Category playbooks for DTC brands · 40 articles
Category Playbooks for DTC Brands
Every category sells wholesale differently. A coffee roaster sells to cafés and grocers on tight margins and fast reorders; a ceramics brand sells to boutiques a few pieces at a time at a price that has to survive shipping. The same “go wholesale” advice fits neither.
One guide per category: the stockists that carry it, the price expectations, the packaging and compliance, and the marketplaces where buyers in that category actually look.
Guides
Wholesale Cleaning Products: Your First Stockists
Freight decides this category. How a home care brand prices concentrates, tablets and refills, labels them properly, and wins refill and hardware accounts.
9 min readWholesale Kombucha: Selling Cases to Cafes and Co-ops
How a small kombucha brand moves from a Shopify store to wholesale cases: cold chain, case pricing, direct delivery, distributors and draft accounts.
7 min readHot Sauce Wholesale: Getting Onto Shop Shelves
Process authority, co-packing, the woozy bottle and the case of twelve. A practical playbook for a small-batch sauce brand selling wholesale.
8 min readSkincare Wholesale: How to Get Into Shops and Spas
What a boutique, an apothecary and a spa each want from a skincare brand: labelling, testers, back bar sizes, case packs and the first ten accounts.
8 min readWholesale Art Prints: A Guide for Illustrators
Paper, sleeves, frame sizes, editions and the margin. How an illustrator prices art prints for wholesale and finds the first shops that will stock them.
8 min readWholesale Supplements: The First Ten Doors to Knock
Supplement buyers ask about dating and certification before price. Here is how a DTC brand prices, labels and opens its first wholesale accounts.
8 min readWholesale Office Supplies for a Design-Led Brand
Where notebooks, pens and desk goods actually sell, how a stationery buyer differs from procurement, and the two cycles that set the ordering year.
8 min readWholesale Socks: Size Runs, Prepacks and First Doors
How a sock brand builds prepacks that do not leave odd sizes, what the mill minimum really is, and which shops buy knit goods and when.
8 min readWholesale Sunglasses: Getting Frames Onto a Rack
Lens claims, the case and cloth, display towers and theft, and the pre-season buy that decides a sunglass brand year before summer starts.
7 min readWholesale Crafts: When A Maker Can Sell To Stores
Wholesale crafts break on hours per unit, not on price. Here is how a maker works out what to wholesale, what to keep, and which shops to approach.
8 min readWholesale Honey: Getting a Small Apiary Onto Shelves
What a honey brand needs before shops will buy: label limits, licensing, the arithmetic on a case of glass jars, and the first ten doors worth calling.
8 min readWholesale Soap: A Cold Process Bar on a Shop Shelf
Labelling, wrapping, cure time and case packs for a soap brand selling to shops, plus the first ten doors worth approaching and what each one pays.
8 min readWholesale Tea: Selling Loose Leaf To Cafes And Shops
Wholesale tea splits into food-service bulk and retail tins. Here is how to price both, package for freshness and pitch cafes, tearooms and hotels.
8 min readWholesale Gifts: Breaking Into The Gift Trade
The gift trade runs on price points, hangtags and orders placed months early. Here is how a DTC brand gets into gift shops, museum stores and garden centres.
8 min readWholesale Lighting: Getting Your Lamps Into Stores
Wholesale lighting sells through designers, showrooms and home stores. Here is how to price lamps, handle UL listing and survive freight.
8 min readWholesale Snacks: How To Get On A Shop Shelf
Wholesale snacks live or die on shelf velocity. Here is the pricing, the case pack, the label rules and the cafes and grocers worth pitching first.
8 min readHome Decor Wholesale: Building an Assortment Buyers Want
Home decor buyers order collections, not bestsellers. Here is how to build the assortment, price the freight and breakage, and label every item legally.
10 min readStationery Wholesale: Cards, Spinners and Seasons
Greeting cards, notebooks and pens sell into shops on a rack you supply. Here is the card arithmetic, the labelling, and the calendar that runs the year.
9 min readWholesale Hair Products for Salons and Shop Shelves
Backbar litres and retail sizes are two different businesses. Here is how a hair brand prices both, labels them legally, and lands its first salon account.
