Discover the essential measures brands moving from DTC to wholesale must consider if they want to achieve retail success, including identifying a solid growth strategy, understanding wholesale pricing and creating high-quality line sheets.
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Wholesale's potential is still untapped by so many brands, but with the channel going from strength to strength, now's the time to take advantage of these top tips.
Several of the most successful Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brands including Fabletics, Bandier and Warby Parker have already made the move into the wholesale space. This trend looks set to continue to grow in the coming years as more DTC brands realize the potential of shifting to wholesale.
Wholesale not only builds brand awareness, drives new customer acquisition and increases sales volume through more points of distribution, but it's also cost-effective. For a long time, many held the belief that DTC was a more profitable business model as a brand retains a much higher margin. However, the reality is that a DTC-only distribution model means brands are also burdened with all of the costs related to finding and converting new customers, operating retail stores, and shouldering high shipping and return fees.
These factors often make the company less profitable than if it were leveraging wholesale partners to tackle these expenses. But as more and more DTC brands come to this realization, it makes sense that an interest in wholesale is on the rise.
Moving from DTC to wholesale can be extremely fruitful but it requires careful preparation to ensure your company's success and longevity. As the leading b2b wholesale platform, we service 14,000+ brands across 150 countries and have facilitated over $100 billion in wholesale transactions, so there's no one better positioned to create this comprehensive guide. Let us lead you through the five critical steps every brand should take to build a successful wholesale business.
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The first step in any DTC brand's wholesale journey should be to figure out which kind of retailers you want to attract. How many retailers do you plan on targeting and why? Think not only about where you want to be stocked (both regionally and globally) but why you want to be stocked there. Pick with intention, the bigger the retailers you target the bigger the potential growth opportunities, but is your brand ready for that?
Are you looking for quick wins or do you want to build a slow but steady retail partnership that can grow with you? Remember that traditional wholesale will stick to an annual schedule, there will be sales cycles and payout dates set by retailers, which can feel like quite a shift in pace from DTC. Planning ahead with a solid strategy for your brand's growth will ensure this doesn't catch you unprepared.
Next, you should conduct market research into your competitors. Ask your DTC customers about other brands they like to shop for and investigate the other brands that will be vying for retailers’ attention.
To put yourself at a big advantage, use JOOR’s proprietary retailer directory to see which other brands are being carried by retailers you want to target. Find out what their wholesale prices are and see where you fit alongside them.
What do they offer that's similar to you? And what is your point of difference? Knowing the market landscape inside out will make it easier to identify areas in which your products will stand out and fill a unique need for retailers.
For the final stage of step one, set aside time to establish your pricing for wholesale that allows for profitability, while still being attractive to potential retail partners. This will often involve determining what price points are most attractive to your wholesale customer and adjusting your pricing to meet both the retailer and end consumer’s desired price point.
If you're using JOOR, take advantage of the Snapshot dashboard, which gives you access to essential data points and performance metrics in easy-to-read charts and graphs right on your homepage, showing you in real-time what price points are performing best.
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Once you've worked out a wholesale strategy, it's time to think about how you will captivate potential buyers. Choose which products you want to offer to wholesale partners and adjust your assortments accordingly.
Decide if you want to create any exclusive styles or colorways for this new channel or for certain particular partners. Many brands design exclusive products to cater to retailer demands, providing them with a style that isn’t available anywhere else, and this can often make your brand more appealing to potential buyers.
When your assortment is confirmed, create line sheets with high-quality images and clear descriptions to showcase what makes your brand unique and desirable to potential wholesale clients. Organizing your products logically will streamline the browsing experience, making it easier for buyers to find what they're looking for.
Be sure to specify available sizes, color variations, and delivery windows to streamline the ordering process. If applicable, you might also want to consider showcasing sustainable materials and/or manufacturing practices - something that a growing number of retailers look for as customers seek out more eco-conscious fashion choices.
In order to operate a profitable business brands often require minimum order quantities - meaning a certain number of units need to be ordered to put a style into production. Work out and clearly communicate the minimum number of units per style or color that a retailer must purchase in a single order and confirm the lead times necessary to accommodate wholesale orders.
