Vendor Communication

No. I know what I can get at the nearby shop. I call him and ask for availability. He asks me to send a photo of the part on WhatsApp, and then he tells me if it's available after seeing the message. Every vehicle doesn't have the same parts. For example, the Activa has 4 models. If I ask him about Activa parts, he asks for the part photo on WhatsApp. For JC Road, I have to carry the old part along. No, I don't have any contact over JC Road. There are many shops there, so I have to search there.

I inquire about the rates. Not always. I do inquire if there is a new shop or a new item. The rest are regular items.

I get my items from wholesale shops. It is from Chickpet where there are many shops. I don't buy from a single shop; it is from different shops. I have to get shirts from a shop. It is mostly from a shop. As the business is down, the sales are also less. I go there only once a year. I have a wholesaler for suitings and another for sarees.

I select the wholesale shops based on rates. I go to 2-3 shops and select the shop that offers the lowest rates. The quality is the same everywhere. If there is a saree for Rs.500, we can get it at different rates in different shops. It depends on the profit they make. I choose the shops that give me the lowest rate. That is how I make my decision. It is essential. Otherwise, the wholesalers will overcharge us. They may even charge Rs.50 more per item. It is important to be careful. I also ask the workers for rates. I ask the owners for rates as well. If they quote the same rate, I purchase items from them. Sometimes, the staff and owners may quote different rates. It is not good to buy from them.

No, I don't use WhatsApp for buying from wholesalers. The material is not understood through WhatsApp. It is better to go and look personally. Even those who have been in this business for 100 years cannot exactly know the quality. I just know that if I get an item for Rs.100, I can sell it for Rs.110 or Rs.120. No one can guarantee the quality, and no one can exactly fix the rate. The mills set a rate, the wholesalers set another rate, and finally, we set another rate. At each level, they take some profit. No one can determine a perfect rate.

I have to go and check the items before buying from wholesalers. Otherwise, I will get bad items. I will get the good ones even when I make a phone call. But they will send items that are not sold there. I may have to sell them off at half the price. That will be a loss for me.

No, sir. I don't have WhatsApp contact with vendors. They don't have time. They only send photos of the saris. If you want to place an order, they will talk to you but they don't have time. The staff sends it to me not the big vendors. I am talking about small shops. I have taken their number. They have given me this facility. Since I have started buying more, they have made it convenient for me that If I am selling 4 saris and I want 4 more then they will send it to me.

I have a photo of the saris that I have sold. I only send a photo to the vendors. I tell them to place the order, 4 more saris. They don't have time to talk to me. They have a specific time to come on WhatsApp. Their WhatsApp opens from 10.30 to 11.30 in the morning. They check and reply to you. They don't reply all day. You have to wait and WhatsApp is not allowed in any shop and videography is not allowed be it Jaipur, Kolkata or anywhere else. If you take the phone and say to take a photo then you will be refused immediately. There is a big banner there because time is wasted. We are showing our four customers that it looks good, see this lehenga, see this lehenga and later they will say that it doesn't look good, let's go to another shop. All their time is wasted on you. So they have refused in all the shops that videography, WhatsApp, taking photos is not allowed. It happens for me because I am a proper customer. Sometimes I get stuck so they allow a little for me to take just take one photo. Otherwise we don't take out our phone.

India Mart has a paid subscription plan as well and If you buy that once then the type of enquiries that I am getting it comes on search basis. For example if your are searching something and if you specially go to my profile and contact me then you can do it. And if you take a paid subscription then if you search about a particular product then India Mart will immediately suggest you my profile. That this seller is willing this particular product. So you can immediately call me and if you have any enquiry then you can ask me.

With all the good vendors, there is already a group. They share information about their products in the group. I will show it to you. The technology in the phone has made it convenient for us. We don't have to think too much about it. The vendors create the groups. There are two ways to communicate in the group: through broadcast messages or individual messages. For example, this Neelam company, it is from 2021. There are a total of 156 participants, and I am also a participant. Whenever they want to do anything, for example, if you see here, they have posted about their product. They share whatever they have in the group. All the 156 people are retailers. For me, the company is a vendor, but for the company, they have many counters. Similarly, all the big vendors create groups because they don't have time to speak with each and every one individually. If their phone is busy, then in the group, I will ask, "Sir, what is the rate for this product in this quantity?" and they will reply, and then I will say, "Okay, I will make the payment online and the product will be delivered." So we keep looking in different groups. That company doesn't create any group. Havells won't create any group. The employee of Havells will come and create an employee group for all the people. Havells is the distributor. I am a distributor, so Havells will create a distributor group. For example, there is Ganpati Enterprises of Havells. We have created a group of people like RR, Robin Singh. Like this, all are vendors. All our numbers are here, so whatever we want to do, we do it here.

