The concept of wholesale buying isn’t new. The leverage obtained from wholesale buying or “economies of scale” was first documented two thousand years ago. This concept has universal applicability. In this article, we shall discuss the illustration of its use in the procurement of clothes. The benefits of wholesale clothing purchases are fairly obvious – consumers can save money.
Let’s trace the path traveled by clothes before they reach the end customer. Garment units manufacture clothes and supply to sales distributors. These distributors in turn supply to wholesalers. The wholesalers then supply clothes to a retail store from where the end customer buys it. At every step of this chain, a significant cost of transaction is added to the cost of manufacture. The end result is that the customer has to pay more so that these transaction agents get their commission. Trade in wholesale clothing eliminates some of these agents and therefore results in cost benefits.
Here we should consider the advantages from the manufacturer’s viewpoint. In the past, producers of goods saw smaller profits than wholesalers, suppliers and distributors. With those others taken out of the loop, a manufacturer can be sure that more money goes into his pockets. It’s a better deal for both manufacturer and consumer. The consumer purchases less expensive garments but the manufacturer still sees more of a profit than he otherwise would.
With the advent of retail chains, the concept of wholesale clothing got a major boost. Since these chains procure in very large quantities, they are able to pass on the accrued benefits to customers. However, these chains want to do away with stocks as soon as possible. Therefore, this provides added incentives for wholesale buying. Wholesale purchases are often rewarded with additional gifts.
There is another little appreciated facet of wholesale clothing. Often, we are benumbed by available variety and end up buying clothes which we don’t really want. Sometimes we duplicate our previous purchases. By buying several clothes together, you can make sure that each garment you buy is unique. It also allows you to match shirts with trousers. When these are purchased individually, matching clothes becomes a difficulty.
We live in a brand conscious world. People want to buy items for use and for showing it off to the world. This is true for our garment purchases as well. Don’t think that trendy clothing is not available at the wholesale level. For instance wholesale hip hop clothing is readily available at online wholesale clothing websites. Even the priciest designer labels wholesale designer clothing to lure customers.