How to Sell Wholesale: 4 Foolproof Steps
by Brandon Levey of Stitch Labs
Before founding Stitch Labs, I developed a 100% organic t-shirt line. Creating the line involved trips to cotton growers, interviews with dyers, and hunts for weavers based in the U.S. It was a lot of work, but I wanted the most sustainable, earth-friendly product possible.
When I was ready to wholesale, I applied the same tenacity to finding retailers. That is, I grabbed my portfolio and visited 20 different retailers on my first day. Over the course of the day, I learned a lot about buyers and how seasonality affected their buying strategy. Out of the 20, I got one bite at a yoga studio. While it was a long day, I went to bed with a lot more knowledge and one more sales channel than I started with that morning.
I’ve learned much more about wholesaling since that time, both from my own experience and the experiences of our customers. If you’ve been thinking about wholesale, let me offer these steps:
Step 1: Figure out where you want your products sold
Consider these aspects when narrowing your options:
- Where does your audience shop? – What businesses share the same kinds of customers? Check your sales data to identify similarities among your repeat customers. Or even better, ask your repeat customers where they could imagine seeing your product.
- Where would your product’s price fit in? – Look for retailers who recognize the value of your product and offer other products of matching caliber. You don’t want your product to be the most expensive item in the store. You also want a store that can push your product for a price you deserve.
- What’s the best mix geographically? – If you identify several prospects in close proximity to each other, try to cherry pick your favorite first. Neighbors won’t want to carry identical goods.
- Are there creative options? – It’s easy to get stuck on stores dedicated to the type of product you sell. Keep in mind that options may exist beyond what’s obvious. For example, an organic clothing line might be appealing to a yoga studio or a collection of ceramics might find prominent shelf space at a local cafe.
Step 2: Understand your target’s buying strategy and timing of purchases
Buying strategies will vary by retailer, especially when it comes to the retailer’s size. At an independent boutique, the owner may serve as the buyer and make all the purchasing decisions. However, a larger store, like Whole Foods, may have buying strategies per city, region, or country.
In addition to understanding what different retailers will want to buy, it’s also important to appreciate the when and how much aspects. Seasonality affects many products and buyers have limited windows throughout the year that they’re looking to buy.
Large stores may have an appetite for your product that exceeds what you can produce at this point. Prepare yourself with an honest understanding of your timing and what you’re able to commit.
Step 3: Schedule a meeting with the buyer
Identifying the buyer for a store may require homework and a bit of investigative journalism. For a local boutique, you may be able to find out who the buyer is and schedule an appointment with a brief phone call or an in-person visit.
Larger retailers and chains may require a bit more digging. Some will give individual stores a bit of autonomy in choosing what to carry, but others will have buyers for a region or a group of stores. It may require some tenacity to hunt down the right person.
Talk to local managers, tap into your network, consult the company website for contact info, and investigate by job title on LinkedIn. Keep in mind that being referred will net better results than cold contact.
Step 4: Follow best practices to close the account
Once you garner time with a buyer, keep these often overlooked, but critical points in mind:
- Be extremely professional - Promptly respond to all communications and always be on time for scheduled appointments. Use professionally generated line sheets and invoices. Be sure to have quantity and pricing prepared before meeting with a buyer.
- Know how to get paid – Credit cards can be an expensive form of payment due to fees. Be prepared to accept checks or know how to conduct a wire transfer with your bank. The more options you’re fluent in, the less chance logistical friction will delay deposits and payments.
- Price fairly – A wholesale buyer should never feel or see a potential conflict with how they will price the product and a small business’ retail price. Here, perception matters far more than the actual number of units that would be affected.
Final thoughts
Tenacity is key to identifying retailers and getting face time with their buyers. Do your homework to learn what potential retailers want and to save yourself from wasting time with bad matches. While often overlooked, professionalism, fluency in payment methods, and fair pricing are critical to closing the account.
This guest post is brought to you by Brandon Levey, Thinker Upper at Stitch Labs, an online application for simple inventory management, order fulfillment, invoicing, expense reporting and business analytics.
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