Opening a Electrical Wholesalers ( Wales / Western England )

Elecster · Oct 27, 2023

Hello All,

I am in the process of trying to open a new Electrical Wholesalers in Wales / Western England.

I have identified distributors/purchasing associations and potential property however; wanted to reach out and see if anyone had suggestions or comments on what a wholesaler should be.... e.g. what do you want to see when going into a wholesalers, what do you hate having to deal with when there, products you like/want but struggle to get..... basically anything you would want to say to a new wholesaler that will be opening its doors soon to help improve the way you buy ?

My KSP's will be:

Long opening times ( 7am to 7p Mon/Fri and 9am to 5pm Sat/Sun )
Out/Call Service (e.g. 24hrs stock availability if required / collection from store or delivery if local)
Holding area ( e.g. Like Amazon has those orange collection areas, something similar outside our shop - i know this is a big thing in the USA for people that can't get to the store in time but purchase over the phone, account or online for collection )
30 Day Trade Account ( Limited to £250.00 for the first 3/6 months )
Scope, due to size of the store for an Plumbing Element / area ( however; will be controlled by a separate person and seperate entrance/exit ).

To begin with, i'm only looking to hold 2 to 3 brands of consumer units ( any ideas which preference you would prefer ) at the moment, this is looking to be MK and VERSO and a few types of other brands incl. Click.

Anything else you would want.... Stock Wise, Price Wise, ect..... What're you finding that is massivly overpriced/increasing in price ? What would you want to see stocked ?

Any comments/suggestions would be massivly appriciated.

Sorry for the vague question

SJD · Nov 2, 2023

Elecster said:
Hello All,

I am in the process of trying to open a new Electrical Wholesalers in Wales / Western England.

I have identified distributors/purchasing associations and potential property however; wanted to reach out and see if anyone had suggestions or comments on what a wholesaler should be.... e.g. what do you want to see when going into a wholesalers, what do you hate having to deal with when there, products you like/want but struggle to get..... basically anything you would want to say to a new wholesaler that will be opening its doors soon to help improve the way you buy ?

My KSP's will be:

Long opening times ( 7am to 7p Mon/Fri and 9am to 5pm Sat/Sun )

Out/Call Service (e.g. 24hrs stock availability if required / collection from store or delivery if local)

Holding area ( e.g. Like Amazon has those orange collection areas, something similar outside our shop - i know this is a big thing in the USA for people that can't get to the store in time but purchase over the phone, account or online for collection )

30 Day Trade Account ( Limited to £250.00 for the first 3/6 months )

Scope, due to size of the store for an Plumbing Element / area ( however; will be controlled by a separate person and seperate entrance/exit ).

To begin with, i'm only looking to hold 2 to 3 brands of consumer units ( any ideas which preference you would prefer ) at the moment, this is looking to be MK and VERSO and a few types of other brands incl. Click.

Anything else you would want.... Stock Wise, Price Wise, ect..... What're you finding that is massivly overpriced/increasing in price ? What would you want to see stocked ?

Any comments/suggestions would be massivly appriciated.

Sorry for the vague question

Re consumer units, I'd never heard of Verso until looking it up just now, and I gave up on MK some while ago. Fusebox is quite popular for domestic work, they are also now doing some TPN boards. Hager if I want a premium brand.

Personally I'd want to see online prices that were reasonable, and be able to order online, either for delivery or pick-up. I don't use anyone where I have to ring up for the proper price, nor do I want prices that vary according to how much I'm spending a month, etc.

Talking of collection, what really annoys me in a certain local wholesaler is I've ordered something online to pick up from there, but when I arrive there is only one person serving, and is in the middle of serving someone who is making their long-winded order up as they go along. Like why didn't they decide beforehand what they needed. So what should have taken 2 minutes can waste 20. I only visit now as a last resort.

What also annoys me is the wholesaler who has a vast range of products but has almost nothing actually in stock.

I find some wholesalers have good prices on some things, but are very expensive on others. I suspect they try to offer a keen price on certain key things and then recover their profit on stuff you might not notice. As a result, I have several preferred wholesalers I use, for different types / brands of products.