Most of the work is done on WhatsApp. For example, let's take Raj Electronics. They have created a group of people where they share information with the retailers. For instance, if they have a new product, like R1 from Havells, they can quickly inform all the retailers in the group. This ensures that any necessary information reaches us promptly. It is common for everyone to use such vendor groups.

All the vendor companies have provided their apps to me, such as Havells. In those apps, I am able to see the rates - the price and the minimum price. If you take a look, Havells, RR, and other vendors have their own apps like RR Connect. In these apps, you can find my name, Vishnu Kumar Dubey, and my mobile number. If you need any information, for example, currently, the Summer Bonanza scheme is running. I clicked on it and now the information is available. It shows the sales for this month and the number of incentives. I have achieved the highest level, which is level 3. The requirement was to reach 203, and I surpassed it by reaching 205. As a result, I received an incentive. I received my incentive as the 36th person, meaning that in addition to what I sold, the company gave me incentive points. The company regularly runs these types of programs. All of us use these apps. Please note that these apps are not for customers; they are specifically for me and are provided by the company. This extra profit is a bonus for me. The company informs me that if I sell 200 of their coils this month, there is a specific scheme running and I will be eligible for it. We strive to achieve these schemes, and we succeed!

No, I have not listing on Whatsapp. I have the online number of party’s sales person. I have party’s office number also. When sales person is not available then I place the order with the party office. We have to ask sales person whether this material is available with you or not, if he says no then I have to contact different parties for that material.

I contact vendors on telephone, WhatsApp.

Even though the material is not available with us, customers come to us only. I had placed order to Punjab vendor and told him to give delivery within 4 days but he delivered it after 7 days, customers made much fuss saying our vehicle is standing useless, it has become very late and all. We tell customers that we have placed order for your part, if you will go elsewhere he will also consume 10 days more, now here only 3 days are pending, you will get the part in 3 days from now. We tell them transporting issue happens many times, it becomes delayed. Vendors tell us that we have already dispatched your material, you will get it soon. Vendors tell us clearly that they have that material or not.

Smartphone is a good invention. WhatsApp is there. I was thinking some time back that when WhatsApp was not there and trucks repairing work was being done here since 1985, how these people would be contacting vendors for the material. Maybe they would be contacting them on landline which was more trending at that time. Now we immediately click the photo, tell the vendor that this spare part and this model number we want and they send us the material. Now everything has become easy. Earlier there used to be much problem. Vendors used to send person with the material for delivery from other state to this state. Entire day of that person used to get wasted in travelling like this. The process used to be very slow. Same was with the shopkeepers, sometimes they used to send their person to the party to get the delivery of the material. At that time travelling was slow also. One day used to get wasted in travelling only. Now the process has become very fast, if we need the material immediately, the vendors will deliver it to us on next day. If we want anything urgent then they charge us more for it and send it in the bus. Within 1 hour the material reaches us then.

WhatsApp has become easy, if we click photo on it and send, our work happens with perfection. The shopkeeper or vendor is able to see the parts properly. I told you about WhatsApp, it is very much useful to me in my business. I click photo of the material that I have received and the copy of the bill and send to the vendor on WhatsApp. Even vendors click the photo and send me on WhatsApp showing that they have sent this material. If they don’t have the material, they write me there that this material we don’t have so check it with other party. If there is any change in the part then we click the photo and send them that photo.

For complaints, first, we provide them with proper bills and everything. So, if they are facing a major problem, such as issues with growth or anything else, we take their phone number and inform the company responsible. Initially, we inform the distributor and they provide us with the contact number of the company. I inform the distributor that I received this material from them and there is a problem with it. They then give us the contact number of the Medical Representative (MR) of that company. We contact them, and they come here to check the issue and resolve it. They either reimburse the farmer or provide them with other seeds. If the company fails to take any action, then the customer is free to file a complaint against them. We keep everything, we give them bills and everything.

