US Wholesale Sector

The 278,000 merchant wholesalers in the US purchase goods from suppliers and sell a mix of those goods to customers. Major customer segments include manufacturers, other distributors, retailers, exporters, institutions (i.e. schools and hospitals), and service providers (i.e. restaurants and hotels). Wholesalers are also known as wholesale merchants, distributors, jobbers, drop-shippers, or import/export merchants.

Competing with Suppliers

The traditional flow of goods from manufacturer to wholesaler and then to retailer or service provider is beginning to break down.

Expansion Pressure 

Rapid growth in e-commerce and consumer demand for faster order fulfillment are putting pressure on wholesalers to set up distribution facilities closer to major customers and carry a wider range of goods.

Sep 16, 2026 - Extended Import Peak Supports Wholesalers

• An extended import peak points to a firmer near-term outlook for US wholesalers, with September container volume forecast at 2.31 million TEU, up 9.6% year over year and potentially the busiest month of 2026, according to the Global Port Tracker released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. Continued consumer spending is keeping merchandise flowing despite tariffs, inflation, and high fuel prices, supporting wholesale inventory availability and order activity heading into the holiday season. Full-year import volume is projected at 25.7 million TEU, up 1% from 2025, suggesting modest underlying trade growth rather than a sharp slowdown. However, vessel delays, Panama Canal rerouting, and elevated landed costs could lengthen lead times and pressure margins. For wholesalers, the outlook favors steady holiday demand but also requires tighter inventory planning, supplier diversification, and careful management of tariff, freight, and fuel costs.
• Wholesale trade was a relative bright spot in August, ranking fourth among 12 growing service industries as the overall Services PMI strengthened to 55.4 from 54.1, according to the latest ISM Services PMI Report. Wholesale trade reported higher business activity, ranking seventh among 13 expanding industries, and new orders, ranking fifth among 14. It also added employment, while overall services employment contracted at 47.8. Supplier deliveries slowed, inventories increased, prices rose, and backlogs expanded. Imports increased, but new export orders declined, while wholesalers also reported inventories as too high.
• In July 2026, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors filed its third legal challenge to a state Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program, underscoring the growing regulatory burden these laws pose for US wholesalers. Colorado’s law began imposing mandatory packaging-recycling fees in January 2026, and some distributors can be classified as “producers” even when they do not control product packaging. For wholesalers, the broader concern is a growing state-by-state patchwork of EPR requirements. Compliance can require tracking packaging materials, weights, product flows, registrations, fees, and reporting across jurisdictions. NAW’s challenges in Colorado, Oregon, and California highlight concerns about higher costs, legal exposure, and supply-chain complexity. As more states consider EPR programs, these requirements could become an increasingly significant operational and pricing issue for national distributors.
• AI adoption is creating opportunities for the US wholesale sector to improve efficiency, but implementation challenges are slowing progress, according to The Loadstar's State of AI in Supply Chain report. The report found that only 22.2% of organizations have deployed AI at scale, while 43.2% remain in the experimentation phase or have not started adoption. The biggest barriers are organizational rather than technical, with 53.8% citing a lack of AI expertise and change-management capabilities and 48.7% reporting integration challenges with existing systems. For wholesalers, AI is delivering the greatest benefits in document processing and administrative tasks, with 79.7% of respondents reporting measurable operational impact and 89.5% citing productivity gains. However, 62.8% have not measured or cannot quantify AI's return on investment, making it difficult to justify broader deployment. As AI becomes more common, wholesalers that successfully integrate the technology and improve data quality may gain competitive advantages through lower operating costs, faster order processing, and improved supply chain efficiency.

Industry size & Structure

The wholesale sector is comprised of 278,000 establishments that employ 6.1 million workers and generate $11 trillion in annual revenue, according to government sources.

• The wholesale sector represents 6% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• The sector is fragmented with the 20 largest firms representing just 20% of revenue.
• In addition to employer establishments, the wholesale sector has approximately 458,000 owner-operated establishments with no employees. Subsectors with the highest numbers of nonemployer establishments are ecommerce wholesalers, agents and brokers, grocery wholesalers; apparel, piece goods, and notions wholesalers; machinery, equipment, and supplies wholesalers, and motor vehicle; these firms typically perform the work and may outsource support functions like marketing and accounting.
• The wholesale sector is forecast to grow its employment base by 3.4% overall in 2024-2034, which is much lower than the national average of 3.1% for all jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.