How Sugro and b2b.store combine to serve a national membership

A varied services offering and innovative thinking provide diverse group of wholesalers with digital growth

The dulcet tones of The Jackson Five were definitely on to something. When a young Michael Jackson and his four older brother harmonised to sing “just call my name and I’ll be there” in their 1970 chart smash, they could easily have been describing a good working partnership as much as their brotherly love.

Ok, so that might be the sort of saccharine comment you’d expect to read on LinkedIn, but it is a pretty accurate summary of how b2b.store acts as a digital consultant – just without the Motown sheen.

One of the best examples of that in action is how we work with Sugro UK, one of Britain’s largest food and beverage wholesale buying groups. Sugro has more than 90 members that span across the nation, so service a variety of different needs to help the stock churning and the revenue turning.

As part of that role, Sugro’s team is continually innovating to retain its place as one of the country’s best, with digital services at the heart of their ambitions. So whenever they have a challenge to solve or simply want to hear what’s the next big development, they’re always speaking to b2b.store.

In partnership, our bespoke solutions have grabbed headlines and delivered results, leading to Sugro earning a reputation for being the first in the sector to launch a host of digital innovations, including an eLoyalty rewards scheme and a buying group WhatsApp Business API channel.

Alongside this, they offer member-exclusive deals for a number of b2b.store services, including WhatsApp, eCommerce and open banking. They are also keen advocates of our AI-driven capabilities, such as our in-built AI marketing assistant in ProConnect and our array of AI agents.

Communication is key to continually test and learn ideas and try out solutions to refine them for Sugro’s membership. To do this, Sugro identified a handful of willing wholesalers to use concepts and provide honest feedback on how well they work and bring in supplier support when needed too.

It’s an approach that works well, with Sugro and b2b.store’s partnership often spawning some of the most exciting developments in the wholesale sector.

“b2b.store is the perfect partner because they are B2B specialists and are ingrained in the wholesale sector, so understand the nuances and challenges our members face,” said Yulia Petitt, Sugro’s Head of Commercial and Marketing.

Our work together stretches beyond simply the tech we develop too. If Sugro want to promote the services they’re using, they often work with b2b.store’s communications team to draft press releases to ensure accuracy and a strong news angle, while they also use our creative services for an annual conference video showcasing their digital projects.

Most importantly, what we do with Sugro often produces positive results. With more than 12 members using the online-ordering capability and eight active WhatsApp channels, with increased revenues, and time and cost savings across the board.

“We’ve noticed a huge uplift in sales,” Tom Lumsden, Director at member North West Wholesale said. “It’s freed up our staff’s time to concentrate on finding new customers and maintaining existing relationships. It is a daunting task, but the b2b.store team are there to help you and hold your hand along the way”

All he (and Sugro) had to do was call b2b.store.