When Dollar Days International’s DollarDays.com noticed a run on candles last week, the wholesaler quickly created a new candles section with dozens of sub-categories. Fast response to selling trends keeps its name ranking high in Internet search results and its sales growing, president Marc Joseph tells InternetRetailer.com. “Expanding our inventory is part of our marketing strategy,” he says. “We rate higher with Internet search engines because we carry more than 25,000 products.”

Indeed, the wholesaler constantly modifies its online inventory, adding about 300 items a day while removing about 150. With sales to mom-and-pop retailers throughout the U.S., it dedicates a full-time staff person to constantly monitor orders to check which products are hot and which are not, and adjusts inventory accordingly. “The beauty of the Internet is that we can react to trends immediately,” Joseph says.

He adds that DollarDays.com has not resorted to paid search or done much to optimize its site for Internet search engines.

While helping to keep its name appearing in Internet search results, the strategy also lets DollarDays reap the benefit of extensive word-of-mouth throughout the small-retail community, Joseph says. “For marketing purposes, word-of-mouth on the Internet is powerful,” he says.

Most customers of DollarDays are small independent shop owners, including gift shops and general merchandisers, who generally do not compete against one another but against large retail chains like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. “Many of them know each other, so when they find the right products at the right price on DollarDays.com, they let each other know about it,” Joseph says. “Everybody is up against the chains, so they’re sharing the information in Internet chat rooms and bulletin boards.”

Dollar Days, which conducts all of its sales over the web, does 80% of business with small retail stores, the remainder with flea markets and non-profit organizations that operate fundraisers.