In short: a Wholesale Ordering App improve efficiency and revenues for your business. Read how
If you own a wholesale business, orders likely come in from a multitude of sources — by email and website, of course, but also over the phone, scribbled on coasters, or maybe even by fax.
You want to be flexible and let customers communicate with you as they like, but there’s a lot of inefficiency lingering in those manual processes. Paper-based ordering costs you time and distracts from essential activities like sourcing new products, improving marketing, and delivering speedy service. It’s pretty inefficient for buyers too.
In the digital age, having a wholesale shopping app is the best way to bridge the gap between the way things have always been done and how B2B buyers in every sector prefer to place orders today.
Why wholesale is going digital
By any metric you care to consider, the wholesale market is enormous. A 2020 report by The Business Research Company calculates the global wholesale market will be worth USD 49 trillion by the end of this year and reach a whopping 64 trillion by 2025.
Those numbers are almost too big to fathom. Yet despite its sheer magnitude, wholesale has been a bit of a holdout when it comes to digital. E-commerce was all about B2C when it first took off, and now it's transforming B2B e-commerce too.
Wholesale is no exception, and of course, the sector has embraced ordering by web and email. But today, e-commerce is going mobile. And wholesale needs to get onboard.
Today’s wholesale buyers want the same digital experience they get as consumers. A recent study found that smartphones are now driving more than 40 percent of B2B eCommerce sales. That's a big number – but it’s just the beginning. According to Forbes, B2B e-commerce as a category will be worth USD 6.6 trillion by 2020, with most sales happening on mobile devices.
That’s where wholesale ordering apps come into play.
“Our data was telling us that 70 percent of our shoppers were mobile. That's represented a huge change. Just two years ago, 70 percent of customers were still shopping with us via desktop.”
says Tori Thompson of BigBrandWholesale.
What is a wholesale ordering app?
Reason 1: It’s what buyers expect
A wholesale ordering app is just what it sounds like, an e-commerce app for your smartphone. You either download and install from an app store, or in the case of progressive web apps (PWAs), see it automatically in your smartphone web browser when you visit the wholesaler’s website.
Ordering apps are a huge time saver for both buyer and wholesaler. Rather than trying to find time to sit down and complete an order form or input an order through a web site, the buyer has everything they need in their back pocket. When you’re busy and on the move, anything that takes the admin out of your working day is welcome.
Features like barcode scanning, push notifications for in-stock items, saved re-orders, invoicing, purchase orders, and payment by instalment can be huge time-savers that make it easy and painless for buyers to purchase what they need.
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Key takeaways:
B2B buying roles are increasingly filled by mobile-first millennials.
They go for added value and ease of use, not just the lowest price.
Reason 2: An app is more efficient for buyers
A study by Google tells us that the typical wholesale buyer in 2021 is an under-35 millennial. As a group, millennials are digital savvy and default to mobile whenever they need to do anything online — including business purchases.
That’s a notable change from previous generations of B2b buyers. And here’s another one: Millennials are generally less price-conscious than their predecessors. They want value and seamless convenience over two-for-one sales or bulk discounts.
That’s why the time is right for wholesale ordering apps. They make ordering faster, offer buyers a more effortless shopping experience, and pack in features that makes the buying process fluent and even fun.
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Key takeaways:
Time-poor wholesale buyers appreciate easy ordering.
Instead of bouncing between emails and websites, a wholesale ordering app stores all info and purchase history.
Reason 3: wholesale apps improve loyalty and repeat purchase
Repeat business is a life or death issue for wholesalers. It isn’t like FMCG, where customer churn is just part of doing business. Wholesale’s business model depends on returning customers to survive and thrive.
So it’s worth knowing that B2B buyers come back to a mobile app within 30 days of their previous purchase at twice the rate of visits to mobile websites. And the average order value (AoV) is higher too. With an ordering app, they spend 25 per cent more per session.
When you have a mobile ordering app, wholesale customers get a reminder about your whenever they look at their smartphone home screen — which is often: up to 200 times a day. Send them push notifications about the products they typically buy, and you'll also improve loyalty and retention.
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Key takeaways:
Wholesale buyers come back to apps more often and spend more when they’re there.
Apps promote loyalty and improve key marketing metrics like customer retention.
Reason 4: Your competitors are already going mobile
Close to 80 percent of B2B brands believe that mobile apps are the future. About 65 per cent already have a mobile app, and they’re using it to engage customers, make ordering simpler, and convert more new visitors into buyers.
As mobile commerce continues to take a bigger slice of the e-commerce pie, the B2B shift from desktop to mobile selling is only going to grow.
For wholesalers, the mobile shopping revolution is here. Will you grasp the opportunity to leap ahead of the pack or let competitors make off with market share and customers?
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Key takeaways:
B2B and wholesale e-commerce is rapidly going mobile.
Most B2B brands have an ordering app or plans to build one.
Launching a wholesale shopping app can be easy and affordable
At JMango360, we specialize in creating brilliant e-commerce apps for B2B and wholesale brands.
Ten years ago, we started a revolution, enabling every brand to launch a premium mobile ordering app of their own. Our easy to use, low-code platform democratizes app development, making it affordable — and fast.
Most of our wholesale shopping apps go from planning to launch in 30 days or less. We do it without cutting corners or scaling back functionality.
Try our e-commerce app ROI calculator. Or request a demo today.
Wholesale shopping app FAQ’s
What is wholesale?
Wholesale businesses sell products in bulk to other companies. The company buying from a wholesaler might consume the products themselves or sell them on to other companies.
What is digital wholesale?
Digital wholesale is the shift from manual, paper-based ordering processes to ordering everything online, including by mobile.
What is a wholesale ordering app?
A wholesale ordering app is a smartphone shopping application explicitly designed for the needs of busy wholesale buyers.
How big is the wholesale market?
The global wholesale market is worth USD 49 trillion. By 2025 it's forecast to be worth 64 trillion USD.
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