Do you dream of seeing your shiny, gorgeous products on the shelves of high street stores? Hold that thought. Before giving you hints and hacks on how to approach retailers, this guide helps you weigh up whether to do so at all – as it’s not the best route for every brand…
Do the numbers work?
To succeed at selling your products through a retailer, your pricing structure must have enough built-in profit for everyone. If there’s a shortfall, you may need to relook at your brand positioning and perhaps price your product more expensively so you can make a profit.
For example, if your product retails at £10, the retailer will expect to get a 2.5 markup on their cost price from you. So you’ll need to divide £10 by 2.5, to give them a cost price at £4. However, if your product costs you £4 to make and their cost price is also £4, then you’ll have no profit margin – so you’ll have to increase your pricing to make any money. Note: the retailer’s markup varies between about 2.1 and 2.8, so on average it’s around 2.5.
Top tip: when pricing your product, as well as calculating the monetary cost to you, think about the time that goes into creating it, your skill, your ingenuity and your marketing, etc. So don’t just multiply the physical price of your product by 2.5 to work out your retail price but factor in all these added values too.
Reaching out to retailers
Here are five steps to approaching the right retailers in the right way:
Step 1: strut your stuff
Make sure you have a strong LinkedIn profile and a stunning Instagram, as this is where you and your contacts will be checking each other out. And take some time creating a brilliant PDF to showcase your products and tell retailers at a glance everything they need to know (use Canva or PicMonkey or buy formats from Etsy). Show your brand’s success stories so far, including any press coverage and rave reviews. Display your line list with images and descriptions, best sellers, cost prices, retail prices and the minimum quantity the retailer needs to buy from you.
Step 2: create a spreadsheet
To be organised from the get-go, create an Excel spreadsheet listing the retailers who you’d like to stock your products. Make sure you choose retailers that are aligned with your customer base, so you reach the right audiences. Does it make sense for you to be in their store – will you have synergy with the customers? And does the retailer share your values?
Step 3: look before you leap
Before you contact retailers, go to their stores (or go online) and find out where you fit in. Why should they stock your product? What can you bring to their shelves that they don’t already have? This unique point of difference will help with your sales pitch, empowering you to demonstrate that your product fills a gap in their current offering.
Step 4: now leap (and expect a few bruises)
Once you have a list of names, start connecting. Don’t be disheartened if you get a lot of no’s – you only need a couple of yeses after all. If a retailer says ‘no’ today, they may not say ‘no’ forever – so thank them and say you’ll follow up in a fortnight or so. Try sending them a sample: when they see how fabulous your product is, maybe they’ll change their mind. Be pleasantly persistent without being relentlessly annoying – it’s an important balance to strike.
Step 5: keep notes on every conversation
Stay in communication and be sure to keep track of who you’ve spoken to, what they’ve said and what your next steps are. If a retailer places an order, message them back to confirm what you’ll be sending them – this will help avoid mistakes and misunderstandings.
How do you know when you’re ready?
- When you’re truly proud of your product.
- When you’re confident your pricing is right.
- When you know there’s a gap in the market.
- When your packaging is sturdy as well as stylish (it needs to withstand being picked up and handled by a lot of inquisitive customers).
- When you can have a continuity of supply to meet demand.
- When your target audience has tested your product.
- When you’ve taken relevant feedback on board and made the necessary tweaks.
- When you have a sense of what your bestsellers will be.
When this combination of things comes together, you’re as ready as you’ll ever be to reach out to retailers.
Can you deliver to meet demand?
When liaising with retailers, it’s important not to over-promise and under-deliver – as this can be an expensive mistake. For example, imagine a retailer orders eight weeks’ of Christmas stock (800 units) from you on the understanding it’ll arrive in their stores by the end of October. If you don’t deliver until mid-November, you’ll cut that selling period by two weeks – and the retailer will be justified in wanting to cancel 200 units out of the 800-unit order. So be sure to deliver on time, as a delay can cost you precious weeks of shelf space and you may get left with stock.
Nurture those relationships
Just as you’re the person behind your brand, remember there’s a human behind the retailer too. Develop a rapport – be honest and expect honesty back. Ask them to keep you informed about how your products are performing and which lines are selling best. If they’re selling ten other brands similar to yours, ask them how yours is ranking in the popularity stakes.
Remember to invite your retailers to your promotional events and offer them samples of your products to take to their own PR events. Find out what’s going on in their business and tell them what’s going on in yours. If you have a new product, they may not necessarily want to stock it but they’ll still want to know about it.
Create some time every week, to reach out to retailers – e.g. Tuesday morning could be your ‘retail research and connection day’. Put it in your diary, so it doesn’t get overlooked.
Think outside the shops
Before approaching big-name stores, you could think about local boutiques or boutique chains as a first step. And of course, shops aren’t the only places to sell your products – marketplaces such as ankorstore, Creoate, Abound and Faire are great places to start getting your brand in front of a lot of buyers. Also think about going to trade fairs – you’ll meet sellers there who started out just like you, so there’s a lot you can learn from chatting to them.
As trends change, how do you stay successful?
Products tend to have a lifecycle – growing and growing until they reach saturation and then starting to decline. So, if you’re repeating a product that’s been out for a few seasons, watch the sales and if they start to trail off, you may need to introduce something new. For your core lines, think about how you could refresh them (as opposed to completely replacing them). For example, if your core line was a basic white bra, you could add some detail so it’s lacier or you could use eco-friendlier materials. It should still be the bra that everyone knows and wants, but it’s now softer, sexier or more sustainable – and then you can market that new benefit.
When looking at how to develop your product for future seasons and successes, also look at your competition. If you’re the only brand that’s still doing the same thing you did three years ago and your sales are now starting to dip, it’s time to make a change.
This How-to Guide was inspired by one of our Zoom Dives with Nicole Higgins, product, fashion and retail mentor.
Our Zoom Dive events are deep-delving discussions between our founder, Carolyn Dailey and a handpicked creative business expert. You can listen to Carolyn and Nicole’s full discussion here.
Fancy catching our next Zoom Dive, live? See our Events calendar and sign up for free.