er lines. Today, for exam ple, th e autom otive d istri-b u to r carries aistri-bout 70,000 identifiaistri-ble item s, as com pared w ith 40,000 only ten y ears ago. Each item m u st be identified, labeled, handled, stacked, controlled, picked, packed, shipped, and invoiced — a v ery co nsiderable job.
T he sh eer n u m b er of in v en to ried item s p resen ts an im m ense and un en d in g problem for individual w holesalers. How m uch of w h a t should he c a rry in stock, and w hen? One of th e w h o lesaler’s reactions has been to dem and th a t m an u fa ctu rers red u ce th e size and v a rie ty of th e lines th ey offer. A n o th er is „c h erry p icking” of lines.
These reactions are based on th e w h o lesaler’s realizatio n th a t a full and com plete line is often not th e m ost p ro fitab le one. T he p ractice of c arry in g e v e ry item in a com m odity line in stock a t all tim es is fast d osappearing, and the practice of m ain tain in g only 80— 95% coverage is becom ing in creasingly common.
M an u factu rers are also becom ing increasin g ly sensitive to line p ro -fitab ility . A m erican S ta n d ard , fo r exam ple, re c e n tly red u ced its line of brass fittin g s by m ore th a n 30% , m uch to th e relief of m any of its n e tw o rk m em bers.
To come to grips w ith th e in v en to ry m an ag em en t problem , some w holesalers are selecting item s and settin g stock levels according to p a tte rn s of item dem and and item m ovem ent. U n fo rtu n ately , how ever, th e w holesalers who rea lly practice m odern in v en to ry m an ag em en t tech niques and stra te g ies are few in num ber. A lthough it is tru e th a t ev ery w holesaler has some so rt of in v en to ry co n tro l system , in teg rated system s of selling, buying, and financing are still qu ite rare.
S A L E S M A N A G E M E N T
W holesalers have been sales-oriented, traditionally, b u t as a group th ey have not re a lly cau g h t on y e t to m odern, professional, sy stem atic tech n iq u es of sellin g and prom otion. M uch of th e ir sales effo rt has been personal selling by individual salesm en. Som e exceptional w ho lesaler- -d istrib u to rs are d e m o n stratin g real im agination in th is area, of course:
fo r instance, w holesale dru g g ists are u tilizin g in-house telep h o n e sales tech n iq u es to su p p o rt th e effo rts of th e ir m ore h ig h ly specialized p e r-sonal salesm en. These p err-sonal salesm en lim it th e ir calls to key accounts, specialized custom ers, and prospects th a t show high p o ten -tial. In fact, som e d ru g w holesalers are tak in g 80% of th e ir ord ers o v er th e telephone.
A utom atic reo rd erin g is a n o th e r innovation th a t has been adopted to c ap tu re re p e a t sales and achieve lo w er costs. I t is being used in elec-tronics, plum bing, hospital supplies, and nu m ero u s o th er com m odity lines. Since th e au to m ated appro ach frees salesm en fro m ro u tin e reo rd e -rin g tasks, it provides th em w ith m ore tim e for specialized custom er counselling and creativ e selling. In a n u m b er of cases, th e use of „cash and c a rry ” and catalog selling has su b sta n tia lly reduced th e size of th e w h o le sale r’s sales force.
W holesalers w ho op erate m u ltib ra n ch com panies are beginning to c o n c en tra te th e ir big selling effo rts on th e ir cu sto m ers’ top m an ag em ent. They use th e ir individual b ran ch es and tw igs p riem a rily to p ro -vide ro u tin e d eliv ery service and to in tro d u ce p ro d u ct v ariatio n s a t th e b u y e r level. This p a tte rn indicates a tre n d to w ard divorcing th e selling fu n ctio n from th e p ro d u ct-h an d lin g function a t th e local level.
P ersonal salesm en in th e w holesale area are also striv in g fo r deeper u n d erstan d in g of th e ir cu sto m ers’ businesses. In p a rtic u la r, th e y are learn in g to help custom ers id en tify op p o rtu n ities to reduce cost.
U n fo rtu n a tely — once again — m ost w holesale selling is still con-du cted on a h ig h ly p ersonal basis by rela tiv e ly u n tra in e d and u nsophi-sticated salesm en w ho call only on w ell-estab lish ed custom ers. S till, w holesalers recognize th e need for m ore sy stem atic and sophisticated sales efforts, a need w hich is being satisfied in p a rt by th e N ational A ssociation of W h o lesaler-D istrib u to rs and su b o rd in ate com m odity line associations.
