VOW is set to champion the ‘value of wholesale’ message in the coming months as part of a campaign aimed at explaining why high wholesale standards are critical to resellers.

The wholesaler has made significant market share gains in the last year, with its VOW+ partners enjoying continued growth and parent company Vasanta Group reporting 7% sales growth in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012.

Achieving this in challenging market and economic conditions is testament to the value of wholesale, says managing director Adrian Butler:

“VOW excels at moving boxes but we know that resellers must have this at the highest standards and see added value if they are to grow. Pure distribution alone is not enough.

“One key thing that value of wholesale entails is constant investment. For resellers that means VOW investing in the most up-to-date technology in our warehouse and transport fleets to accommodate the ever changing market. This includes an investment of £600,000 in pick to light and voice picking to handle an increase in volume of smaller order picks. Our investment in IT has ensured the delivery of tailored order presentations such as Pick Wrap & Label in different flavours, direct to the consumer or delivery into resellers’ premises at, in many cases, bespoke timed deliveries to suit resellers’ operational shift patterns. Our investment in new technologies has enabled the lowest cost per pick for efficiency and supply chain costs.

“Value of wholesale is also about continued investment in people. For resellers that means having the right people out in the field and internally to support their needs. Professional account management teams help to manage day to day important relationships and category specialists help dealers develop sales and margin in a changing market, whether this is facilities management, furniture, MPS or contract support.

“Our on-going investment in the market includes market research into category trends, emerging category trends, product sets within each category, technology and the environment, all of which dictate change and the speed of change. This investment and the resulting knowledge support resellers’ ability to capture market share.

“VOW has an impressive track record of investment in key services for our resellers under the VOW+ brand that, among other things, enable and develop lead generation, training and recruitment, new business acquisition, business retention, marketing, product category penetration and margin management. The twelve strong PACT team is celebrating its 14th consecutive year of growth and saw an 8.8% growth. The team helped our resellers defend and win £59 million worth of contracts in 2012 alone. These fantastic achievements reflect the capabilities and expertise of a team with over 55 years’ industry experience.

“Value of wholesale from VOW sets us apart from the competition. We do what we say we are going to do. We continue to do the hard work that is essential for the channel to prosper and invest in our infrastructure and we will continue to do so. This year alone we have invested in three facilities management specialists, two business development furniture specialists and one MPS specialist.

“Value of wholesale is a way of life for VOW, it helps us to focus on what we are good at and ensures that we and our reseller partners understand and can instinctively respond to our markets.”