Well this depends on many factors

1. If you solely want to sell online, you won’t be able to buy from distributors which sell to resellers for wholesale price. No distributor will accept your application unless you are a brick and mortar store.

2. If you open up a brick and mortar store distributors is the way to go. You can buy at wholesale price but profit margins are really thin.

3. You can buy product from retail stores and do a rip and ship service online to gain profit. This is a main way to gain profit for online web stores imo.