“Why Can’t I Sell My Products To Stores In Person?”

Lara has a question:

“Honestly, I don’t get why I need to make a wholesale catalogue if I want to sell my work to shops. Can’t I just show my products to retailers in person?”

Well yes, you could.

If you’re able to travel far and wide without great expense, and if your collection is small enough to carry, you could visit retailers in person instead of sending them a catalogue.

But even then, they’d still ask for a catalogue when you get up to leave.

Catalogues are how retailers and suppliers do business.

Although it’s always useful to see products in real life, at trade shows for example, shopkeepers are masters of remote ordering. Providing we trust you and are confident about the quality of your products, we’ll happily spend money on stock we’ve only ever seen in a picture.

A stack of catalogues means we have thousands of options at our fingertips. In a business which depends on us continually finding new and exciting items to share with our customers, seeing exactly what you offer at any time of the day (or night) is essential.

From your end, a wholesale catalogue lets you approach stores in another city or country without leaving your desk. And you can present your products at their very best, all the time.

Have you heard of contouring?

It’s a makeup technique dating back to at least Elizabethan times.

You use a darker shade on areas of your face that are naturally in shadow (like the hollows of your cheeks) and a lighter shade on the areas you want to highlight (like your cheekbones.) When properly blended, the underlying structure of the face is subtly enhanced.

The goal is to fake perfect lighting.

When you do it right, you can be in a Rotherham bus station at 5am and look like you’re being expertly illuminated by a Hollywood lighting designer who has a crush on you.

That’s the theory, anyway.

A wholesale catalogue = contouring for your products and entire brand.

You can show your work in action – hanging on a wall, perhaps, or being worn by a model. It allows you to show combinations of products, detail, scale, texture and packaging, and point out your best-sellers. If you already have stockists, you can even show your work on display in a real store.

A catalogue enables you to demonstrate more breadth, depth and range than you ever could by simply handing a buyer your product (or by sending them to your trade website.) It showcases everything you offer in the best possible light.

Why would you want to pass that up?