“How Many Products Should There Be In My Catalogue?”

Makers often ask how many products should be in their wholesale catalogue before they start approaching shops.

The answer is one. You can create a wholesale catalogue which sells a single product.

But…it depends on your industry.

If you make stationery and send out a catalogue containing just one birthday card, retailers will be pretty confused.

Greetings cards are everyday items with a low price point and a high turnover which are bought in bulk by stores. Ordering your “Happy Birthday Dad” design all by itself is unlikely to be convenient for most shopkeepers. They’re looking to buy a whole collection, not just one item.

If, however, you make high-end items such as jewellery, ceramics or furniture, a wholesale catalogue for a single piece can be a smart move.

One Indie Retail Academy graduate, Jim Rokos, makes stunning, gravity-defying glassware.

He made a entire wholesale catalogue about one of his vases.

This allowed him to show the design in different interiors, explain the technology and communicate ideas of luxury and rarity. The pedigree, quality and price of his work easily sustained and justified the buyer’s attention.

So the minimum number of products you can show is one, although the majority of artists start out with more.

But the big takeaway is that, however many items there are in your collection, the time to start thinking about a wholesale catalogue is now.