Before the advent of computers and the Internet, restaurant owners who need to buy new supplies or equipment for their kitchen typically go directly to a cash and carry store or a dealer that has them.
Today, there are now many restaurant owners who go online to buy new equipment and supplies for their establishments.
The rational is simple: buying heavy restaurant equipment and supplies online is definitely much easier, faster and cheaper now than buying from traditional dealerships and stores that are selling restaurant equipment.
However, there are still some restaurant owners that are hesitant to buy large items (refs, ranges, ovens) online. They haven’t grasped as yet that the whole system has already been streamlined to have their equipment get to them faster, safer, and cheaper compared to those from the traditional sellers.
Buying Equipment Online vs. Traditional Dealerships
To this day, there are still many people in the food service industry that go straight to dealers when buying heavy restaurant equipment like ranges, ovens or fryers.
In addition, a salesperson might come to your business place and take measurements. These people are part of the sales force to make sure they get your business (buying the measured appliances from them).
Here are some reasons why buying online is a better move.
Sales people
Salespeople work on commission, so it’s in their interest to be able to sell to you. In buying online, you need not worry dealing with salespeople that might give you the run-around.
These salespeople are given enough incentives to make recommendations that are good for them, not for you. Anywhere in the world it is always in the best interest to the salesperson to offer you top-of-line restaurant equipment online piece.
There are so many middlemen involved when ordering your equipment at a dealership. Having many people handling your purchase can pose a great risk. It could run into some mistakes that can be costly.
Online buying
Buying online is just right for your schedule. Dealerships have set business hours which may not jibe with your restaurant schedule. When you buy online, you have all the chance to browse and order at the time most convenient for you.
Dealerships have big overhead. Most of the time, they pass on the extra expenses to the customers and you pay higher. The overhead expenses are spent on dealership trucks and cars of salespeople.
Cash and carry stores
These stores can be a convenient option for many restaurant owners and managers because it is easy to stop to pick up supplies and replacement parts or place orders.
While cash and carry stores are convenient, they are still trumped by the benefits of buying restaurant equipment online rather than at cash and carry stores.
Limitations
Some cash and carry stores have club fees. They also have overhead costs that make them increase their prices.
Like the dealership, cash and carry stores have big overhead costs which they will try to add onto the prices of the restaurant equipment online. Physical stores have limited capacity for stock storage. Because of size constraints, they usually wan up only a few thousand types of products on hand. Sometimes, they don’t have what you want.
Induction cooktop 