Aggressive m an u fa ctu rers w ho h ave im p o rtan t stak es in th e ir d istri-b u to r netw o rk s have also increased th e ir effo rts to provide w holesaler m an ag ers w ith educational su p p o rt th ro u g h th e ir field rep re sen ta tiv e s and, in some cases, th ro u g h form al tra in in g program s.
P R O M O T IO N M A N A G E M E N T
M an u factu rers are also assisting th e ir w holesalers w ith d ealer shows, tra d e shows, ad v ertisin g d irectm ail prom otion, and catalog p re -paratio n . C ertain w holesalers, how ever, have rejected su p p lier assistance in this area in favor of p ro p rie ta ry program s th a t em phasize house identification. T he w h o lesaler w ho elects this course is u su ally a tte m p
-ting to id en tify him self as th e source fo r ce rtain h ig h -q u a lity pro d u ct lines, ra th e r th an as sim ply a „B rand X ” w holesaler. T his approach has been adopted by q u ite a n u m b er of w holesalers w ho deal in m u -sical in stru m e n ts and in th e plum bing and h eatin g and coolling lines. The w holesaler faces not only p ro d u ct expansion, b u t a concom i-ta n t prom otion expansion on th e p a rt of his suppliers. He is th u s p la-ced in th e position of a „prom otional cen so r”, who is lite ra lly forla-ced to sift and screen th e prom otional item s and concepts th a t are d irected into his local m ark et. He often bases such screening on a p u rely subjec-tive set of criteria.
D espite w h a t I should call in ten se prom otional effo rt by th e su p pliers, w holesalers usu ally screen out b etw een 78% and 90% of all p ro -m otions offered to the-m .
C u rre n tly th en , th e w h o le sale r-d istrib u to r lives in a w o rld th a t is positive for him .
M any m an u fa ctu rers have abandoned e a rlie r a tte m p ts to „elim i-n a te th e m id d lem ai-n ”. T he m a i-n u fa c tu re r is m uch m ore coi-nceri-ned w ith his own re tu r n on in v estm en t. He is allocating facto ry reso u rces to research and p ro d uction ra th e r th a n to d istrib u tio n , w hich he know s has h isto rically delivered a m uch low er re tu rn . The m a n u fa c tu re r is rev isin g his sm all o rd er policies, elev atin g prices in sm all q u a n tity brack ets, im posing a n n u al m inim um sta n d a rd s and tak in g o th e r steps to d iv e rt d ealers to w holesalers.
M a rk et analysis is stro n g ly in flu en cin g th e ty p e and v a rie ty of m e rchandise h an d led by th e w holesaler. One effect is th a t th e local or r e gional w h o lesaler is now increasin g ly selective in his choice of p ro -d u c t lines, an-d ten -d s to review an-d a-d ju st his p ro -d u ct m ix in response to th e needs of specialized m ark ets. Some w holesalers have held dow n th e n u m b er and v a rie ty of lines to raise service levels on selected item s.
Some w holesalers have d irected sales effo rts to th e grow ing in sti-tu tio n al m ark e ts and selected n atio n al accounts.
S u b sid iary b ran ch es w ith in v en to ries geared to local m a rk e t condi-tio n s have sp ru n g up all over th e nacondi-tion. W holesalers a re also looking in to m iniw arehouses for lim ited, fast-m oving inven to ries w ith rea d y access to a c e n tral w arehouse.
T here is a sh ift from p ro p rieto rsh ip s and p a rtn e rsh ip s to th e corpo-ra te fo rm of organization th ro u g h public financing, m erg ers and acquisitions. The tra d itio n al fam ilyow ned operations are declining in n u m -b e r and th e pu -b licly held w holesaling corporations are on th e increase. T h ere is a p ro liferatio n of new p ro d u cts in areas n ot prev io u sly
d istrib u ted by w holesalers, i.e., fu rn itu re , gifts, m achines, w o rd p ro -cessing eq u ip m en t and supplies, etc.
M any w holesalers a re increasing o u tp u t p er em ployee by adding electronic and m echanical facilities and b e tte r and continuous tra in in g of em pleyees. W holesalers are su p p o rtin g th e p erso n al effo rts of indi-vidual salesm en w ith in-house telep h o n e sales, d a ta phones and catalog sales prom otion.
