Faced with softening B2B sales through trade shows which accounted for about 40% of its sales, David’s Wholesale, a provider of backpacks and school supplies, realized it needed a new sales channel to survive, says CEO David Semel. At the time, sales generated through trade shows were declining 15% annually over a three-year period.
David’s Wholesale launched an Amazon store more than two years ago after realizing that many of the B2B buyers it targeted were turning to the Amazon marketplace to purchase backpacks and school supplies, the categories that make up David’s Wholesale’s market niche. The results have been impressive. Sales through its Amazon store account for about 50% of the company’s more than $10 million in total sales. Also, the store helped grow B2B sales by 57% in 2020.
“Prior to launching our Amazon store, we were a wholesaler that relied heavily on exhibiting at trade shows for sales, but a few years ago, we saw that sales through that channel were weakening and that a lot of potential customers were searching for products on Amazon,” Semel says. “We realized that we needed to embrace Amazon or risk going out of business.”
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