In a competitive market, making a mark as a product maker and establishing a place for your creations in retail spaces can be challenging, which is why I’m bringing you some wholesale strategies when it comes to retailing your products!
Today, I’m collaborating with Dana Ayala. Dana is the co-owner of The Yellow Butterfly Boutique in Wake Forest, NC. With nearly 20 years in the retail industry, Dana Ayala is a goldmine for product-based business owners looking to expand their reach into the wholesale market.
Creating a positive experience for your retailers so they will continue to order from you
Dana notes that it’s extremely important to make sure that your back-end information is transparent and easily understood.
You want to make sure that each of your products has a SKU number.
Dana’s favorite companies to order from are companies she doesn’t have to do a ton of guesswork, hunting, and gathering and researching.
She can go and search a product and she has their style numbers, a picture, and everything that she needs is easily laid out on a clean invoice.
And then when she is ready to reorder, which is what every wholesaler wants their retailer to do, it makes it so easy to do that.
The importance of making the buying process easier on the retailer
Dana shares that one company she orders from has a hard time naming their products which leaves her to try and decode which product is which because there are no SKU numbers. There is no consistent body style. And nothing is consistent about the way the products are named and the way they have been organized.
And it’s so important for them to be organized in the backend so that your retailer knows what’s selling, how it’s selling and what products are their best performers.
If you don’t have it set up the same way and in the same language, it disrupts the whole pattern.
So, the most important thing that you can take away is to streamline your ordering and naming process for your retailer so that it is a simple and easy process for them to order from you.
What promotional materials should you supply your retailer with
Does the product you created have a story that can be used to connect with people?
Having a story to share about why you created a product or if there is a cause behind your product can help your retailer build trust with your product and their customer.
Also, having testers for your products if appropriate. Do you sell candles, or soap or sugar scrubs?
If a customer walks in and can smell your candle burning or washes their hands with your soaps they connect better with those products because of that tactile experience.
And for social media, Dana notes that while product images are great, what is really a game changer are lifestyle images.
She notes she loves when a wholesaler supplies beautiful, high resolution, easily downloadable images (think Dropbox or Google drive), that it makes a retailer’s life so much easier.
The easier you make the overall process for your retailer when it comes to clear easy-to-read invoices, testers and samples, and lifestyle photos, the more that they will want to order from you. And that is the goal, right?!
Standing apart from your competitors
When it comes to retailers, they must keep their shelves filled and that gives you a unique experience as a wholesaler.
It’s your job to convince the retailer that they need your product. And if you can convince your retailer that they need your product and get them to connect and love your product they will be more able to sell that product to their customer.
How to approach retailers and pitch your products
What makes your product special? Is it the materials you made it out of? Do you use special packaging? Is it the quality of ingredients?
The more facts that you can present to your retailer about what makes your product stand out from similar products is going to help convince them that it’s your product that should be on their shelves.
If you want to listen in on mine and Dana’s full conversation about navigating the world of wholesale strategies, you can hear our full conversation at the podcast player at the top of this post.
Connect with Dana Ayala
The Yellow Butterfly – https://www.theyellow-butterfly.com/
Instagram – @ theyellowbutterflyboutique
Facebook – The Yellow Butterfly Boutique
