sole supplier
Exclusive product source
A sole supplier is the only provider of a particular product or service to a customer or market.
The term appears in business and procurement contexts, often describing contractual arrangements where one vendor has exclusive rights: They named us sole supplier for all their packaging needs.
Being a sole supplier can mean pricing power but also pressure to maintain quality and availability.
- monopolyOne seller, no substitutes
- exclusiveLimited to one group
- vendorOne who sells goods
- providerOne who furnishes things
- contractEnforceable written agreement
distributor · procurement · bidding · captive · dependency · over a barrel · proprietary · take it or leave it · lock-in · tender · leverage · pricing · negotiation · market power · scarcity · essential · dominance · bottleneck
- Exclusive Rightsdistribution rights, territorial rights, first refusal, broadcast rights, media rights
- monopoliesmonopoly, Standard Oil, AT&T, De Beers, Ma Bell
- monopolymonopoly, monopolization, market power, market dominance, market concentration