What is a stockist?
A stockist is a shop or venue that sells your product. Brands in the UK, Australia and New Zealand say stockist; in the US the same thing is usually called a retailer or an account.
Stockist meaning
A stockist buys your product, usually at a wholesale price, and sells it to its own customers. A café with your kombucha in the fridge is a stockist. So is a deli with your crackers on the shelf, or a bottle shop carrying your gin. It is one of the everyday words in our wholesale glossary.
The word says something a little warmer than "retailer". A stockist has chosen to carry your brand, and you can name them.
Stockist, retailer, distributor
These get mixed up, and the difference matters when you talk to buyers.
- Retailer: any business that sells to the public. Every stockist is a retailer; most retailers are not your stockists.
- Stockist: a retailer that sells your product.
- Distributor: a business that buys from you, holds stock and supplies stores. It does not sell to the public, so it is not a stockist. See how to find a distributor.
- Wholesaler: sells to businesses in bulk, often from a range of many brands. Some stores buy your product through one.
Why a stockist list matters
A list of stockists on your website helps customers find you, and it is proof for the next store. Owners want to know who else sells you, especially nearby. "The deli two streets over has had us for six months" does more than any description of your product.
Keep the list current. A stockist that stopped ordering a year ago is a customer who drives over and finds nothing. If your orders run through Cin7, the Cin7 integration shows which stockists still reorder.
What a new stockist will ask you
Before a store says yes it wants your wholesale margin for them, the case size and minimum order, and how you will help it sell. Have a line sheet ready for when they reply, not attached to the first email.
How to find stockists
Start with one store type in one area, where your product fits what the store already sells. Independents before chains. Email the owner or buyer directly with a short, specific note, offer samples to the ones who ask, and follow up. Our guide to getting your product into cafés walks through it for the most common first stockist, and stores in New Zealand covers one market end to end.
To see which stores near you would fit, see who would stock you.
Questions brands ask
Is a stockist the same as a retailer?
Nearly. A retailer is any shop that sells to the public. A stockist is a retailer that sells your product.
What is a stockist list?
A list, usually on your website, of the shops and venues that sell your product. It helps customers find you and shows new stores who already stocks you.
Is a distributor a stockist?
No. A distributor buys from you and supplies stores, but does not sell to the public.
How do I find stockists for my brand?
Pick one store type in one area, email the owner or buyer with a short note about why your product fits their store, send samples to those who ask, and follow up.
Should I start with independents or chains?
Independents. The owner decides, there are rarely slotting fees, and a run of independent stockists is what gets a chain buyer's attention later.
Read next
- Get into storesCafesWhat café owners weigh up, who to email, and how to offer samples without wasting stock.
- CPG distributionHow to find a distributorThe signs you need one, the signs you do not yet, and how to find and pitch the right one.
- Free toolsSee who would stock youType your website and see real stores near you that fit your product, before you sign up.