Independent retailers, supplier selection, competitive advantage

The purpose of this paper was to investigate how small independent retailers select their suppliers. Retailers are in the business of buying and selling. What they buy determines their success. It is important to understand how they select their suppliers and the impact this has on their success. A survey was conducted among 102 independent retailers in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. A convenience sampling method was used owing to an inaccessible database of independent retailers in the region. Findings of the study revealed that independent retailers buy from the wholesalers. The majority of the retailers have been inexistence for about five years. Independent retailers rated product quality, cost and delivery time as the most important supplier selection criteria. The Anova results proved that supplier selection criteria do not differ across sales revenue. However, the significant differences were found across gender, age group and how long the business has been in operation.