To improve wholesale sell-through, look no further than the views of the top retailers themselves. Execute a highly-targeted wholesale campaign, leveraging the power of B2B e-commerce and the buying strategies of the top retail minds at Highsnobiety, Nordstrom and Intermix.
Share Data-Backed Presentations with Buyers
“We have some level of data, which shows us what categories and price points our audience most engages with, and that’s what informs a lot of how we build these collections and do our buys, but it’s still somewhat of a feeling. That’s really the magic in the model — to really understand where you can go deep or where you cannot — because ultimately, for us, sell-through is one of the main things we measure. We spend a lot of time trying to understand the demand for things and to make sure that we never over-deliver on that demand."
DAVID FISCHER, FOUNDER, HIGHSNOBIETY
Use your B2B e-commerce platform to track key, real-time data such as your overall top-performing categories and top-performing styles, as well as well as said data as they pertain to specific doors. Analyze the data to uncover any gaps in assortment buys, presenting valuable opportunities to your most-valued retailer clients. Cater to the “feeling” aspect of the business by presenting the data alongside visually-focused fashion presentations backed by forecasted trends and intuitive selections.
It's an excellent way to merge the analytical with the emotional and instinctive. Develop the presentations and ensuing email campaigns via your B2B e-commerce platform for convenience and in-depth insights, such as the creation of order drafts and the ability to know when someone has viewed a linesheet.
Optimize Your Fashion Brand for Exclusives and Capsule Collections
“We work with our vendors to create anything from one style to fill a void in the market, a collection or the natural cadence of how the brand is delivering its product, to a broader capsule that we do with quite a few brands to offer what our customer comes to us for. For example, we just did a jumpsuit capsule, because we noticed that our girl has always come to us for parties. So we worked with our brands to offer her a curated capsule of jumpsuits for parties or every day, and it was hugely successful. We didn’t see it in the market, and we felt it was something we could expand on, and she really responded to that in stores and online.”ALEXANDRA WILLINGER, BUYING MANAGER OF DESIGNER SECONDARY, SPORTSWEAR, DENIM & OUTWEAR, INTERMIX
Open up conversations with your manufacturing partners regarding the feasibility of producing exclusives, capsule collections and other special merchandise. Discuss all of the possibilities, limitations and timelines- and get everything in writing. Make sure you're able to deliver on your promises, and then start pitching the idea of collaborating on exclusives to current and potential retailer clients. Be proactive; include a few ideas of what the collaboration could look like with every pitch.
Share Personalized Linesheets
“Merchants have used some form of buying data forever,” he said. “As long as there’s been a guy with a shop and a piece of paper, he’s been tallying up — that’s data. In current times, when everything’s relatively tumultuous, the way to stay ahead is to really understand your guy, your customer, and how you can push that customer forward in an interesting way for them.”
SAM LOBBAN, VP OF DESIGN FOR MEN'S, NORDSTROM
Use your B2B e-commerce platform to create personalized linesheets tailored to individual retailers’ needs. Address key categories, styles based on past orders, bestsellers, any relevant SKUs brought up in recent conversation-- and a merchandise assortment that otherwise communicates that you have a deep understanding of their consumers.
