As part of the 2023 C&I Industry Leaders Forum, Yaniv Peleg, Director, PeleGuy Distribution, discusses the thrill of being first to market with the latest gadgets, novelty products, and hot items.
C&I: What have been the main highlights for PeleGuy over the past 12 months?
Peleg: We’ve discovered that not many suppliers offer the same level of service as we do; I’m talking about our reps physically visiting every single store on regular basis, including those located in very remote areas. Apparently, that is not something that comes as a standard to other companies.
This has led to a substantial growth in our customer base, right around Australia, with new independent stores, groups of a few sites, additional service stations, and supermarkets from the groups we are already working with.
We’ve been receiving amazing feedback about the attention each of our customers are getting from us, and this has been very rewarding and motivating.
C&I: What will be the focus for PeleGuy for the remainder of 2023?
Peleg: The market is unpredictable these days and we often see the prices of a few products increasing by around 20 to 30 per cent overnight, but then they can come back down as quickly as they went up. So, we work hard to ensure that we keep our prices as stable as possible, to provide the best value to our customers. This is of course not always in our control, so our team is constantly researching the market to find new sources and contacts, to be able to keep our prices competitive.
C&I: What do you enjoy most about the convenience channel?
Peleg: Over the past 20 years, we’ve enjoyed watching our customers grow and expand their businesses, opening additional locations around Australia. It’s satisfying to know that we’ve been a part of that growth.
There have been companies that had just one site when they began working with us and now, they’ve grown to more than 60 sites around the country, and we’ve been there with them setting up for the opening of each of these sites.
We also have a direct connection to our consumers, and we can react almost immediately to any new trends or products that are hitting the market.
C&I: What do you enjoy most about what you do?
Peleg: As a former sportsman – an ex-superbike racer to be exact – I enjoy moving fast, and that includes being the first to market with the latest gadgets, novelty products, and hot items.
We love turning an average store into a great looking store, with a well-stocked and organised, and therefore a profitable operation.
Having spent best years of my life working hard to beat my best lap time in racing, I know what a good challenge is, and how rewarding it is to overcome it. I will always go out of my way to close a deal with a new lead that needs a bit of extra attention and will give them all of the information they need in order to understand the benefits of working with us.
This is a challenge that I get a real kick out of, and it’s not always an immediate reward. The money can come later but first comes the pleasure of having another satisfied customer on board for the long run.
C&I: What is one challenge you’d like to see addressed in the industry?
Peleg: Staffing has been a huge problem over the past 12 months, and it has been a huge challenge to find good, professional people.
C&I: Is there anything else happening at PeleGuy that you’d like to highlight?
Peleg: We are very excited as we are about to shift to a new ‘top of the range’ sales software that will allow our customers to place orders online in a much more convenient way. They will be able to see all the current offers, create ‘favourite’ lists, view their order history, view popular and best-selling products, see their history of sales – by product volume and value; create a contact request, pay their bill online etc. And our own PeleGuy App will be available to download for Apple and Android users for the smoothest and sweetest customer experience while shopping online with us.
This article originally appeared in the June/July issue of Convenience & Impulse Retailing magazine, which is available online here.
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