Now, more than ever before, the internet, in conjunction with other technologies, is having a profound effect on the inception and growth of a wholesale business.

If you're a manufacturer who wishes to distribute your products, or a distributor who wishes to expand your sales channels, online B2B marketplaces provide a great opportunity for expansion with only a small investment.

So what is the best choice for your brand?

Sales calls: The old (and costly) way of selling.

In the past, selling meant being physically present. This involved a team of sales reps who called and visited potential clients in order to promote the brand and their products.

Although there is still a place for old fashioned cold calls even in this age of technology, for most businesses it is an unnecessary cost.

The research centre Keller at Baylor University carried out a study with 50 skilled and trained sales reps who were in favour of telesales.

Throughout the duration of the study, the reps were made to make a total of 6,264 cold calls in a space of two weeks.

Have you any idea how many appointments they managed to make?

Fewer than twenty!!!

Fewer than twenty appointments out of thousands of calls and how many of these appointments would actually result in a sale?

What does this mean for your brand?

This means that your team could, in reality, be wasting hours chasing up customers for absolutely nothing and, if this is the only way you are banking on creating sales, you are undoubtedly losing customers in comparison to your competitors.

So - go where your customers are. And where's that?

ONLINE!

The latest studies show that consumers now buy more products online than in physical stores. According to Forrester Research, about 190 million consumers in the USA - over half the population - will shop online this year.

So we know that most consumers shop online, which means that more retailers sell on the internet. And now these retailers want to benefit from the convenience of shopping online enjoyed by their customers.

Undoubtedly you could create your own B2B website. However, in order to increase traffic to your site you would have to work extremely hard and if it's not already listed in the search engines, thousands of potential customers who are looking for your products now will be unable to find you

This is where B2B marketplaces come into the picture.

The specially designed e-commerce site is about connecting wholesalers, distributors and retailers so that everyone can benefit from buying and selling online.

It gives buyers from all over the world the opportunity to find your products and to sell them through their businesses. All you have to do is to put yourself out there

Moreover, you are not constrained by business hours. You will be able to make sales to potential customers 24/7.

If you sign up to Fabrago you will be able to/have access to:

• Set up your own electronic "showroom" to showcase your products.

• Invite customers and prospective buyers to access your showroom and give them catalogues or newsletters tailored to their needs.

 • Find out which of your products are the most popular.

• Create line cards and prepaid purchase orders to send to any customer

• Capture all your wholesale orders in one convenient place

• Record all orders whether online or offline.

• Create permission based access across reps in different territories

• Sell your product in multiple currencies

• Real time reports you can manage on your phone or tablet.

• Have access to an account specialist to walk you through API integration or anything else you need help with.

• Monthly reports on traffic to your listings

So what are you waiting for? In the age of the Internet, B2B marketplaces are the only way forward. Embrace what technology has to offer and expand your wholesale business with Fabrago!