If there is a new product in the market, then we get information about it from WhatsApp. Our distributor sends it to us on WhatsApp and also informs us about any schemes.

We have groups on WhatsApp, and the company sends us things. We receive all the updates here, including information about seeds and agro science. I deleted all the messages two days ago only. They send us things related to their products. If they launch a new product or something, then they send us an update. They have implemented this program and sent this.

No, I don't make video or voice calls on WhatsApp with dealers and customers. I directly call them. I mean, if they are facing some problem or if they want to tell me something, then mostly I prefer phone calls. I use WhatsApp only sometimes.

Vendors send the goods via WhatsApp. I buy small things. If some customers ask for costly things, I will send it via WhatsApp and they will send it to me through courier and I give it to my customers. I prefer going in person to see the collection. On WhatsApp, they will send information only about a few items, if we go there, they will show us 40 items.

I send positive messages on WhatsApp, including messages related to job opportunities. There is a group called Aam Aadmi Party that also sends me job-related messages. Jobs are often a priority for many people. I primarily use WhatsApp for my work, including marketing activities and purchasing items from individuals and companies. Additionally, I handle the business layout. I do not engage in lending activities or go out physically; all my work is conducted through my mobile phone.

I call the vendors and I even place orders on WhatsApp as well.

Because of the app? Nothing has changed, but we get to know about the new products. Here, this is our group, no, it is on the other mobile. Here, this is Raat Pharma Gandhi Baug. He is a wholesaler for us. Whatever new comes to him, he adds them to the list and mentions that they are available for purchase. Yes, we have a group named the production information group, which informs us about the new products. The group includes all the chemists from North Nagpur. We can send each other information about the products needed and the information needed for any product.

Yes. That's for toys, and then also for the household vendors as well. They would send me that on WhatsApp. They send me the catalog and pictures also. The vendor does send that.

Wholesalers and distributors have joined us in the WhatsApp group. We have to go to the market daily, mostly every other day. We can go there and if there is anything new, we purchase it. The regular items are normal. They post photos in their group, so we get to know if something new has arrived. Then we go and buy or book that item over the phone. They do post photos. Their customers are there on WhatsApp group. Everyone can see it. We are also the members in the Wholesaler group.

Boys who work for distributors come to our shop, and they will also have to make calls to us because that is a very important part of what they do. So, they call us, and if I feel that I can sell what they have, then I get it to the shop. They call us and come with all the items, asking us if we would like something new. They tell us to give it a try because sometimes the products are good, according to them. I will have to worry about the cost because if it's a new and very expensive product, then I am not sure if people will buy it.

There are groups and distributors who send the message in the group. They tell us that we could take a look at the new product and if there are any changes in the price of any product.

Vendors call on WhatsApp and send reminders about the payments. If I am at the market for any purchases, I pay them at that time.

For us, WhatsApp is used more because if a distributor sends photos of something or if a product arrives, then they have to provide information. We also use WhatsApp in groups. It is a distributors' group. Whoever provides us goods and if a new product is launched or if a price list comes, all these are shared in the group. They created the group and added us there.

Suppliers are available on WhatsApp. They share new models with us.

We call vendor for new stock. For examples, if there is Diwali, we ask what is special for Diwali. They send photos on WhatsApp. These are trending now. I used to check. We shouldn’t do as such if he says. I cannot say okay for everything. I should feel whether what you are saying is correct or not. He will send a sample and I will see. He says it is trending now. I will see and know whether it is really trending or not. After seeing it, I feel okay because it is new design and then place the order.

If a customer asks for a item and ays that it doesn’t matter if it takes a month but he wants 20 pieces which are all similar. I check with my vendors. I send them the image and ask them if they can either get it ready for me or give it to me if they have it. They might say that they need a month’s time. I will tell the customer that it will take so long and I will tell them to pay an advance before going. We give a receipt for the money that they have paid and that is all.

I have been using WhatsApp for many years and we don't do anything much related to business. However, there are WhatsApp groups wherein the wholesale market sellers will post the new things that are available in the market. If it is necessary I will buy it. When go to the shops and give them our mobile number, they will add us to these groups. Wholesalers in Coimbatore and Chennai send messages. If there are new collections they notify me and I will see and buy them.