Introduction
The suppliers of the industry include all brands with products that membership clubs want to distribute. These suppliers range from pharmaceutical brands to farmers since these warehouse clubs sell almost everything in bulk. Suppliers also include the self-storage industry. When working with this type of supplier, such nuances as environmental friendliness of production, variety of volume, and safety of chemical composition for the contents are taken into account.
Another important supplier is the manufacturer of refrigeration equipment. At a comparable level of prices, the selection of industrial refrigeration equipment necessary technical characteristics of different manufacturers is carried out by the customer based on an objective comparative evaluation of several factors, such as energy efficiency; economy; environmental friendliness, and safety of operation. Thus, the subject of this industry is among the selection of suppliers of its products of all brands, with which the cooperation is carried out. The storage and handling of goods also require working with suppliers of product containers. Finally, having perishable goods means working with refrigeration suppliers. Each product supplied is checked against a multitude of criteria.
Substitute Products/Services
Substitute products and services to Sam’s Club would be Costco, BJ’s, Amazon, Whole Foods, Target, and Walmart (however Walmart is the parent company of Sam’s Club) and any other wholesaler or local grocery stores. There are certain times when customers do not need a lot of a certain item because they are forced to buy in bulk or just do not have the extra space, so an alternative would be to visit their local grocery store. Other substitutes to the actual Sam’s Club Member’s Mark items would be the brand name items that they also carry.
Many wholesalers like Sam’s Club are far away from the city areas because they require a large amount of land to operate. This causes some members to travel farther than they normally would to receive items that they can get easily at their local grocery stores. For this reason, the various online marketplaces are good substitutes. E-commerce functions as a form of digital store, which exists in the form of a regular business and contains all the elements that are characteristic of any organization operating in the real world. E-commerce functions as a form of a digital store that exists in the form of an ordinary business and contains all the elements that are characteristic of any organization operating in the real world. Thus, the main substitutes in this industry are small retail stores as well as online commerce entities. Each has several unique advantages for consumers. And will be chosen when Sam’s Club options become insufficient.
The Threat of New Entrants
There is a relatively low threat of new entrants in the warehouse industry. The barriers to entry include large funding, the need for storage facilities, and high existing competition with well-known membership clubs. It will be difficult to find a good location that is large enough for the huge warehouse. Entering the industry requires up to hundreds of thousands in investments and the business will need to partner with brands to distribute and sell items in bulk. Aside from sourcing and distributing, it is required for the business to have large storage facilities.
Businesses like Sam’s Club and Costco utilize their warehouses as stores, making distribution easier since it does not require getting products to other stores before reaching the consumer. It will also be hard to create demand for the new business as most customers are already loyal to the current wholesaler that they are members of. The membership program makes it harder to enter the industry because of loyalty programs. One way that there would be a threat of a new entrant is if the new business had even lower membership fees with the same type of deals, or potentially even better deals/lower costs than the ones Sam’s Club already offers; which might encourage members to switch.
Conclusion
Wholesale companies are intermediaries between the manufacturer and the consumer. Cooperation with wholesalers is interesting and profitable for many participants in the sales process, especially for manufacturers and distributors. Nevertheless, the subjects of this industry are very dependent on manufacturers, who are ready to provide the necessary volumes, but the delivery time does not include the time of registration of customs documents and delivery. Consequently, when a wholesaler buys a product, he must be prepared for the fact that he will be able to sell it only in six months. For these purposes, it is necessary to have a well-functioning plan for logistics and working with clients, in its absence the goods will not be sold and the risk of leaving the market will be quite high.