Specialized w h o lesalers a re providing professional prom otion coun-seling to g en erate new sales and p ro fits for th e dealer.
4. THE FU TU RE
M erch an t w holesalers in th e 1980’s will d iffer from th e m an u factu - re rp ro d u c e r o rie n tatio n of th e sixties and e a rlie r due to grow ing cu -sto m er dem and for im proved p ro d u ct services w hich began in th e se-venties. The basic new approach em erging in w holesale d istrib u tio n is to place g re a te r em phasis on co n su m er-o rien ted operations. W hile w holesalers histo rically have been classified according to th e ty p es of p ro -d u ct th e y h an -d le-d an-d th e b re a -d th of th e ir p ro -d u ct lines, w holesalers in th e fu tu re w ill have g re a te r Loncern for m eetin g th e to ta l needs of custom ers on a system s-concept or to tal-p ack ag e basis.
F o r exam ple, th e p etro leu m d istrib u to r w a n ts to be able to serve th e to ta l consum able p ro d u ct needs of service statio n and garage or m ain ten an ce facility custom ers. T he food service eq u ip m en t d istrib u -to r is in te rested in providing th e original facilities and serving th e con-tin u in g needs of th e food service in d u stry . In some d istrib u tiv e fields th e w holesale firm provides not only goods to th e re ta ile r b u t also price m arking, credit, in v en to ry m anagem ent, com p u ter services, and m ark e -tin g su p p o rt in advertising. A ltern ativ es are exam ined w ith custom ers w ho are show n v arious m ethods of b uying and selling su p p o rted by d eliv ery schedule and cred it p ay m en t p lans aim ed a t yielding th e g rea -te st possible re tu r n on th e ir capital investm ents.
The m aterials h an d lin g and d istrib u tio n functions concerned w ith custom er deliveries stress av ailab ility and conveniencegetting item s w hen and w h ere th ey a re needed. L arg e regional w arehouses in cen-tra l locations servicing a n u m b er of b ran c h su p p ly points ap p ear to be the tre n d for th e fu tu re fo r some of th e la rg e r d istrib u tio n netw orks. The in v en to ry of m erchandise in each b ran ch su p p ly po in t w ill be critical in term s of th e custom ers served by th e su p p ly point.
Com-m unication b etw een w arehouses and b ran ch su p p ly points w ill have to be rap id and responsive. D ata access to ce n tral com p u ters w ill facilitate th e exchange of in fo rm atio n and m erchandise am ong th e su p p ly points. This approach w ill serve to tal cu stom er needs b e tte r w hile reducing the cost of m ain tain in g inventories. A t th e sam e tim e, it should red u ce the incidence of stock outs and cancelled custom er orders.
E M P L O Y M E N T A N D P R O D U C T IV IT Y T R E N D S
The im pact of this to ta l service approach w ill be felt in th e need for m ore qualified m anagers and co m p eten t specialists, as w ell as the need for balance b etw een m eetin g dem and for g re a te r service w ith effo rts to im prove p ro d u ctiv ity w hich is essential to p ro fitab le com pa-ny perform ance.
E m ploym ent in all w holesale tra d e s grew a t a 3.3 p e rc e n t ra te in 1977, up from a 2.5 p ercen t increase in 1976. H ow ever, th e pace of w age increases also accelerated; in D ecem ber 1977 average h o u rly earn in g s w ere up 8.3 p ercen t from one y e a r earlier, com pared to th e 6.1 p ercen t increase from D ecem ber 1975 to D ecem ber 1976.
S uch in fla tio n ary cost p ressu res are am ong th e factors heig h ten in g concern over p roductivity. To enhance p ro d u ctiv ity of sales forces, com -panies continue to ev alu ate and refin e com pensation plans, w hich u su ally com bine sa la ry w ith incentive featu res. M any firm s’ incentive plans are being expanded to include „inside” as w ell as „o u tsid e” sale w orkers.
