A new national end-of-life goods wholesaler has launched with the intention of offering independent retailers greater flexibility and margins than its rivals.
Box Deals, established in November last year, offers paperware, toiletries, end-of-life products, confectionery, alcohol, seasonal lines and soft drinks to retailers in England, Wales and Scotland.
The range includes lines from Princes, Fox’s, Nutella, Lynx, Oreo, Boost, Coca-Cola, Harrogate Spring Water, Simple and Britvic, with some of the range unavailable from other national wholesalers.
The company was launched by a team with decades of experience within the convenience industry. Its founder, who asked not to be identified, told Better Retailing margins on products sold range between 25% and 50%.
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A 24-can pack of Diet Coke, dated to the end of May, is available at £4.75, compared to £8.99 for a 24- can case from Booker.
The founder said: “Delivered wholesale has become very margin-light and retailers are suffering at the end of it.
“They’re getting 5% to 6% margin on certain lines from some major wholesalers. Box Deals started to help retailers make better margin. We’re thinking like retailers and selling like retailers, which is not what wholesalers do any more.
“We started off writing orders on a piece of paper. We grew and it got really complicated. We stopped trading for a week and built a website. The business initially focused on selling paperware, but we realised this would also work for other products.”
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Retailers must spend £350 or more to qualify for free delivery. Any spend below this threshold is £40 for the first pallet, and £20 for the second pallet.
Additional fees may be charged for deliveries into Central London and certain parts of Scotland.
Commenting on how the firm sources its products, the founder said: “We’ve had many years of trading under us and a lot of the products we sell are coming to us. We’re dealing with a lot of manufacturers and many other wholesalers who have been unable to reach independent retailers in the past.
“We’re registered under the Alcohol Wholesale Registration Scheme, so we can legally sell trade alcohol, which is one of our most popular categories.”
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Box Deals is working with logistics firm Palletforce and a local haulier to deliver orders to retailers. It promises deliveries within 48 hours of an order being placed.
The owner said demand for Box Deals has been positive since its launch and it is looking to expand further. “We’ve had retailers who are buying multiple pallets. One enquired about taking half-a-lorryfull of paperware.
“There is a lot of planning now involved, and we are outgrowing where we are. We have one storage space for the stock and are looking to take on another to boost our capacity.”
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