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As my 1.5 year old online brand grows, I am faced with a bit of a decision. I am hoping someone here has run into my situation and can give some feedback. Basically, should I push wholesale to other retail stores?
I do not think I can link to my site from the forum, but I can tell you the brand is for physical goods related to the tropical lifestyle industry.
As of right now I am 99% retail to the end consumer. Most of my sales come from my experience generating good SEO, Facebook marketing, internet marketing.
But the thoughts of getting my product into retail stores is extremely tempting. As it stand right now I have a few stores with some key product that do well.
The problem comes down to time, effort, and financial resources. Realisticaly I only have room for one channel to focus on. Since retail is in place and growing, part of me things it would be crazy to deviate from the current path. Wholesale is like a whole new business venture to me.
I would love to hear some input on this with those that have been in my shoes before.
Basically, should I push wholesale to other retail stores?
The issue is you must come up with a structure that allows all links in the chain to make money. You would sell to distributors at lower then MSRP so that they could then re-sell the items to retail stores who would then re-sell the items to the end consumer. You may find retail stores will not carry your product if you are selling direct to the consumer as you then are their competition! There are ways to satisfy them.
I hear you. I have been in retail for 15 years. Stores, mail order, etc. I know that side of the business well. I have just never had to grow a brand from scratch.
As my 1.5 year old online brand grows, I am faced with a bit of a decision. I am hoping someone here has run into my situation and can give some feedback. Basically, should I push wholesale to other retail stores?
I do not think I can link to my site from the forum, but I can tell you the brand is for physical goods related to the tropical lifestyle industry.
As of right now I am 99% retail to the end consumer. Most of my sales come from my experience generating good SEO, Facebook marketing, internet marketing.
But the thoughts of getting my product into retail stores is extremely tempting. As it stand right now I have a few stores with some key product that do well.
The problem comes down to time, effort, and financial resources. Realisticaly I only have room for one channel to focus on. Since retail is in place and growing, part of me things it would be crazy to deviate from the current path. Wholesale is like a whole new business venture to me.
I would love to hear some input on this with those that have been in my shoes before.
thanks!
Jason
I sale directly and through wholesale... what burns me up is this... I'll sale a product that goes for $100 on my site... Company XYZ agrees to sale the product... I allow them to sell and offer a 30% discount. What do they do? They turn around and sell my product for $120.
I'll say this... wholesale is a great way to get your product out there and earn sales you otherwise would not have.
One of the most important things I've heard through a customer is having my product on XYZ makes it "legit". They can search different places and find it.
I did not seek out resellers... they found me. It is extra work at the end of the month, I can't lie. Well, all of my whole sellers, outside of one, use my new system, so it is no extra paperwork now (it is all digital!).. but before I had to calculate sales, and send invoices... a real pain. But the extra money was great.
After I launch some new products this summer, I'll more than likely seek some resellers (now that I have my system setup properly).
I sale both digital and physical items.... hopefully moving to just digital this summer.
I sale directly and through wholesale... what burns me up is this... I'll sale a product that goes for $100 on my site... Company XYZ agrees to sale the product... I allow them to sell and offer a 30% discount. What do they do? They turn around and sell my product for $120.
I'll say this... wholesale is a great way to get your product out there and earn sales you otherwise would not have.
One of the most important things I've heard through a customer is having my product on XYZ makes it "legit". They can search different places and find it.
I did not seek out resellers... they found me. It is extra work at the end of the month, I can't lie. Well, all of my whole sellers, outside of one, use my new system, so it is no extra paperwork now (it is all digital!).. but before I had to calculate sales, and send invoices... a real pain. But the extra money was great.
After I launch some new products this summer, I'll more than likely seek some resellers (now that I have my system setup properly).
I sale both digital and physical items.... hopefully moving to just digital this summer.
I appreciate the story.
Are retailers seeking you out because they are seeing the product more and more from other retails? Thus growth is an increasing curve as time goes on?
Are retailers seeking you out because they are seeing the product more and more from other retails? Thus growth is an increasing curve as time goes on?
I don't know. Most of my resellers are people with websites... so they join and start selling. Half the time I don't even know how they are selling (with my new system they could sell multiple ways). Resellers might make more sells than whole sellers or they might move one or two products every six months.
And I don't know about my whole sellers... some have been with me a while... but I would guess they found me through "word of mouth".
I use the words together, but really I consider a reseller someone selling the product for fun and a whole seller someone with a real business (proper business license, etc). They get the same "commission" though.
I don't generally ask questions... try to keep things simple.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The business I was in for 17 years was mainly business-to-business, and all custom made. For the first few years we were strictly retail. As I acquired additional equipment and trained staff to use it I started to get wholesale customers, competitors that were unable to offer some of the products we made and unwilling to invest in the equipment and training. Eventually I did much more wholesale than retail and despite the lower profit margin, I ended up with more revenue due to the volume. Typically they were ordering in large quantities so there was some savings through mass production. The time spent interacting with the retail customer that didn't know what they want or didn't have detailed specification saved hours a day in lost production time. We also saved by not having to advertise, once we had a solid, steady wholesale customer base.
As my 1.5 year old online brand grows, I am faced with a bit of a decision. I am hoping someone here has run into my situation and can give some feedback. Basically, should I push wholesale to other retail stores?
I do not think I can link to my site from the forum, but I can tell you the brand is for physical goods related to the tropical lifestyle industry.
As of right now I am 99% retail to the end consumer. Most of my sales come from my experience generating good SEO, Facebook marketing, internet marketing.
But the thoughts of getting my product into retail stores is extremely tempting. As it stand right now I have a few stores with some key product that do well.
The problem comes down to time, effort, and financial resources. Realisticaly I only have room for one channel to focus on. Since retail is in place and growing, part of me things it would be crazy to deviate from the current path. Wholesale is like a whole new business venture to me.
I would love to hear some input on this with those that have been in my shoes before.
thanks!
Jason
The big question is, are you making enough margin to sell wholesale at all. Once you get your first wholesale offer for puchase, it will likely give you a sobering thought
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