Take control of your wholesale operations – before common challenges slow your growth. As a wholesaler, your business depends on keeping goods flowing smoothly through the supply chain. But that requires structure, transparency, and efficient processes. In this article, we highlight five common pain points wholesale businesses face – and give you practical solutions ranging from streamlined workflows and data synchronization to smarter inventory and purchasing decisions.
As a wholesaler, you’re right at the center of it all. You’re the link between manufacturers and retailers, and your success depends on getting products out the door – quickly, accurately, and efficiently. But that’s easier said than done.
You might still be relying on spreadsheets to keep track of inventory and find that your stock count rarely matches reality. You may be hit with delayed deliveries, order errors, or large volumes of dead stock tying up capital.
Or perhaps you simply don’t have the time or mental space to improve your workflows because you’re constantly putting out fires.
Sound familiar?
Many wholesale businesses struggle to achieve overview, structure, and scalable processes in their daily operation – especially when it comes to the inventory management.
That’s why we wrote this article – to walk you through five of the most common challenges in the wholesale world and give you practical suggestions for how to get ahead of them.
1. Lack of Inventory Control and Overview
When you don’t know where your products are or how many you have, uncertainty spreads. This leads to incorrect deliveries, time-consuming manual counts, and ultimately, unhappy customers.
The fix:
Start by creating solid routines for goods receiving, stocktaking, and documentation – even if it seems basic. From there, you can upgrade to an inventory management system that gives you real-time updates, location tracking, and automated stock adjustments. This creates clarity, control, and more time to focus on high-impact work.
2. Purchasing Based on Gut Feeling Instead of Data
You’ve probably been there: the sales team predicts a product will fly off the shelves, so you order big – and it sits. Or worse, you run out just as demand spikes.
The fix:
To strike the right balance between inventory levels and service quality, you should start by looking at your sales data over time: What sells when? What are your bestsellers? Which items have a low turnover rate?
If you don’t yet have a system to support this, you can begin by analyzing your sales and inventory data in Excel – and later upgrade to a system with built-in purchasing management and reorder points.
Here, you can download a free inventory spreadsheet to help you stay on top of your inventory control.
3. Manual Work That Eats Up Time and Causes Errors
If employees write down picks and packs by hand, and orders are entered into several systems manually, errors are bound to happen. It slows things down and takes a toll on both profit margins and morale.
The fix:
Map out your key workflows – from goods reception to shipping – and identify where errors occur. Often, it’s not about working faster, but about working smarter. Consider whether parts of the process can be digitalized – for example, with barcode scanning, standardized workflows, or system integration.
4. Lack of Synchronization Across Teams and Systems
Sales promises delivery, but the warehouse is out of stock. The finance department hasn’t been informed about returns. Customer service spends too much time searching for answers because the information is scattered.
The result? Duplicate work, misunderstandings, and a poor customer experience.
When each department operates in its own system – or worse, in spreadsheets – collaboration becomes inefficient, and decisions are often made on the wrong basis.
The fix:
Communication and data synchronization are essential. If your systems don’t communicate – or if you don’t have any systems at all – you need a way to centralize information. That could mean a system that integrates inventory, order management, and finance. Or it could be a shared dashboard or intranet that collects key metrics and information across departments.
5. Lack of Insight Into What Actually Drives Value
Without insight into your numbers and processes, it becomes difficult to make decisions that truly make a difference. Which customers are the most profitable? Which products tie up the most capital? Which orders take the longest to handle?
The fix:
Start by selecting a few key metrics to track regularly – for example, inventory turnover, gross margin per product, and delivery time. Many businesses are surprised when they start putting real numbers to their operations. It provides a solid foundation for optimization.
Here are 5 formulas you can use to assess the strength of your inventory management.
Want more tips for running a smarter wholesale business?
These five challenges are just the tip of the iceberg. In our monthly newsletter, we share even more practical advice, real-world examples, and industry insights tailored to wholesalers like you.
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