For many new car dealership parts departments, wholesale is an afterthought — a few accounts here and there, orders taken when they come in, no real strategy behind it. That is a missed opportunity. A well-developed wholesale operation can add significant gross profit dollars to your department, improve your parts velocity, reduce obsolescence, and give your team a sense of purpose and momentum that retail alone rarely generates. The key is treating wholesale like a business within your business, complete with a growth plan and the metrics to measure it.

Start by identifying your natural wholesale market. Independent repair shops, body shops, fleet operators, and even other dealerships are all potential customers. Drive a five-mile radius around your store and make a list of every independent shop you can find. These are your prospects. Many of them are currently buying from a parts jobber or a competing dealer simply because no one from your store has ever walked through their door and made a compelling case for why they should switch. Your OEM parts carry a quality and fitment advantage that aftermarket suppliers cannot match — lead with that.

From there, build a structured outreach program. Assign a dedicated wholesale counter person or outside salesperson if volume justifies it. Consistency is everything in wholesale development — shops want to know there is a reliable, knowledgeable contact they can call who will pick up the phone, get them the right part, and deliver it fast. Same-day or next-day local delivery, even on a modest scale, can be a powerful differentiator against larger but slower competitors.

Pricing strategy matters too. Wholesale customers expect a discount, but margin does not have to be sacrificed entirely. Build tiered pricing levels based on monthly purchase volume and reward your best accounts with better pricing. This creates loyalty and gives accounts an incentive to consolidate their purchasing with you.

For monitoring, track wholesale performance weekly rather than monthly. Key metrics to watch include wholesale sales as a percentage of total parts sales, gross profit percentage on wholesale versus retail, number of active accounts, and average order size. If any of these numbers shift meaningfully week over week, you want to know why before it shows up on your monthly financial statement.

Innovative departments are also leveraging text and email communication to send daily or weekly specials to their wholesale account list — a simple tactic that keeps your store top of mind and drives incremental orders with almost no overhead.

Wholesale success does not happen by accident. Build the process, work it consistently, and measure everything. The results will follow.