Should you sell to retailers or distributors first?

Why retailers usually come first

Selling to stores yourself before you sign a distributor does four things for you.

• You keep your margin while volumes are small and every unit counts.
• You learn your price and your pitch. Store owners tell you straight away whether the price, pack size or story works.
• You own the relationships. You know every stockist, and they know you.
• You build proof. A list of stores that reorder is what a distributor asks for first.

When a distributor should come first

There are real exceptions. In most US states, alcohol has to go through a licensed wholesaler before it reaches a store, so a distributor is part of the route from day one. Our guide to beverage distribution explains the three-tier system.

A distributor can also come first when a large foodservice or chain deal requires one, when your product needs a cold chain you cannot run yourself, or when your market is far from where you make the product. Even then, you will still be the one creating demand.

How to sell wholesale to your first stores

If you are starting with retailers, this is how to sell wholesale without wasting the first months.

1. 1Set a wholesale price that survives a distributorLeave room for the store's margin now and a distributor's later. The wholesale price calculator shows both.
2. 2Make a simple price list or line sheetProduct, case size, wholesale price, suggested shelf price and how to order. Keep it for when a store asks.
3. 3Pick one city and one store typeCafés, delis, grocers, health food shops or bottle shops: start where products like yours already sell. Independents before chains.
4. 4Email the owner or buyerWrite about their store and your product, keep it short, and ask for one simple next step, such as a reply.
5. 5Follow upMost replies come on the second or third email. Stop as soon as a store replies.
6. 6Send samples only to stores that askAsk which format they want and the address in the same message, and book a day to check in.
7. 7Turn the first order into a reorderCheck in after the first case, help staff sell it, and find out what moved.

Mistakes brands make selling wholesale first

Selling to retailers first works best when you avoid the traps that slow most brands down.

• Going too wide. Emailing every store type in a whole country spreads your samples and your time too thin. One city and one store type teaches you more.
• Stopping after one email. Store owners are busy. A single email with no follow-up is easy to miss, and replies tend to come later in the sequence.
• Attaching everything. Price lists, decks and images in a first email push it towards the junk folder. Keep the first email plain and short, and send the line sheet once a store replies.
• Sending samples to everyone. Samples cost money. Send them to stores that ask, and follow up on each one.
• Treating the first order as the finish line. A store that never reorders is a trial, not a stockist. The work after the first case is what builds distribution.
• Emailing existing customers by mistake. Keep a list of stores you already sell to and leave them out of cold outreach.

What changes when a distributor comes in

Once you sign a distributor, stores in its area usually order through it rather than from you. Your price per unit falls to make room for the distributor's margin, deliveries and invoicing move to them, and you get sales reports instead of a direct line to every order.

Tell your existing stockists how ordering changes before it happens, and keep visiting and emailing them yourself. Distributors deliver, but the reason a store keeps your product is still the relationship with you.

Ask the distributor for regular sales reports by store, so you can see which stockists are slowing down and visit or call them before they stop ordering. A store that drops your product rarely tells the distributor why, but it will often tell you.

Signs it is time to add a distributor

You are spending more time delivering than selling, stores outside your city want you but freight eats the margin, or stores keep asking who they can order you through. When that happens, our guide on how to find a distributor covers where to look and what to ask. If chains are next, read up on slotting fees first.

Where LaunchPal fits

LaunchPal does the slowest part of selling to retailers first: finding the right stores and reaching the person who decides. We find the independent stores that fit your product, find the owner or buyer, and write each email around that store and your product. Follow-ups stop the moment a store replies. The AI does not reply for you, so the conversation, the samples and the order stay in your hands.

Our guide to cafés is a good place to start if you have not chosen a first store type.