Explanation:

The word ‘Wholesaler’ has been derived from the word ‘Wholesale’ which means to sell goods in relatively large quantities or in bulk. A wholesaler, in the words of S.E. Thomas ‘is a trader who purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers and sells to retailers in small quantities.

The term ‘wholesaler’ applies only to a merchant middleman engaged in selling the goods in bulk quantities. Wholesaling includes all marketing transactions in which purchases are intended for resale or are used in marketing other products. Thus, we can say that a wholesaler is a person who buys goods from the producer in bulk quantities and forwards them in small quantities to retailers. So, a true wholesaler, as S.E. Thomas observes, “is himself neither a manufacturer nor a retailer, but acts as a link between the two”. He is a vital link in the channel of distribution.