Skip to content

How can I use WhatsApp for my work in wholesale?

In wholesale WhatsApp is already the ordering channel: installers, restaurants and shops message at all hours, reps send requests from the customer’s premises, drivers warn of delays. Ugo turns it into a work tool: it reads price lists and stock from shared files, collects orders on the company number and alerts the trade counter, drafts emails to suppliers and updates the CRM. It asks you to confirm before every action.

Try UgoExamples of using WhatsApp in wholesale

At a wholesaler the phone never stops ringing. A plumber asks whether you’ve got the 1” manifold in stock, a restaurant sends its weekly order at eleven at night, a rep wants a net price for a new customer, the manufacturer confirms the delivery in an email nobody has read, the driver is stuck on the M62. The answers are in the management system, in the Excel price lists and in the head of whoever is on the trade counter.

Ugo is a contact on WhatsApp connected to the tools the company already uses: Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, email, folders on Drive or OneDrive with price lists and catalogues, a CRM such as Odoo or HubSpot, maps for deliveries. Everyone uses it from their own phone, with their own accounts: the trade counter, the rep on the road, purchasing, accounts. With Automations on the company’s WhatsApp Business, Ugo replies to customers, collects orders and alerts whoever enters them.

Ugo doesn’t enter orders in your management system and doesn’t know live stock levels unless they’re in a connected file. It finds, summarises, prepares and reminds. Every email, message or document goes out only after your “Confirm”.

Who uses it in the company

Who uses WhatsApp with Ugo at a wholesaler

From the trade counter to the warehouse, everyone has their own questions. Ugo answers each one with their own tools.

Trade counter and sales office

Prices, codes and availability read from the shared price list and stock sheet, technical data sheets found in a minute, orders received on WhatsApp already sorted by customer, item and quantity.

Sales reps

The customer’s history and open quotes before the visit, an order dictated in the car that becomes an email for the trade counter, notes and activities in the CRM after every meeting.

Purchasing and supplier relations

Order confirmations and emails about delays summarised, manufacturers’ new price lists found in the right folder, chasing emails drafted and sent once you give the OK.

Warehouse

Requests from the trade counter arrive in writing, with code and quantity. The warehouse team reports damaged goods or a short delivery by voice and Ugo drafts the email for purchasing.

Deliveries and drivers

The delivery round with live traffic, Street View of the site entrance or the back of the restaurant, a message to the customer when the driver is running late.

Accounts and credit control

The customer ageing report read out in the chat, payment reminder emails prepared from the template, customer replies summarised. Reminders arrive on WhatsApp at the time you choose.

Examples of using WhatsApp in wholesale

Real conversations, typed in a hurry the way people type on WhatsApp.

Price and availability, from the warehouse file

Someone at the trade counter asks about an item. Ugo reads the price list and the stock sheet that the management system updates every morning, and replies with code, price and quantity.

Skills used

Ugoonline

  1. Have we got the 1” 6-port manifold with valves? Price for Hartley Plumbing

  2. In “Stock 14-10.xlsx”: code MAN-1-6P, 9 at Leeds, 3 at Wakefield. In “Trade price list 2026.xlsx” the price is £124.80; Hartley Plumbing is on band B, 35% discount: £81.12 plus VAT. The stock file is from 7:00 this morning.

The rep’s order, dictated in the car

Leaving the customer, the rep sends a voice note with the order. Ugo drafts the email for the trade counter with items and quantities, adds the note in the CRM and sets the follow-up.

Skills used

Ugoonline

  1. 🎤 Voice message (0:41)

  2. Here’s what I’ll do: • Email to counter@pennineelectrical.co.uk: “Order from Walsh Electrical, Halifax: 10 drums 1.5 mm² twin and earth, 6 drums 2.5 mm² twin and earth, 40 single 25 mm back boxes, collection Friday” • Note on Walsh Electrical in Odoo • Activity “Send quote for distribution boards, Park Road site” for Monday Shall I go ahead?

The late supplier, chased up

Purchasing asks where an order is. Ugo finds the supplier’s confirmation in the inbox, says what’s missing and drafts the chaser.

Skills used

Ugoonline

  1. Did Dales Pasta Co. confirm the October delivery?

  2. Yes, on 2 October: delivery Thursday 9th, 48 cases of penne, fusilli and spaghetti. On the 9th 36 cases arrived, the 12 cases of spaghetti are missing, and there are no further emails. Do you want me to write to Laura Bentley in their sales office to find out when they’ll arrive?

  3. Yes, we need them by Wednesday

  4. I’ll send to laura.bentley@dalespasta.co.uk: “Hi Laura, the delivery on 9 October was 12 cases of spaghetti short. Can you confirm they’ll arrive by Wednesday 15th? Thanks.” Shall I send it?

The delivery round, with the customer kept informed

The driver is running late. Ugo recalculates the times with traffic and, once they give the OK, lets the next customers know from the company number.

Skills used

Ugoonline

  1. Stuck on the M62 near Leeds, how long to The Old Bridge Inn in Ilkley?

  2. With current traffic 38 minutes (24 miles): you’ll get there around 11:25 instead of 10:45. Do you want me to let Frank at The Old Bridge Inn know?

  3. Yes

  4. I’ll send to Frank Gibson (+44 7700 900218) from the company number: “Morning Frank, today’s delivery will be with you around 11:25 because of traffic on the M62. Sorry for the delay.” Shall I go ahead?

