The wholesale food market is very competitive and diverse. Manufacturers, growers, importers, and suppliers aim to increase their distribution networks to retailers and food service businesses. As such, it’s important to offer a combination of affordable prices, convenience, and value to businesses. Creating digital catalogs is an easy way for restaurant suppliers to showcase their products. These catalogs can be browsed by restaurant managers and other businesses in the foodservice industry. Digital product catalogs can also be uploaded on B2B food marketplaces like BlueCart’s Endless Aisle for wholesalers. In this post, we’ll explain why BlueCart is one of the best digital catalog tools for restaurant suppliers and how distributors in the food and beverage industry can leverage it to their advantage. Make sure to also check our post on how to grow a foodservice distribution business and our article on the features of BlueCart’s Endless Aisle for restaurants.
Key takeaway: Restaurant suppliers create both physical and digital catalogs. In recent years, creating catalogs through B2B marketplace platforms has become popular for distributors. These solutions also have various additional features and can be used to improve the operations of both wholesalers and their customers. Physical catalogs, downloadable digital ones, and eCommerce catalogs on company websites are other popular types of restaurant supplier catalogs.
What Are Supplier Catalogs
These are organized lists of products created by vendors. They contain names of products, prices, and specifications. In order to be well organized, some vendors also include item codes (usually SKUs) and availability status. In the case of foodservice wholesalers, their catalogs might also include nutritional information, minimum order quantities, and packaging options.
Generally speaking, there are four main types of supplier catalogs:
- Printed catalogs are brochures or physical booklets that are still used in some sectors.
- Digital catalogs are downloadable files that can be easily shared via email.
- eCommerce catalogs are product listings that are separated into different categories and listed on the company’s website.
- Marketplace-based catalogs are integrated in a B2B platform like BlueCart’s Endless Aisle. They might have additional features like dynamic pricing, real-time inventory updates, and tracking capabilities.
In recent years, printed catalogs have become less common, especially among food suppliers. That’s because of the volatility of prices in the sector and the convenience of eCommerce catalogs and marketplaces. They can significantly help the B2B marketing strategy of restaurant suppliers.
Catalog Creation Tools for Food Distributors
Depending on the type of catalog, suppliers have various options on how to create them. Printed or digital catalogs can be created with design solutions like Canva, Google Docs, InDesign, or Adobe Acrobat. Hard-copy catalogs are suitable for showcasing key items at trade shows or during in-person sales visits. Digital catalogs can be marketed through email marketing and the company’s website. Since they are static and can go out of date quickly, they are not recommended as a primary catalog for restaurant suppliers.
Web-based catalogs can be created through Shopify or WooCommerce. They are easy to use for both distributors and restaurant businesses. These are among the best digital catalog tools for restaurant suppliers who focus on online sales through their company website. Web catalogs can be combined with other types. They can also be integrated with mobile apps, B2B marketplaces, and other sales channels. This ensures real-time updates and inventory tracking capabilities.
B2B eCommerce platforms are an excellent option for suppliers in the hospitality industry to create catalogs. They are intuitive, easy to use, and offer real-time inventory updates and dynamic pricing. Using B2B eCommerce platforms as part of the wholesale marketing strategy can lead to increased revenue and scalability of the distribution network. These solutions are also valuable pieces of restaurant technology. Food service businesses can use them to do restaurant data analytics, schedule repeat orders, pay invoices to wholesalers, find suppliers, and more. Examples of such platforms include BlueCart, Faire, and Choco.
Catalog Creation with BlueCart’s Endless Aisle
Our platform makes the creation of wholesale catalogs seamless. BlueCart helps vendors sell smarter, not harder, thanks to its endless aisle and other features for distributors. It’s specifically targeted at suppliers in the food and beverage sector. Manufacturers, growers, importers, and farmers can also benefit from BlueCart’s tools for distributors. You simply need to systematize your items and upload your catalog. BlueCart helps you write product descriptions and recommends royalty-free images.
BlueCart’s Endless Aisle also has features to make your catalog stand out. That includes pricing comparison tools, sponsored ads for selected products, and filters based on the value for money. BlueCart’s Endless Aisle is one of the best inventory systems for restaurants. As such, it’s used by thousands of food service businesses to order in bulk, calculate restaurant profit margin, and manage their inventory levels.
Frequently Asked Questions about Digital Catalog Tools for Restaurant Suppliers
Business owners can find resources from various niche markets on BlueCart’s website. That includes tips on how to calculate the cost of goods sold and information on what inventory shrinkage is. Check out our answers to common questions regarding digital catalogs for food service suppliers.
How to Make a Wholesale Catalog Stand Out?
Thanks to modern design and marketing techniques, distributors can make their catalogs stand out from the rest. That’s crucial in the competitive food market. Catalogs also need to be intuitive, well-structured, and easy to use and navigate. Tools like the predictive ordering feature of BlueCart’s Endless Aisle make it even easier for wholesale buyers to order. Making your catalog stand out is important for B2B marketplaces for food distributors and restaurants. These platforms showcase products from thousands of distributors. Thus, suppliers need to use high-quality images, good product descriptions, and offer competitive prices.
What Are Order Management Systems for Restaurant Suppliers?
These tools allow foodservice wholesalers to track and process orders from their customers. Both specialized suppliers who focus on a specific product category and broadline distributors need a reliable order management system. It allows them to automate certain processes and scale operations. Furthermore, an order management system can also be used to increase the value for wholesale buyers. Businesses benefit from wholesale ordering software as it allows them to track order history and create subscriptions. In addition, the best wholesale order management solutions can also be integrated with food inventory management systems.
What Are the Trends in Wholesale Catalogs?
Digitalization has been a trend in wholesale catalogs for over a decade. Printed product catalogs are a rarity nowadays. Innovations and technologies are at the core of eCommerce product catalog design. Companies can use a variety of tools to create their digital catalogs. In fact, catalogs can be integrated with other software in order to automatically update prices, quantities, and other metrics.
Marketplaces where wholesale buyers can browse through many B2B eCommerce catalogs are also a major trend. These endless aisles allow businesses to source products from multiple vendors simultaneously.
BlueCart: One of the Best Digital Catalog Tools for Restaurant Suppliers
Whether you want to easily create wholesale catalogs or need a reliable order management platform for distributors, BlueCart is the right solution for you. Our software allows foodservice suppliers to automate various processes, increase wholesale sales, and scale their business. Schedule a demo in order to see how BlueCart helps suppliers, farmers, importers, manufacturers, growers, and other B2B businesses in the food sector.
If you manage a business in the restaurant industry, you can simply sign up for BlueCart as a buyer. Our platform allows food service companies to easily buy wholesale products from multiple vendors, manage their inventory, and calculate profitability.