When it comes to growing your product business there will always be crucial, "milestone" decisions you need to make that will greatly affect success. Deciding whether to sell into retailers, wholesalers and international distributors is certainly one of the biggies.

Perhaps you are currently happy selling your products direct to consumers on your website or via marketplaces like Esty. But what’s to say you don’t have the power to take your company higher and seek new ways of selling at scale?

As a product-based business owner your ultimate vision is to make an impact, make a profit and expand your customer base. Therefore, going to larger retailers is a fantastic way to accelerate the pace of your growth and the breadth of your reach. 

We just need to get your product into their hands!  So why should you consider selling to major retailers?

1. Access to a fresh audience on a larger scale

One of the best aspects of selling to major retailers is the access it provides you to new audiences. These retailers, wholesalers and international distributors already have your audience - they have a list full of customers who are waiting and ready to buy. 

Having the opportunity to appeal to larger samples of people is the gateway towards business growth. This fresh audience will not only interact and engage with your brand but help guide you further in both brand and product development too. 

You may receive valuable feedback from the data new prospects bring with them, that allows you to explore new ways of grabbing attention. Gaining this depth of understanding of your performance is the first step towards to elevating your brand up to the successful trading levels I know you aspire to. 

2. Increased brand awareness

With larger retailers comes larger audiences that have the potential to grow overall awareness for your brand in the market. The more people that are exposed to your products or service, the more likely your brand will get traction and grow.

Selling to major retailers is a great way to get yourself out there and recognised with new samples of people, who can become great advocates for your brand and help refer your brand to others.

Perhaps you are saying to yourself that you feel more secure selling your branded products on your website or smaller Etsy pages?

Whilst selling to smaller retailers is a safer and often easier option, you’re less likely to achieve that visibility. This visibility and brand awareness will drive your business forward. Having access to this fresh audience will unlock endless possibilities and new avenues for your brand to explore. 

You will also notice a crossover of sales from being seen in major stores. This in turn will then see an increase in traffic to your own ecommerce store, or marketplace listing, plus don't be suprised if new press and media enquiries quickly follow. This will all ultimately create a lot more sales for you and your business.

3. International growth opportunities

So, you’ve introduced your brand and product lines to a whole new audience who are interested in your brand mission and like what they see - what’s next?

Major retailers are major because of how well known they are. This isn’t limited to the one country they are situated in. With larger retailers comes international growth opportunities and access to new countries. Many have international reach either through their own footprint or through partners.

In addition, if you can say you are stocked in a major retailer in one country, other major international retailers WILL know exactly who that retailer is.  It will give them a nice benchmark on your possible trading success in their own stores, in their country.

Unlocking this door to international growth opportunity will open a whole new world for you to explore. One full of new customers who will be interested in your branded products.

4. Access to true promotional power

If you’re a new brand this is a great way to learn from the pros and see exactly how they do it! Joining a major retailer and selling your products on a larger scale will see your level of investment increase but also the ROI value driven from these promotions. Subsequently, this will show you just how much can be made from enticing offers and professional excellence in marketing.

People love promotions and when you utilise them on a larger scale, the reward and impact will be much greater.

You have the power to get your business out there. It’s time to get retail ready and pitch your product to the big retailers for maximum exposure.

Are you ready to consider selling to major retailers?

Make It Happen In Your Business

Deciding to sell to retailers is a big decision, yes, you must have the margins in your product to support it, professional packaging, a beautiful brand and an attitude to deliver right first time but it could be the milestone decision worth making for the success of your business.

There are so many incredible benefits that are waiting right around the corner for you. So, why not take that leap of faith today and begin your journey selling to major retailers.

Next Steps

• Review your product profitability and decide if you have the margins to share those profits with a major retailer. They will naturally want a cut. 
• Before you approach anyone, make sure your product is packaged professionally with bar-coding and is genuinely retail ready.  
• Do what you can now to strengthen any brand weaknesses in logos, look and positioning, to make sure it is very clear what your brand is and what it stands for.  Retail buyers will quiz you on this!
• If you are feeling unsure as to whether this is the best route for your business or you are wondering how to get started with that initial outreach to potential B2B retail targets - please get in touch. We offer our clients a b2b lead generation outreach service to support new brands with this exact challenge - finding time to do the work to outreach to retailers and get them interested in your brand! 
• We can help you get a robust number of wholesale accounts under your belt, start you on your journey towards pitching to retail buyers and finding a new International distributor for your product...book a call with us today. We'll see if we are a good fit for you and share how we can help you grow your business faster than you are doing today.