Sugro has become the first wholesale buying group to launch a supplier-funded B2B WhatsApp initiative to send messages directly to retailers.
Securing support from the likes of Britvic, PepsiCo and Red Bull, the suppliers will fund promotional WhatsApp messages that will be sent to the retailers of Sugro’s wholesale members who have opted into the scheme.
It means suppliers can take advantage of a broader retailer audience by using Sugro’s combined scale of wholesale members to generate revenue.
There will be a further benefit to wholesalers supporting Sugro’s initiative because they will receive a profit share of revenues generated by the WhatsApp messages, the buying group said.
The initiative comes off the back of an initial tie-up between Sugro and B2B.store, the supplier for the B2B WhatsApp comms solution, earlier this year. It meant Sugro’s wholesale members could create individual WhatsApp channels to share their own content with retailers at a preferential rate.
“We’ve been aware of a growing buzz in the wholesale sector about B2B WhatsApp’s potential and decided to explore new ways we could tap into this as a buying group,” said Sugro head of commercial and marketing Yulia Petitt.
“There has been a lot of supplier interest in what WhatsApp has to offer, so by launching our own messaging capability that will funnel through to our wholesalers’ retail customers, we’re creating something that will benefit every step of the supply chain.
“We’re now building our audience and scale even further by signing more wholesalers up to receive our messages.”
B2B.store CEO Rob Mannion said: “This has been a breakthrough year for B2B WhatsApp and we’ve had a steady stream of businesses getting in touch to find out how they can use the technology to their benefit.
“Sugro were one of the first to embrace this approach and have been incredibly proactive in finding a new way that could benefit buying group members and their customers.
“The model is a win-win for everyone, with wholesalers sharing relevant information that will add to their sales, and suppliers getting the opportunity to communicate with retailers in a highly engaged channel – and sometimes even at the point of purchase. It’s a clever use and we expect it to be a huge success.”
No comments yet