Latest news with #wholesalers
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
The last wholesalers of Union Market
Two different signs tell visitors they've arrived at Northeast Washington's Union Market. One is new and sits atop a renovated warehouse off Fifth Street. Inside, there's a thriving food hall with more than 40 vendors, selling Cuban sandwiches for $17 and South Indian dosas for $15. The other is decaying and missing letters. It stands above a row of nearly century-old buildings a block away on Fourth Street. These buildings were once the center of D.C.'s wholesale district, housing dozens of wholesalers that provided food and supplies to restaurants, small businesses and individuals inside and outside the D.C. region since the market first opened in 1931.
Forbes
16-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Truth About B2B Buyer Satisfaction: Why Digital Adoption Isn't Enough
Yoav Kutner is the Co-Founder and CEO of OroCommerce, a B2B-focused commerce platform for manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors. If you believe the industry headlines, digital commerce in B2B is now the norm. Most buyers do prefer it: 7 of 10 B2B buyers see online buying as more convenient and prefer to do so when ready to buy. Yet only 36% of buyers told Digital Commerce 360 that their supplier's e-commerce experience deserves the word 'excellent.' Clearly, the experience is falling short. There's no mystery about what's missing. In our client work, we keep seeing a mismatch between what suppliers provide and what buyers need to get work done. Our own recent survey of procurement leaders surfaced many of the same challenges, with some surprising specifics. Here's where the friction lives in 2025: Teams Can't Work Like Teams B2B buying is rarely a solo sport. Buyers want to add colleagues, assign roles and manage approvals from one place. Most portals still treat every login as a lone account, so teams are stuck passing spreadsheets and emails to keep everyone in sync. The technology ignores how distributed and collaborative most procurement is today. No Option To Set Standard Orders Most B2B buyers have repeat purchases they need every month or quarter. Still, many are forced to rebuild these orders from scratch each time. No saved templates, no auto-reorder, no automation. All that repetition is pure overhead, and it introduces mistakes that shouldn't happen. Search: Still A Pain Point You'd expect that searching for a part number or product would be solved by now. Instead, buyers complain about search tools that don't return the right results, filter systems that don't match how their teams think and catalogs that are impossible to navigate at scale. If it takes longer to find an SKU than to just call the rep, the portal isn't pulling its weight. Disconnected Quotes, Approvals And Orders The flow from quote to approval to order is still broken in many digital systems. Buyers start online but finish by phone or email because the platform doesn't support integrated approvals or clear status updates. We've heard of teams screenshotting quotes just to share them, adding yet another step to a process that was supposed to be digital. Payments Still Don't Fit How Buyers Work Buyers often need payment flexibility: purchase orders, ACH or splitting payments by project or department. Too many platforms lock them into a single option. There are cases when buyers have to wait days for manual credit approval or abandon carts entirely when their company's payment method isn't supported. It's a missed sale that could have been prevented with more flexible, buyer-driven payment choices. When Returns Become An Unwanted Surprise When a shipment goes sideways, buyers want control, not more admin work. We've heard stories where back-ordered items arrive months later, long after the buyer has already sourced replacements elsewhere. Instead of checking in first, the supplier sends out the shipment anyway. The buyer is left managing unwanted products, setting up returns and navigating a mess that could have been avoided. A simple digital check—'Do you still need this back-ordered item?'—would spare both sides the hassle. When platforms skip this step, it's a clear sign the design was never really centered on the buyer. What To Fix—And How If you want digital to work for your customers, address the workflow issues that buyers run into every day: • Design For Teams: Make it simple for buyers to add users, assign permissions and share order history across a company, not just per account. • Automate Recurring And Complex Orders: Let buyers save order templates, set up scheduled replenishment and configure frequent bulk buys once (not every cycle). • Prioritize Search And Navigation: Test your search tool with real buyers. Use their language for filters and categories. Make it easy to find what matters without expert training. • Connect The Workflow: Integrate quotes, approvals and order placement in a single, visible stream. Show status, highlight next steps and allow teams to collaborate without leaving the platform. • Be Proactive With Real-Time Communication: Build in notifications for inventory updates, delivery changes and price adjustments so buyers don't have to chase answers. • Simplify Returns And Problem Resolution: Give buyers clear options to fix issues online, with fast follow-up and no hidden hoops. Digital is only as strong as its weakest process. If your e-commerce site looks impressive but still forces buyers to call for basics, it's time to rethink the road map. The bar is low, but buyers' patience is even lower. If you're ready to compete on something besides price, fix the points where your digital journey breaks down. Most suppliers haven't—and that's the opening. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
NHK
04-07-2025
- Business
- NHK
Japan rice price index projects decline
A survey shows Japan's growers and wholesalers expect rice prices to drop over the next three months as government stockpiles have been released into the market. The price outlook index as of June fell by the most on record. The Rice Stable Supply Support Organization released the findings of its June survey on Friday. The index on the outlook for the next three months dropped by 24 points from a month earlier to 35, on a zero to 100 scale. The margin of decline was the largest since the survey began in 2012. The index for the current rice prices fell 10 points to 83. A reading of 100 means respondents strongly expect prices to be higher compared with the previous month.
