Flooring Buying Group vs. Independent Flooring Retailers: A Comparison

When you run an independent flooring business, being able to price your products competitively is an important key to success. Thus, purchasing your products at the right price from the best suppliers is very important. Also, you have to consider the amount of time spent searching for and negotiating with your suppliers.

ProSource Wholesale is part of CCA Global Partners, a home improvement group of companies that includes many different flooring brands. This means that ProSource through our affiliation with CCA, we have strong flooring buying group experience and ability to negotiate great prices for our independent owners.

As a franchise opportunity, ProSource Wholesale operates like a buying group in many ways. We use the buying power of 150+ franchisees and the overall CCA Global buying power to negotiate favorable terms that allow us to market wholesale pricing for trade pro members. However, there are certainly ways in which we’re different from a buying group – more on that later!

The Pros and Cons of Flooring Buying Groups

Buying groups in any industry are established to offer lower prices through group purchasing. Some buying groups will package additional incentives, while others will be strictly a volume-based entity. The goal is to provide an advantage over the purchasing power of a strictly independent retailer.

The Pros of Buying Groups

The financial benefit is the main asset of a buying group. Volume discounting allows you to earn an extra point or two on your bottom line when you set your retail pricing.

In addition, some buying groups may combine marketing displays, product knowledge seminars, and other benefits when you join the buying group to help increase sales of the product. When exploring the option of buying groups, don’t discount the extras – there can be some great tips you can use in your flooring business.

The Cons of Buying Groups

Flooring buying groups often have some key requirements as part of your agreement with them. Two critical elements to be aware of include:

• Exclusivity: There may not be any exclusivity arrangements in the group, meaning the competitor down the street may be able to join the buying group too.
• Minimum purchases: The buying group may require you to spend a certain amount of money with them within a certain timeframe, or you may lose your group benefit.

When pursuing a buying group, you want to know exactly what the parameters are for your commitment or contract, and you have to think of it over the term of that agreement. While certain types of flooring may be popular right now, in a year or two they may be less popular — yet you have committed to a certain amount of product. This may put you in a bit of a bind if you’re not careful.

There is a way to earn the benefits of a flooring or carpet buying group without the challenges associated with managing that relationship, and which may help elevate your business goals at the same time: a ProSource franchise.

Becoming a Prosource Franchisee

As noted earlier, when you become a ProSource Wholesale franchisee, you’re part of a buying group in that 150+ other franchisees contribute to the overall purchasing power. You do not, however, have individual contracts to fulfill with suppliers – you simply benefit from the collective effort with all suppliers so you can provide wholesale pricing to your customer – the trade professional.

About Your Trade Pro Customer

The buying power continues as a benefit to your trade pro customer as well. For a $25 annual membership fee, the trade pro purchases products at membership prices. They also get several extras as part of that membership, such as:

• A dedicated account manager
• Design services
• 24/7 access to a private showroom
• 50,000+ products for kitchens, baths, outdoor living, flooring and sundries
• Purchase incentives and ProPerks
• Project management tools in real-time
• Financing terms

Consider the ProSource Opportunity

As someone already in the industry, you don’t have to be sold on the opportunity that the home improvement industry has to offer. You know it firsthand. What you should also know is that there are many ways to expand your business within this industry, and that can include a ProSource home improvement franchise.

Many of our franchisees used the ProSource franchise to elevate their current business portfolio and offer more to trade pro colleagues in the area through the variety of wholesale products available at ProSource. If you’re looking to grow an opportunity for your business, you should talk with us about the incentives we offer to help you achieve that.

Contact ProSource Wholesale

The franchise development team at ProSource Wholesale can speak with you about how the franchise opportunity works with your current business. Fill out our online franchise form today.