How RetailerSaver is harnessing the reach of a wholesale stalwart.
The company handling logistics for RetailerSaver is 181-year-old wholesaler Menzies Distribution. Using a fleet of 1,750 vehicles, Menzies covers 123,000 miles every day to deliver newspapers and magazines to 29,000 retailers.
It continues to bolster its revenues from non-news products by using its infrastructure to deliver on behalf of a growing number of clients. It will collect products from RetailerSaver suppliers and pack them in Rushden in Northamptonshire, before forwarding them to its hub depots across the UK.
They will then be distributed to retailers through the Menzies pallet network, along with deliveries for other clients.
Hi Ed. To answer the challenges to the model.
Firstly whilst our target market is unaffiliated we are increasingly finding affiliated retailers dissatisfied with their current suppliers coming on board. The likes of Costcutters are haemorrhaging retailers at the moment. So whilst the indie market may be shrinking disloyalty is increasing and its here we hope to grow market share as we transition from what is a deliberately focused offer into a fuller solution. Don’t run before you can walk.
We offer 350, not 100 fast moving lines, and are carefully expanding that every quarter based on retailer feedback. However we don’t look to entirely replace the local cash & carry but steal the ‘volume skus’ where we are already 15% (up to 35%) cheaper than Booker, Bestway and P&H on everyday prices. And we have only just begun.
If you look on the website Specials Section we offer bundles every week from £150 to £250 which include a mix of items so do use promotional activity to support retailers beyond like-for-like single SKU.
Free delivery is £850 but our minimum order is only £250 and delivery just 50p per case on items where you are saving up to 35% on. So we are cheaper AND we deliver unlike many Todays wholesalers with nationwide delivery. This is why we are cleaning up in hard to reach ‘sheep & gulls’ territory. So the math does add up.
But ultimately the proof is in the pudding. Which is do retailers use us?
And the answer is a resounding yes. To be acknowledged by Todays already to me signals they see us as a threat and rightly so…
We have none of their wholesalers fixed overheads or inefficient behaviours. We don’f offer credit, hold stock speculatively in expensive retail spaces, or the head count to physically staff. them
We are deliberately designed not to serve retailers that are unable to buy strategically and that live more hand-to-mouth because this is the part of the indie market that is shrinking… I would argue these are the retailers Todays are heavily reliant on. One might say keeping on a life support.
We are here to help indies stay independent but gain from our unintrusive strategic support. We respect retailers and don’t belittle them into thinking they need to be part of a restrictive fascia to survive. Hence the tag line ‘Delivering Independence’.
Equally we know indies and manufacturers alike are grossly dissatisfied with the traditional wholesale channel for its ineffectiveness and inefficiencies as well as poor adoption of digital practices. I’ve personally helped companies like Tesco, Honda and Nike develop their global digital strategies and now I am using this experience to help the small indie retailer.
But for me the real validation as to why I know Todays will struggle to compete with us in the long-term is we are buying so well we actually wholesale to their wholesalers…. go figure.
Any questions you can tweet me at @jamie247