A Guide To Entering The Wholesale Market

Entering the wholesale market is often a huge goal for many product business owners, however it can feel overwhelming at first! In today’s blog I have broken down the steps you need to take to successfully enter the wholesale market, and scale your business!

Read on to discover my top steps for entering the wholesale market.

Why Enter The Wholesale Market

Wholesaling involves selling your products directly to other businesses, rather than to customers.

Due to the orders generally being of high volume, wholesaling can increase your revenue greatly, and can allow you to scale your business. It is a great way to secure reliable, consistent income, as well as increase brand awareness.

Steps To Entering The Wholesale Market

Identify Your Target Market

It is important to know who your target market is before you start to approach wholesalers. Take some time to reflect on your business and conduct some market research to identify the best retailers. Consider who your target customer is, and where they shop.

Once you have an idea of who your target retailers are, you can start to make a list of stores to approach.

Set Your Pricing

It’s time to do some maths and to calculate the pricing for your products!

Ensure that your overhead costs and production costs are covered when calculating the price. The price that you sell to wholesale retailers will be lower than direct to customers, however due to the high volume of orders, it will still be profitable for your business.

Create a Lookbook and Line Sheet

A Lookbook and Line Sheet will give retailers an overview of all the products you are wholesaling and act as a quick guide about your brand.

A line sheet should include clear photos of your product, materials used, the item number, size and colour options, and the wholesale price. You can also include the minimum order volume, the recommended retail price and any necessary ordering policies or information.

It is important to set the minimum order quantity as you will need to sell a higher quantity of products to make a profit when selling wholesale.

If you want to save yourself the time and effort of trying to create your lookbook and lines sheets from scratch, check out my Lookbook and Lines Sheet Bundle here.

Reach Out To Retailers

You’re now ready to reach out and pitch your products to retailers!

There are a number of ways that you can begin connecting with potential customers. LinkedIn is a great platform for building relationships with buyers. I recommend sending 25 invitations a day to really begin building your network.

Reaching out to buyers directly through email by sending your pitch and line sheet is another effective way to gain customers.

Finally, attending in person trade shows is a great way to spread awareness of your business, and to network with other businesses. After the trade show make sure to follow up with every lead!

By following these steps, you should be on your way to gaining your first wholesale customer! For personalised support, and access to all of the tools you need to grow your wholesale client base, join my new Wholesale Accelerator Program.