U ntil rec e n t years, g ro w th of p ro d u ctiv ity in w holesaling k ep t pace w ith th e gro w th ra te in th e to tal p riv a te dom estic economy. F ro m 1948 to 1977 an n u al p ro d u ctiv ity gains averaged 2.6 p ercen t in w holesale tra d e and 2.7 p ercen t in the to tal economy. H ow ever, w holesaling p ro -d u c tiv ity -decline-d m ore sh arp ly in th e 1974 recession, fallin g 7.7 p e r-cent com pared to a 1.6 p ercen t drop in th e to tal economy. W holesale trade, like o th er lab o rin ten siv e service industries, also has ex p erien ced m ore d ifficu lty th an m an u factu rin g in im proving p ro d u ctiv ity d u -rin g th e p resen t recovery; w h o lesalin g ’s average an n u al increase in p ro d u ctiv ity of 1.7 p ercen t from 1974 to 1977 lags behind th e to tal eco-n o m y ’s 2.1 p erceeco-n t rate.
A 1978 stu d y by th e D istrib u tio n R esearch and E ducation F o u n d a-tio n (DREF) concluded th a t p ro d u ctiv ity ra te s in w holesaling have flu ctu ated m ore sh a rp ly th a n o th e r in d u stries d u rin g business cycles; m ore th a n tw o -th ird s of h isto rical v ariatio n s in p ro d u ctiv ity ra te s can be ex p lain ed b y changes in sales grow th. P ro d u c tiv ity levels and g ro w th
ra te s w ere found to v a ry w idely am ong com m odity groups; e.g., average a n n u a l p ro d u ctiv ity change fro m 1967 to 1972 ran g ed from a high of 8.2 p ercen t for w holesale d istrib u to rs of autom obiles and o th er m otor vehicles dow n to 4.4 p e rc e n t in in d u stria l m ach in ery and equipm ent. In 1978, DREF p lan s to develop and refin e p ro d u ctiv ity m easu rem en t indices and to lau n ch pilot p ro jects in com pany p ro d u ctiv ity im pro-vem en t.
C O M P U T E R S Y S T E M S S P R E A D
In th e ir d riv e to rev e rse th e p ro d u ctiv ity slow -dow n, w holesalers w ill continue to tu rn to com puterized system s in th e ir offices and w a -rehouses. In th e w arehouses, th e com p u ter produces o rd er-p ick in g do-cum ents, d e te rm in e s th e location of incom ing stock, and h an d les all the accounting functions and in v en to ry control. A utom atic tw o w ay com -p u te r com m unication system s, w hich -provide s-peedy tran sm issio n of o rd ers d irect to th e w h o lesaler’s com puter, b en efit custom ers by p ro v i-d in g th e p u rch a se r access to reco ri-d ei-d i-d ata. C ustom ers can th e re b y m
o-n ito r m erchao-ndise tu ro-n o v e r to m aio-n ta io-n tig h te r io-nveo-ntories.
C om puterization d ire c tly b en efits th e w h o lesaler’s own op eratio n th ro u g h im proved centralized in v en to ry m anagem ent. The w holesale firm can n o t only lea rn ex actly w h a t is en te rin g and leaving in v en to ry a t all tim es, b u t also can d e te rm in e w hich lines are m ost pro fitab le to h elp in m aking co rrect buying decisions. Some d ru g w holesalers have realized savings by e n tire ly au to m atin g bo th th e rec e ip t of custom er o rd ers an d p lacem ent of ord ers w ith m an u factu rers. F u rth e r, sales force p ro d u ctiv ity can be en hanced by arm in g sales persons w ith co m p u ter rep o rts in dicating cu sto m ers’ b uying h isto ry and p ro fit p o tential, by p ro v id in g custom ers w ith in sta n t feedback on w h e th e r goods a re in stock, and by reducing th e p ap erw o rk involved in sales orders. Some sales persons now speed up o rd erta k in g on sales calls by c a rry in g te -lep h o n e accessories w hich serve as p o rtab le com p u ter term in als.
In stallatio n of com p u ter system s w ill co n tinue to sp read in 1979 am ong th e estim ated one th ird of all w holesalers not y e t using them . T he cost w ill be w ith in rea c h of m ore an d m ore firm s as in ten se com -p etition, advancing technology, and th e develo-pm ent of m inicom -puters b rin g h a rd w a re prices dow n (although so ftw are prices a re rising). T u rn -key and serv ice-ty p e packages specifically designed for w h o lesaler-d i-s trib u to ri-s a re increai-singly offered. M any i-sm all w holei-sale firm i-s un ab le to afford in stallatio n costs w ill lease eq u ip m en t or use co m p u ter tim e- -sh a rin g services.
