5 minutes with… Jess Douglas, The Wholesale Group

The Wholesale Group’s managing director shares how AI is driving collaboration in such a relationship-driven industry

AI SEEMS TO BE EVERYWHERE IN WHOLESALE RIGHT NOW

It’s not just helping wholesalers, it’s everybody across the industry – wholesalers, suppliers and buying groups like ourselves, right at the heart of the supply chain. AI is proving to be a vital business tool across forecasting, stock optimisation, process automation and more. It all comes back to having better access to data – with AI you can request data at your fingertips, in whatever format you need, within any parameters, and make actionable decisions based on that data.

HOW IS THE WHOLESALE GROUP USING AI?

Working closely with ShopAi we have developed DASHAi (formerly Jake), our internal AI business intelligence solution, to support decision-making and forecasting with true insights, not guesswork. DASHAi brings together multiple datasets such as sales performance, seasonal trends, promotional activity and supplier lead times, then draws on external sources, such as commodity prices, and allows our team to access that data (subject to access rights).

AI can easily identify patterns that would be difficult or time-consuming for any single individual to spot. As a result, our members, supplier partners and central office can all anticipate spikes around key trading periods and use this information to make decisions, adjust stock levels proactively and much more.

IS IT DAUNTING?

Our solution is designed to be the complete opposite as it meets people where they already are, helping users to access information quickly and effectively. Rather than forcing our team to navigate multiple systems or learn new software interfaces, DASHAi allows users to access information simply by sending an email in their own conversational style.

The technology brings together data from every possible dataset, including internal documents and external sources. Users can ask questions in plain language and receive clear responses with full insight and understanding of our business because it’s a bespoke product. Crucially, the system checks that the individual has access rights to the data before explaining how it arrived at the answer, ensuring transparency and supporting compliance with any future legislation. This also means there are no security issues – no information is shared externally with public models such as ChatGPT or Claude, everything is kept secure within our own ecosystem.

HOW DOES AI SUPPORT COLLABORATION?

Collaboration has always been at the heart of wholesaling and buying groups have taken that to the next level, bringing together wholesaler members and suppliers within an ecosystem that remains focused on collective growth. Now, as the competitive landscape becomes more complex, technology and data enable us all to work more closely together than ever before, and AI is key.

Collaboration will only become more important for the wholesale sector. Businesses need to think creatively and work together more closely than ever before if they want to overcome evolving challenges, and technology has a huge role to play in that. It is transforming how information is collected, presented and shared and in doing so, it’s facilitating a more sophisticated level of partnership across the wholesale sector.

WHAT ARE THE ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS?

We have to be mindful of adopting technology in a safe, compliant and accountable way. For us, that’s about making sure there is human validation before any response is shared. It’s important to say that this is not about replacing people with technology; wholesale remains a relationship-driven industry and that will not change. For us, AI gives people the tools they need to collaborate more effectively and with that, we can all work together to plan ahead with greater confidence.