“Rising freight costs are now a ”burden" for supply chains

The contribution of wholesalers to the EU economy was the topic of a EuroCommerce event, as speakers said there are 1.8 million wholesalers across the EU, 91% are small businesses with less than 10 employees employing 10.6 million Europeans and generating €660 billion in added value.

In addition, it was underlined that those who depend on global supply chains have been seriously affected from the disorder and the the rising costs of international maritime transport and containers. 

The President of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vassilis Korkidis in a statement, says that EuroCommerce held its annual WholesaleDay21 conference to bring together representatives of the European Commission on the contribution of wholesalers to the EU economy.

Inaugurating the event, according to the announcement, the President of EuroCommerce Régis Degelcke said:

«The title of our event today tells its own story - lifting the veil that often hides from the public the view of the vital role wholesalers play in the functioning of our economy. Today's complex supply chains are like any machine we use every day - we don't look at every component of the machine: we just wait for it to work. It's the same with wholesalers. Because they work with a wide range of industrial and professional customers, we, the end customer, don't see what they are doing to make the supply chain work for us. From the speakers today, we will hear much more about what the extremely diverse wholesale sector is doing for almost every part of the economy in Europe and the world and how they are addressing the challenges of the transition to the digital economy and sustainability.».

The Managing Director of Philippe Delpech of Sonepar, «the world's No. 1 electrical wholesaler,» as noted in the announcement, summed up his vision in the keynote address as follows:

«Wholesale is a key industry undergoing a major digital transformation with an increasing need for sustainable solutions. I am delighted to speak at this year's Wholesale Day and share Sonepar's ambitious transformation programme to become the first global B-to-B appliance distributor to provide a fully digital and synchronised omnichannel experience to all customers. Through a dense network of 100 branches spanning 40 countries, Sonepar makes life easier for its customers, without delay, by visiting customers, over the phone or online, wherever they need it.».

Information, there are 1.8 million wholesalers across the EU, working closely with industries in a diverse range of ecosystems. In doing so, they simplify and reduce the number of interfaces between producers and professional customers and provide a full range of products, accompanied by specialized services and added value to enable their customers to focus on managing their business successfully. 91% of wholesalers are small enterprises with less than 10 employees, and most of the remaining 9% are SMEs.

They employ 10.6 million Europeans and generate €660 billion in added value. The pandemic crisis has accelerated the need for businesses and their employees to adapt to digital and green transformation and need support to make the investments to achieve this. Wholesalers supplying the on-trade are being hit hard by the closure of hotels, restaurants and canteens and the majority of other wholesalers are seeing orders from customers drop or be cancelled due to the crisis. Those who depend on global supply chains have also been severely affected by the disruption and rising costs of international shipping and container transport.

In Greece

The President of the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vassilis Korkidis, notes that in our country there is no clear distinction between retail and wholesale trade as many retailers are active in wholesale and vice versa. In fact, according to the latest official joint ELSTAT data, wholesale and retail trade in Greece is the sector with the largest number of 227,682 businesses and has the largest share of total turnover, with a share of 44.2% and €113.4 billion in absolute terms before the pandemic. In addition, trade contributed 24% to the Greek economy with the highest gross value added of €11.8 billion. On the personnel cost side, the trade sector spent the largest amounts with 8.1 billion euros or 26.7%, as it ranked first in the employment figures with 749,823 employees or 28.9%, of which 527,896 were salaried employees.

Based on the size classes of firms, it appears that the sector with the largest number of small enterprises from 0 to 9 employees is wholesale and retail trade with 219,488 enterprises and a turnover of €42.2 billion. Finally, it is noted that over a three-year period, small enterprises with 0-9 persons in wholesale and retail trade decreased by 11.2%, while commercial enterprises employing 10-49 persons increased by 37.7% and enterprises employing more than 50 persons increased by 28.3%. Undoubtedly, wholesale trade plays an important role in the supply chain and bears a significant weight of both the Greek and the European economy.