Free Malaysia Today
30-06-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Japan private-sector rice imports soar in May
Rice prices in Japan have doubled since last year after an extreme heatwave hit the 2023 harvest. (Kyodo News via AP) TOKYO : Japan's private-sector rice imports rocketed higher in May as the country grapples with supply shortages that have become a major headache for both consumers and policymakers. Some 10,600 metric tonnes of so-called staple rice – which is consumed at meals as opposed to rice used for feed or ingredients in other products – were imported by companies such as trading firms and wholesalers despite high levies. While that's still a small amount compared to the roughly 7 million tonnes eaten by the Japanese each year, it represents a huge jump from the 3,004 tonnes imported for the entire last financial year that ended in March. Rice prices in Japan have doubled since last year after an extreme heatwave hit the 2023 harvest which was then exacerbated by stockpiling following an earthquake and additional demand from a boom in tourism. To tackle the problem, Japan's government began releasing stockpiled rice directly to retailers from late May, allowing some consumers to snap up 5kg of rice for about ¥2,000 (US$13.85) – less than half of average supermarket prices. Japanese restaurants and consumers are increasingly turning to US brands in search of cheaper prices. Japan takes a heavily protectionist stance towards its most basic food and traditionally has not had to rely on imports. Private-sector imports are subject to a levy of ¥341 per kg. The government can also import 100,000 tonnes of staple rice tariff free under World Trade Organization rules. It decided to hold a tender for tariff-free imported rice this month, earlier than the usual auction in September, to help lower soaring prices.
Reuters
27-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Japan private-sector rice imports soar in May
TOKYO, June 27 (Reuters) - Japan's private-sector rice imports rocketed higher in May as the country grapples with supply shortages that have become a major headache for both consumers and policymakers. Some 10,600 metric tons of so-called staple rice - which is consumed at meals as opposed to rice used for feed or ingredients in other products - were imported by companies such as trading firms and wholesalers despite high levies. While that's still a small amount compared to the roughly 7 million tons eaten by the Japanese each year, it represents a huge jump from the 3,004 tons imported for the entire last financial year that ended in March. Rice prices in Japan have doubled since last year after an extreme heatwave hit the 2023 harvest which was then exacerbated by stockpiling following an earthquake and additional demand from a boom in tourism. To tackle the problem, Japan's government began releasing stockpiled rice directly to retailers from late May, allowing some consumers to snap up 5 kg of rice for about 2,000 yen ($13.85) - less than half of average supermarket prices. Japanese restaurants and consumers are increasingly turning to U.S. brands in search of cheaper prices. Japan takes a heavily protectionist stance towards its most basic food and traditionally has not had to rely on imports. Private-sector imports are subject to a levy of 341 yen per kilogramme. The government can also import 100,000 tons of staple rice tariff free under World Trade Organization rules. It decided to hold a tender for tariff-free imported rice this month, earlier than the usual auction in September, to help lower soaring prices.
