Are you ready to wholesale your fashion brand?

At some point or another even direct to consumer fashion brands consider the benefits of wholesaling their lines into multi-brand retailers. How do you ensure you’re ready to embark on the wholesale process, and make sure you have a plan in place to guide your outreach strategy?

The Basics

When going out to retailers either yourself, or through an agency, ensure you have the fundamentals thought through.

1. Timing: Make sure that you are ready to show samples and have line sheets available for key market dates, and that you are clear on your delivery timeline. You don’t want to be showing spring product when budgets have already been closed for that season, nor do you want to get a substantial order that you are unable to fulfill by the advertised delivery.

2. Price: Pricing for wholesale is also key. There are additional expenses to factor into a wholesale model, and retailers’ margin requirements need to be taken into consideration. All line sheets need to have both a wholesale price and a msrp.

3. Financials: Many retailers will place their orders months in advance. Are you financially able to support manufacturing goods if they expect payment terms of 30 days?

4. Logistics: Warehousing and shipping for retailers is much different from sending packages to individual consumers. Some retailers require EDI transmissions, or have special labeling or testing requirements, especially if you are dealing with stores located outside your home territory. It’s crucial to have an understanding of how you will handle these requests, or if you will employ a 3PL partner to help shoulder some of this burden

Merchandising

Know the ins and outs of your line and be able to talk buyers and sales agents through your line and its value proposition. Having the right merchandising mix in your line means you have the right merchandise at the right place, right time, right price and in the right quantities.

1. Sales History: Be able to speak about the best sellers in your line; what their sell through percentage is, any demographic data that you may have on sales etc

2. Pricing: Benchmark you pricing to competitors within the industry and be able explain why it makes sense. Are some of your suppliers sustainable? What makes your label fall within a certain price point?

3. Value Proposition: Be clear on what your brand can contribute to the retailer’s assortment matrix. What are you offering to them to help them increase their sales? Do you have a compelling story, or interesting press/ collaborations?

Execution

Once you feel confident in your ability to move forward with the wholesale process, you face a new question: How to execute? There are 4 avenues to get your brand placed in a retail outlet.

1. Sell in directly

2. Employ a sales agency

3. Partner with a distributor

4. Strike a licensing deal

We’ll be talking more about each of these avenues in another post!

Want Toki Territory to create a roadmap and strategy to bring your fashion brand to the next level? Schedule a free 30 min consult to see how we can help you and your business.