Automations on your number

Customers send their order on WhatsApp, Ugo collects it

Restaurants, shops and installers message the wholesaler’s WhatsApp Business. An automation asks whether it’s an order, a stock check or something else; for an order it collects items, quantities and delivery day, and sends a notification to the trade counter, who enters it in the management system. Ugo doesn’t confirm prices or stock it can’t find in the connected files.

The blue bubbles are the customer, the white ones are the replies sent from the company’s WhatsApp Business number.

Discover WhatsApp automations

  1. Evening, I’d like to place an order for Saturday

  2. Good evening, I’m the assistant for Dales Catering Wholesale. What do you need?

  3. Order

  4. Great. Could you send me the items with quantities and the name of your business?

  5. The Wisteria, Harrogate. 6 cases chopped tomatoes 400 g, 2 tins extra virgin olive oil 5 l, 10 kg 00 flour

  6. Thank you, here’s the summary: • 6 cases chopped tomatoes 400 g • 2 tins extra virgin olive oil 5 l • 10 kg 00 flour Delivery on Saturday to The Wisteria. Your order goes to our trade counter, who will confirm prices and delivery time tomorrow morning.

Ideas for using Ugo’s skills in wholesale

Each skill is a connected tool. Here’s how to get the most out of it in this sector.

WhatsApp BusinessYour WhatsApp Business

Customer orders, even in the evening

Automations reply to people who message the wholesaler’s number, collect items and quantities with questions and choice lists, and send a notification to the trade counter. With “Ask me to confirm first”, no reply goes out without your OK.

Discover Your WhatsApp Business
OneDriveOneDrive, Word and Excel

Price lists and stock in Excel

If your management system exports stock and price lists to a connected folder every morning, Ugo reads them and answers the trade counter and reps. It also adds rows, for example returns or requests for items not in the catalogue.

Discover OneDrive, Word and Excel
Google DriveGoogle Drive

Manufacturers’ catalogues and data sheets

Ugo searches catalogues and technical data sheets by code or description, reads PDFs and fills in company templates, such as a site quote or a payment reminder letter.

Discover Google Drive
OdooOdoo

Customers, quotes and opportunities

The rep asks for a customer’s history before the visit; Ugo reads quotations and sales orders and leaves notes, activities and opportunities in Odoo after the meeting.

Discover Odoo
Google MapsMaps

Delivery rounds and rep visits

The quickest order for deliveries or visits, journey times with traffic at that moment, Street View of the entrance and potential customers in an area, such as the plumbers in a town.

Discover Maps
Company websites (knowledge)

Manufacturers’ websites

Add your own website and those of the brands you stock: Ugo searches them for specifications, compatibility and spare parts, and answers the trade counter and automations with the published information.

Discover Company websites (knowledge)

What Ugo does not do

Ugo organises messages, calendars, emails and documents. Everything else stays with your systems and your people.

  • It doesn’t enter orders in your management system or ERP: it collects the order and drafts the email or notification for whoever enters it, and in Odoo it creates opportunities, notes and activities.
  • It doesn’t know live stock levels: it reads the files your management system exports to a connected folder, and they’re only as up to date as those files.
  • It doesn’t produce quotes or prices on its own: it reads price lists and terms in the files you point it to, and the final price is confirmed by the trade counter.
  • It doesn’t send mass campaigns on WhatsApp: automations reply to people who message you, within WhatsApp’s 24-hour window.

The skills to switch on

The most useful Ugo features in this sector, starting with the first one to turn on. Each person switches them on from the portal in a few minutes.

Ugo for people working in the sector

The pages for the jobs in this sector, with more specific examples.

Questions about WhatsApp and Ugo in wholesale

How do you use WhatsApp for work at a wholesaler?

To receive customer orders, answer questions about prices and stock, coordinate reps, warehouse and drivers and keep in touch with manufacturers. With Ugo everyone can also ask for price lists, data sheets and customer history in the chat, and the wholesaler’s WhatsApp Business number collects orders and alerts the trade counter.

Does Ugo know what’s in the warehouse?

Only if stock levels are in a connected file, for example an Excel sheet that your management system exports every morning to a OneDrive or Google Drive folder. In that case Ugo reads it and always tells you how recent the file is. It doesn’t connect directly to your warehouse system.

Can Ugo take customer orders on WhatsApp?

It can collect them: an automation on the company’s WhatsApp Business asks for items, quantities and delivery, and sends a notification to whoever enters them in the management system. Ugo doesn’t enter the order and doesn’t confirm prices it can’t find in the connected files.

Does Ugo connect to our management system?

It connects to Odoo (versions 14 to 19) as a CRM, to HubSpot, Zoho CRM and Agile CRM, to monday.com and Zendesk, and to any app with an MCP server. With other systems it works through emails and files: it reads the exports and drafts the order emails.

How much does it cost to use Ugo across the company?

Ugo costs €50 a month or €550 a year per person, excluding VAT, with every skill included. You only switch it on for the people who use it: for example the trade counter and the reps, not necessarily the whole warehouse. Data stays on servers in Frankfurt.

Useful references

Associations, bodies and official sources for the sector: external websites, independent of Ugo.

The trade counter always open, answers on WhatsApp

Connect price lists, email, CRM and the wholesaler’s WhatsApp Business in a few minutes. Trade counter, reps and customers find their answers in the chat.

Try UgoTalk to us

Works with