As a maker or indie product line, it can be challenging to know how to use your website for wholesale sales. In this article, we answer key questions like: Should I hire help or DIY my first Shopify site? What wholesale apps are best for a Shopify website? What mistakes am I making on my website that could be hurting sales? Do I need a separate wholesale website?

You can spend A LOT of time, and resources creating and making your website just right. We know most makers tend to get their sites set up and forget about them. But is your brand’s website doing all that it can for you? Is it worth it to invest your time and energy on creating a website for your brand? Is a poor website experience costing you sales?

Sprucing up your website can have a large impact on your business. But where should you start? What are the common mistakes and pitfalls? What changes can have the largest impact? In response to these questions and more, we’ve partnered with Aeolidia in a Wholesale In a Box Maker Exclusive Live Event, to bring a website expert who will;

• Review volunteer’s websites and provide suggestions in real time.

• Walk through everything from navigation to copywriting your website.

• Provide common website mistakes and how to avoid them.

Part of Made to Last – a series of interviews we’re doing with established makers who have grown and evolved their businesses over the long term. We sit down with Sarah Omura of So Handmade and learn about her prioritization of simplicity, and patient evolution of her company over years.

When you’re running a small business, there are hundreds of potential things to do – with limited time. And a big factor in your success is your ability to discern the things that have the highest impact–  and focusing relentlessly on doing those things.

A peek behind the curtain of our unique approach to supporting makers through one-on-one coaching services at Wholesale In a Box.

If you’re working to grow wholesale as a maker or independent brand, you probably have (or will have) some kind of wholesale line sheet. But… having a line sheet is not the same as having an effective line sheet. It's often going to be the only representation of your products that a store owner ever sees before they decide whether to place an order. And if store owners are taking the time to consider your line, it’s a shame to squander that attention with a document that doesn’t represent you well.

Once you start getting momentum with your wholesale growth, it’s common to run headlong into this problem: how much exclusivity to offer your stockists. 

Part of Made to Last – a series of interviews we’re doing with established makers who have grown and evolved their businesses over the long term. We sit down with K’era Morgan of k-apostrophe to discuss her passion of collaboration, exploring new mediums and supporting her community.

Faire has become a part of the maker community. In fact, most of the makers we work with also use Faire or similar. That said, there are some things to be cautious about if you are considering using Faire as a key avenue for your wholesale growth.

Part of Made to Last – a series of interviews we’re doing with established makers who have grown and evolved their businesses over the long term. We sit down with Jonnie Estes of Grey Theory Mill. Jonnie gets specific about how the pandemic and the recession are affecting her sales, the emotional roller coaster of running a business, the good, bad, and ugly of her experiments with ads – and where she is headed now (12 years into running her business.)

A look at predictors of wholesale success and how you can change, build or develop each one in your wholesale business.

Part of Made to Last – a series of interviews we’re doing with established makers who have grown and evolved their businesses over the long term. We sit down with Lori Roberts of Little Truths Studio and learn about how she found her flow with structure and going her own way.