A n o th er elem ent of co m p u terizatio n is th e D istrib u tio n Code S ystem th a t w as established in th e e a rly seventies. T he system su b stitu te s 11- digit n u m erical id en tification codes for p ro ducts w ith long descrip-tive nam es; it also identifies th e p ro d u ct’s m an u fa ctu rer. This eases ordering, receiving, sorting, packing, shipping, selling, and reduces p a -perw ork.
In 1977, th e coding system w as ex p anded to include shipping con-tain e rs and u n it packs. In 1978, a stu d y b y D istrib u tio n Codes Inc. (DCI) fo r th e N ational C en ter for P ro d u c tiv ity and Q u ality of W or-king Life found su b stan tial savings possible in w arehouse o perations and in v en to ry control from co m p u ter scanning of shipping co n tain er sym bols. A d u rab le goods d istrib u to r selected for a case stu d y a ttr ib u -ted a 67 p ercen t p ro d u ctiv ity im p ro v em en t in p resh ip m en t o rd er so rtin g to a scanning system . T otal p o ten tial savings from im proved in v en -to ry control w ere estim ated a t $ 35— 40 m illion p e r y e a r for all gro-cery w holesalers.
P R O F I T P I C T U R E
W hile com p u ter system s w ill o ffer a boost to m an y com panies’ p e r-form ance, p ro fits and gross m argins w ill be squeezed by slow p ro d u cti-v ity gains, in flatio n in p ro d u ct an d op eratin g costs, and step p ed -u p p ri-ce cu tting. F irs t q u a rte r 1978 a fte r-ta x p ro fits fell 8 p e rc e n t com pared to th e sam e period of 1977, from 1.9 to 1.6 p e rc e n t of sales.
P rin cip al factors behind th e p ro fit squeeze v aried am ong com m odi-ty lines. A recen t in d u stry su rv e y of electronic w holesalers pointed to rising o p eratin g expenses as a m ajo r reaso n for low p ro fits d esp ite high sales. H ow ever, in d u stria l d istrib u to rs w ere found in an o th e r su rv ey to be co n tro llin g op eratin g expenses, b u t having gross m argins trim m ed by in ten se price com petition as b ran d loyalties declined and m u ltip le d istrib u tio n of p ro d u ct lines increased. If in flatio n co ntinues to d riv e u p in v en to ry rep lacem en t costs in 1979, th is squeeze on w h o lesaler m a r-gins is u n lik e ly to continue.
One developm ent p erta in in g to in flation and its m easu rem en t w as w elcom ed by w holesalers in 1978. T h at w as th e ren am in g b y th e B u-re a u of L ab o r S tatistics of th e „W holesale P rice In d e x ” to „P ro d u cer Pice In d e x ”. The N ational Association of W ho lesaler-D istrib u to rs asked for th e change, since th e index m easures prices charged by p ro ducers, n ot w holesalers.
L O N G -T E R M T R E N D S , F O R E C A S T
The prin cip al concerns of w holesalers in th e y ears ahead will be th e ex p an sio n of custom er service w ith a tte n tio n to th e need for im prove-m en t in p ro d u ctiv ity and earnings. Services w ill ex p an d as w holesa-lers keep th e ir m ark etin g area custom ers inform ed ab o u t new p ro ducts and th e ir su ppliers ap p rised of changes in consum er buying p a tte rn s. A t th e sam e tim e, d istrib u tio n functions w ill be view ed in term s of cost balanced ag ain st m arg in g en erated. Costs n ot d ire c tly yielding p ro fits will be considered for co n tin u atio n only if an in d irect b enefit accrues to th e com pany from th e cu stom er service so provided.
W holesalers’ total sales a re expected to grow a t an average an n u al ra te of 10 to 11 p ercen t d u rin g th e n e x t five years. Sales are lik ely to cross th e trillio n d o llar m ark in 1982 and should ap p ro x im ate $ 1.2 trillio n in 1983.
5. CONCLUSION
L ike th e re st of th e econom y, w holesaling is in a sta te of rap id change. T he dynam ics of th e business w orld have h it some com m odity lines and som e kinds of w holesalers h a rd e r th an o th ers, b u t I believe th a t all have been affected. It is difficu lt to assess th e violence and r a -p id ity of change in th is in d u stry because of c e rtain facto rs th a t b lu r visibility. L ow volum e operations, fo r exam ple, and fam ily or p riv a -tely -co n tro lled op eratio n s account for a su b stan tial portion of th e w hole-saling volum e, and one can n o t u su ally o btain reliab le statistics about such operations. Also, of course, w h o lesale-d istrib u tio n n etw o rk s owned o r conti oiled by m an u fa c tu re rs account for a n o th e r sizable ch u n k of th e volum e, and one can n o t alw ays se p ara te th e p rogress of these ope-ratio n s from th a t of th e ir p aren ts.
