What’s next in wholesale? The answer is always changing

After more than a decade leading the way in wholesale innovations, b2b.store is taking on the biggest technological shift in decades

It wasn’t the most auspicious welcome to the wholesale sector. But it was significant nonetheless.

My company were hosting an event encouraging businesses from a wide range of industries to build an app to boost their online sales. A great idea in 2014, although only one person turned up: the Head of Digital from Bestway.

Whether it was having my undivided attention that swung it or that it was always destined to be a match made in heaven, but we really hit it off and it led to us building the first sophisticated ordering app in the sector.

By the time the app had gone live, we were fully awake to the opportunity wholesale offered us – and we’ve continued to be at the sharp end of industry innovation ever since.

For more than a decade since then, we’ve consistently asked ourselves, “what’s next for wholesale?” and the truth is, it’s an answer that never stays still.

As a result, we’ve been behind some of the smartest launches and trials the sector has seen. Ordering apps were a start, but we followed that up with notable projects centred on push notifications, in-depot Bluetooth Beacons, WhatsApp Business API and loyalty.

But the latest technological advancement that we’re leading the way with is surely going to be the biggest: AI.

Now, AI is a catch-all term for all sorts of things in 2026. It can mean anything from the automated product recommendations that have been on our online-ordering platforms for several years to the independent-thinking AI agents that can carry out predefined tasks in your business so your teams don’t need to.

AI is so vast for one very good reason. Its potential is so large that it genuinely can reach into every department in your business and drive productivity and generate ROI.

Sometimes that can be difficult as a business deciding where to invest in AI technology – believe me, it’s just as hard a tech business owner trying to decide what to prioritise –because too much choice can overwhelm. But it’s important not to let it put you off.

Having been at the forefront of so much other change in the convenience and wholesale sector, I’d say AI isn’t one you can sleep on. The commercial and cost-saving benefits of implementing AI solutions are large, and if you don’t do it, then somebody else will and it’ll be more difficult to catch up again.

To make this practical, we’ve been building AI capabilities into ProConnect in a way that fits how wholesale actually operates, grounded in real transactions, real customer service queries, and real trading patterns, so you can start small, prove value and scale without drama. This makes it much easier to manage and explore AI without the need for multiple subscriptions or tender processes with a team that understands the messiness of real wholesale operations.

The smartest AI journeys I’m seeing right now start with a single use case that’s easy to measure: fewer calls, faster issue resolution, better targeted promotions, more accurate forecasting. Expansion can come once everyone can see it working.

AI will be the biggest shift we’ve seen yet – not because it’s shiny, but because it can genuinely change the day-to-day economics of wholesale.

The sensible way through it is calm, measured and rooted in the realities of this sector. Start with one use case, prove it, then build.

We’ve helped wholesalers navigate a decade of change already. If we can help make the first steps into this AI era feel just as practical, we’ll have come a long way from that first Bestway meeting and it’ll be just as significant.