Remember unlike an online DTC store, retailers need to psychically present a collection of your products to customers in store, and so they will require a range of products in the right quantities to look attractive on the shop floor.
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While you may already have a strong team at your DTC brand, it is worth hiring a dedicated wholesale sales team or at the very least one independent wholesale representative. Investing in talent that has a wealth of experience in the channel will be beneficial as they will already know how the sales cycle works and will be able to best advise you on how to establish and maintain buyer relationships.
If you’re not quite ready to hire a dedicated team member in-house, consider working with a showroom that will represent your brand as another option to start building your wholesale business.
Develop a formal agreement that outlines terms and conditions for retailers. This will be a critical tool to ensure there is a common understanding of expectations when retailers place an order and will eliminate miscommunication. This contract should include but is not limited to payment terms, shipping logistics, return policies, and exclusivity agreements if applicable.
Before moving from DTC to wholesale it's key that you upgrade your order management system so that it can handle new wholesale orders. A B2B portal like JOOR can act as a centralized platform, so you can not only identify and connect with retailers, but also track orders, communicate changes, monitor live insights, manage returns, and process payments from various buyers efficiently.
In turn, retailers can easily place orders, find product information, access imagery and read promotional materials from your brand.
Identify the kind of retailers you think your brand would be best suited to. Remember department stores with multiple locations offer worldwide appeal and can put your products in front of a huge audience, but specialist independent boutiques that cater to a select but highly curated clientele can help your brand build a loyal following.
To simplify this step we created the Find New Retailers feature on JOOR. The functionality makes it easy to identify potential buyers that align with your business goals and the advanced algorithms behind the search engine help you get the best matches possible.
Filter retailers by location to find boutiques where you want to expand your presence, or search select product categories and focus on retailers specializing in your areas to increase the chances of a successful partnership.
Once you have found retailers that you think could be a good match, the next step is to try and initiate contact. You can usually use email or social media to reach out and begin to establish new connections, but this will require a lot of research and can easily eat away at precious business time.
If you are using JOOR, you can easily view a retailer’s profile to find their key contact information and send a connection request so you can start building meaningful business relationships in seconds.
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Now that you've engaged your target retailers, it's time to think about what will make your brand appealing to them besides your products. Gather any impressive statistics about your brand that you can.
Do you have a strong social media presence? Have you won any awards of note? Are there any news articles about your business that are particularly impressive? It's imperative that you create a bank of this information to keep in your wholesale arsenal. Looking at the information and data you have gathered, what is the brand story that you can tell potential stockists that will get them wanting to carry your products?
Lookbooks are a great way to tell your brand story and also highlight the breadth of your collections. These can be circulated at industry trade shows, fashion markets, or in physical showrooms and are an effective way to convey your brand ethos, seasonal inspiration, and key product highlights to generate interest from buyers.
As the industry-leading wholesale platform, we've made it easier than ever before for brands to market to new buyers. Consider your brand Profile on JOOR as the homepage of your own B2B website. It is completely customizable and designed to showcase your brand and product in the most dynamic way possible.
This virtual showroom for your brand allows buyers around the world to browse at their convenience. With capabilities for high-res 360° images, shoppable lookbooks and engaging videos, you can create a truly immersive experience they're sure to remember.
Follow these five comprehensive steps and you will be well on your way to wholesale success. If you feel like you need a helping hand streamlining your DTC brand's transition to this new channel, consider joining JOOR today.
You can also increase your brand’s visibility to buyers by booking JOOR’s Retail Centre Banner, an advertising placement which features your brand right on the retailer login screen to grab busy buyers’ attention, and by participating in JOOR Passport events - our curated digital trade shows.
These digital showcases are designed to help retailers discover new brands like yours without having to step out of their office. We run a variety of different themed events throughout the year in line with the fashion calendar, and with a single JOOR login buyers can browse the shows and connect with brands like yours.
Book a demo to see how we can help you tackle the next chapter in your retail business and show you how easy it can be to transform your brand with the endless possibilities (and profitability) that wholesale can bring.
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