D espite the poor visibility, how ever, one can see th a t a grow ing n u m b er of w holesale o perations a re using m o d ern business tech niques and concepts. Since w holesalers view th em selves as e n tre p re n e u rs and as p ro fit-o rien ted businessm en, th e re is reaso n to believe th a t th e y w ill n o t re stric t th e ir activities to w holesaling alone. Indeed, th e y ap p ear q u ite w illing to develop m ark etin g system s, some of w hich include m an u fa ctu rin g and reta ilin g operations, using th e ir w holesale houses as o p eratio n al focal points.
On th e n egative side, a n u m b er of w holesalers a re still tied to t r a -d itio n al form s an-d m etho-ds of operations, accepting th e n e w e r m an a-g em en t tech niques only slow ly if at all. So far, th e less sophisticated
w holesaler seem s to be surviving; in so doing, he d em o n strates th e in ten se need in our econom y for th e continued services of th is resilien t e n tre p re n e u r. It is questionable, how ever, w h e th e r th e fu tu re w ill con-tin u e to allow easy e n try into w holesaling or p e rm it th e inefficiencies of naive m anagem ent. In th e lig h t of continuing p ressu res fo r lo w er- cost d istrib u tio n , m ore com plex m ark e tin g system s, and advancing m a -nag em ent technologies, th e only courses open to th e m yopic w h o lesaler a re to close shop, sell out, or shape up. In general, how ever, w holesa-lers seem d eterm in ed to p a rticip a te in ou r exp an d in g economy. To an increasing e x ten t, th e y are ed u catin g them selves and d e m o n stratin g a w illingness to in vest in n ew er system s and techniques. T hey a re seeking and listening to th e counsel of th e ir m ore so phisticated su p p -liers, and th e y are cooperating w ith th em on com m on problem s.
As w holesalers continue to build th e ir m an ag em en t stre n g th and lea rn to han d le th e risk s in h e re n t in change, I am confident th a t th e y w ill m ain tain pace w ith th e econom y, p ro sp er w ith in it, an d add v a -lue to it. The outcom e, hopefully, w ill be a m uch m ore effective and efficient d istrib u tio n stru c tu re in our economy.
Richard. L opata
HANDEL HURTOW Y W STANACH ZJEDNOCZONYCH
W a rty k u le om ów iono pod staw o w e zm iany zachodzące w sferze h a n d lu h u r -tow ego w USA oraz p rzed staw io n o sta n obecny i p ersp e k ty w y jego ro zw o ju n a ry n k u am ery k ań sk im . P o d an a została in te rp re ta c ja p ojęcia „h an d el h u rto w y ” oraz. sc h a rak te ry z o w an e zostały w spółczesne p rzed sięb io rstw a h u rto w n icz e — m. in. sk lasy fik o w an o h an d el h u rto w y ze w zględu n a fo rm ę o rg an izacji i sferę d ziała l-ności. A u to r p o d k reślił rów n ież pow szechną ap lik a c ję b a d a ń m ark etin g o w y ch w h a n d lu h u rto w y m (m. in. b ad a n ia ry n k u , b ad a n ia kosztów ) oraz w sk azał n a szerokie w y k o rz y sta n ie stra te g ii seg m en tacji. O m ów ione zostały rów nież: in te g ra cja p ionow a p rzed sięb io rstw h u rto w n iczy ch z in n y m i ogniw am i k a n a łu d y s try -bucji, m etody fin an so w an ia przep ły w u p ro d u k tó w (polityka k red y to w a), p o lity k a cenow a, fo rm y zarząd zan ia i k ie ro w a n ia je d n o stk a m i h a n d lu hurto w eg o , za rz ą -dzanie zapasam i, k o m p u te ry zac ja (przepływ y in fo rm acji) oraz p o lity k a w z a k resie prom ocji. A rty k u ł zaw iera też liczne p rzy k ład y ilu s tru ją c e o m aw ian e p ro b lem y .
