The Reasons For Needing a Wholesale Website
When creators are in the early progress of their wholesale adventure, structural issues can feel daunting. The creators that are worked with may become stuck on anything from how to brand and package their product lines, to reaching wholesale minimums. These operational and logistical elements can rather challenging to iron-out.
What is a wholesale website?
A wholesale website is either a connected or separate online store to your own website, that allows potential customers in retail to purchase or look at various wholesale products. It might even be somewhat of a clone of your retail shop, but where it differs is in quantities and pricing. Wholesale sites can be structured in different ways, depending on the goals and needs you may set in place.
Pros and cons of a wholesale website
When done correctly, a wholesale site can be better than alternative methods in multiple ways. An example of this is simplifying the ordering process for store owners. It allows you to change and update products, pricing and descriptions far more easily than with a document-based method such as a line sheet. It’s easier to keep branding consistent across wholesale, retail and other online-based pieces of your business presence.
This being said, wholesale websites do contain some disadvantages, it can be costly in money and time to build a wholesale website, especially in a way that is on-brand. Also some creators veer into an avenue that feels average if they don’t find a way to intertwine their story into their website.
You should consider creating a wholesale website if:
- You don’t have a sufficient method of taking wholesale orders currently.
- You’re only reaching out to independent retailers as a primary piece of your wholesale expansion
You probably don’t need a wholesale website if:
- Your focus is fully on trade shows for your growth.
- You’ve recently invested heavily in a great line sheet.
Considering creating a wholesale shop?
Here’s what Emily from Wholesale In a Box says is crucial:
- Don’t make the store owner log in to see your wholesale products. It can be wise to have a login, but not if the only way for a store owner to see your wholesale offering is by creating an account/login.
- Consider “out of the box” options. While a separate wholesale site can be great, another option is to have store owners shop on your regular website but with a coupon code that gives them the wholesale price.
And here’s what Aeolidia recommends for getting your wholesale website’s design and branding right:
- Create a slightly different version of your logo or header graphics for the wholesale site so that it is easy for customers to tell which website they are on. This could be as simple as the addition of a “wholesale shop” tagline.
- Decide what is most important for wholesale customers to know about your business and adjust your content to match. This may mean making changes to your home page, adding informational pages specifically for wholesale customers, etc.
You don’t need to rush into it, starting to plan your wholesale shop can be a smart way of investing in your wholesale expansion. It’s absolutely fine if the timing is not right for your your business. These dynamics are something you can keep in mind when laying down the foundations at an early stage.