9 min readWholesale Novelties: Winning the Space by the Till
Pins, magnets, socks and gag gifts live under one price band and next to the register. Here is how a small brand prices, packs and places them.
9 min readWholesale Electronics Accessories: The Counter Playbook
Cables, chargers and grips get placed on a counter, not a shelf. Here is the certification you need, the lithium problem, and the doors that buy accessories.
9 min readWholesale Phone Cases Without Dead Stock on Old Models
How a case brand picks a model list, prices a counter display, substantiates a drop claim, and gets onto repair shop and gift shop counters.
8 min readWholesale Rugs: Freight, Samples And The Trade Account
Area rugs and runners are decided by the truck, not the shelf. Here is the flammability label, the freight maths, the swatch programme and the doors that buy rugs.
9 min readCandle Wholesale: The Maker's Guide to Gift Shops
The vessel decides whether the maths works. Here is how a candle maker prices a case of six, labels it to standard and ships wax through summer.
9 min readWholesale Party Supplies: A Brand's Guide To Stockists
Balloons, banners and cake toppers sell at low unit prices, so the minimum order and the pack itself decide whether the channel works. Here is how to build both.
8 min readWholesale Spices: A Seasoning Brand's Retail Playbook
Spice blends sell well into food shops, but the jar has rules. Here is the labelling, the case of twelve, the freight and the shelf-life talk a buyer starts with.
10 min readWholesale Toys: What A Buyer Checks Before Stocking You
Toy buyers start with your safety paperwork, not your product. Here is the testing, the labelling, the case maths and the first ten shops for a small toy brand.
8 min readWholesale Bags: Getting Totes and Packs Into Stores
Buyers want a colour spread, not a stack of one. Here is how a bag brand sets assortments, labels leather honestly and picks its first stores.
9 min readWholesale Hats: A Headwear Brand's Retail Playbook
Headwear lives or dies on sizing, season and shelf fixture. Here is how a hat brand builds case packs, labels and the first ten stockists.
8 min readWholesale Plants: A Grower's Guide to Selling Live Goods
Live goods sell by pot size and travel by the tray. Here is how a grower prices, licences, ships and finds the garden centres that reorder.
9 min readWholesale Books: A Small Press Guide to Bookstores
Bookstores buy at a deep discount off the cover price and expect to send unsold copies back. Here is how a small press sets its discount, terms and doors.
9 min readWholesale Ceramics: Kiln Capacity, Breakage and Buyers
Wholesale ceramics is limited by kiln space, not demand. Here is how to price handmade pottery, pack it so it survives, and find the first ten stockists.
7 min readWholesale Chocolate: Heat, Seasons and Counter Space
Wholesale chocolate is shaped by summer heat and a fourth-quarter rush. Here is the bar maths, the shipping plan, and the first ten accounts worth pitching.
7 min readWholesale Watches: Dealers, Margin and Price Control
Wholesale watches run on authorised dealers, price discipline and after-sales service. Here is the margin retailers expect and the first ten doors to approach.
6 min readWholesale Furniture: Freight, Trade Pricing and Doors
Wholesale furniture has no case packs and no small parcels. Here is how trade pricing, freight, lead times and safety rules work, and the first ten accounts.
7 min readWholesale Makeup: Shades, Testers and Store Buyers
Wholesale makeup lives or dies on shade assortment, testers and regulatory paperwork. Here is the pricing, the compliance and the first ten accounts to pitch.
6 min readWholesale Perfume: Testers, Shipping and Stockists
Selling wholesale perfume means testers, flammable goods shipping and a buyer who has to sell a scent nobody knows. Here is the pricing and the first ten doors.
7 min readCoffee Wholesale: Pricing, Bags and the First Ten Doors
A roaster going coffee wholesale sells two different products at two different prices. Here is the bag maths, the cafe maths, and where to find the first accounts.
7 min readWholesale Bakery: Standing Orders and Shelf Life
Wholesale bakery runs on shelf life, delivery windows and standing orders. Here is the pricing, the par-bake decision and the first ten accounts to approach.
6 min readWholesale Beverages: Cases, Distributors and Shelf Space
Selling wholesale beverages means pallets, distributor margins and cold chain decisions. Here is the case maths, the labelling, and the first ten accounts.
6 min read