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Hi Reader,
Does it feel daunting to figure out how to sell wholesale and retail online? Wouldn’t it be nice to have all the tools, documents, design, and strategy to close more big wholesale deals?
You might be wondering how best to structure your wholesale sales. Will Shopify's native B2B features meet your requirements without the need for a separate site or 3rd party wholesale app? A lot has changed, and we're moving a long-term client off their wholesale app and onto Shopify's native B2B channel now.
What about discounts, payment terms, and shipping? What about all the different print and digital catalogs and order forms that you’ll need? How do you stand out from your competitors as a great prospect for retail partners?
This is a common project we do for shop owners: create a wholesale solution that works well for them and their retail customers. There are many ways to do B2B, and it's usually quite particular to each shop. We work with brands to assess their needs and choose the most cost-effective solution that will have the best return. We create a professional, polished wholesale shopping experience (whether it be a website, app, channel, or something custom). We aim to make it easier on both you and the shop owners you sell to.
Conversely, we also often work with brands that have a strong wholesale business and want to leverage their success to sell direct to consumers. If that's you, you're halfway there - email me back to chat about how to get more sales online.
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Aeolidia has been a game-changer, helping a retail business move into wholesale. Within the first 6 months of launching the new website, sales increased 1,200%. Their team consistently meets deadlines and provides a customized experience.
— Stacia Guzzo, Handcrafted Honeybee
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How we can help you excel at wholesale
- Define your needs and create a unique wholesale strategy
- Define your wholesale customer persona
- Evaluate your wholesale offerings (physical or digital)
- Create a strategy for retailer outreach
- Create a strategy for the wholesale website journey
- Set up a B2B channel on your existing Shopify site or a separate site
- Design a wholesale brand book
- Build a one-page wholesale order form on your site
- Create an example retailer outreach email
- Copywriting for the above
Let’s do this now, before the holidays! Get rates to get you on the path to improve your wholesale channel, and see rates for all our other services below:
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What are some reasons it might make sense to focus on our ecommerce channel once wholesale sales are doing well?
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A: Do you have a thriving wholesale business and know your website isn’t as good as it could be? Here are some things that investing in a new website could do for you:
- Establish and reinforce your brand. You want your retailers to get the same feeling from your website that they get in your booth. The professional booth can look like a “false front” to an amateur business if your website doesn’t align with the high standards you set for your brand.
- Demonstrate the value and selling points of your product. Your website can actually help your retailers sell your work themselves. It can help them truly “get it,” and know how to talk about your brand, or how to display it, or what to pair it with.
- Build a following. Today’s retailers know that most designers will be selling their products online themselves, and you don’t have to worry about competing (aside from not underpricing them). In fact, if a retailer sees that you’ve built a loyal following, that can give them confidence that your brand is worth investing in.
- Keep in touch with your customers. When you’re running your own online shop, you’ll be able to learn from your customers’ questions, see what sells and when, learn which things often sell together, and see what gets returned and why. The wholesale relationship distances you from your customer. With a retail presence, you have access to the information you can only get directly from customers.
- Test out new products. It can be slow and expensive to test out new product ideas with your retailers. On your own website, you can create a limited run of a new product and find out if it’s something your customers want. Having a real-time relationship with your customers can be a great way to expand and refine your product line based on their feedback.
- Make more money! Though there will be costs associated with an online shop, you can immediately sell at that higher price that your wholesale customers sell your products at. That additional profit can be a wonderful income stream and a great way to grow your business.
- Smooth out cash flow. If you rely on wholesale orders, it can be nerve-wracking waiting for a big order or finding out that a retailer is dropping your line from their stores. Is income for your business uneven, based on retailers’ buying cycles? Having your own shop can be a great way to smooth out cash flow and rely less on the whims of other businesses.
Question: Answered
Our team includes experts in branding, design, development, email & SMS/text marketing, search engine optimization, copywriting, conversion optimization, ecommerce strategy, business growth and more. Email me back with your question! I'll consult one of our experts and share one response per week over email.
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From the blog
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Expanding a Wholesale Business to Capture Online Sales
Behind the scenes of our original redesign of the Hester & Cook website to help them expand their ecommerce sales.
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Rebranding ROI: Will a New Logo and Brand Design Pay For Itself?
Hear from five brands about how much money their brand redesigns made them, and how they were able to grow.
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Why Hire a Shopify Web Design Agency For Ongoing Help
What it's like to have a full team of ecommerce experts, without having to hire employees or scout freelancers.
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Wishing [COMPANY GOES HERE] all the best,
Arianne Foulks | CEO & Founder
Aeolidia, Shopify Plus Partners
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Refer a Friend
If you have a colleague who could use help with ecommerce, email marketing, and/or branding, I invite you to connect them with me. Refer a friend »
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