It's not unusual for a business to have a multi-pronged attack when deciding how and where to sell.
The advent of digital marketing and social media has changed the way you can do things, so while you don't necessarily have to travel a conventional path in your business, we thought it was important to cover the more traditional methods of selling for the fundamental understanding.
We've enlisted expert help and advice to give guidance on trade shows, fashion shows, selling into boutiques and on online marketplaces, and how to find and use an agent. If you haven't yet discovered it, we recommend you begin by first diving in to the previous Masterclass, How & Where To Sell: Getting Started & Going It Alone.
In this Masterclass you will learn:
- The difference between wholesale and retail, and the fundamentals of what wholesale is
- What trade shows are and the importance of them in raising contacts, along with handy trade and fashion show checklists to help you prepare for your visit
- What a sales agency is, how to work with them, and what the point of them is
- How to approach online marketplaces with your brand, and marketing strategies to suit them
- How to approach and build relationships with fashion buyers
- What visual merchandising is, and the importance of it for effective trade and fashion show exhibits
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Introduction to Wholesale with Saumen Kar, London Organic PR
with Saumen KarSummary
This 50 minute Lesson is with expert is London Organic PR founder Saumen Kar, who has over 20 years experience in marketing and business consulting. Saumen realised that marketing, costing, and spreadsheets, aren’t every creative’s forte, so he launched his company to provide this help for brands. London Organic PR seeks to advise brands on areas from sourcing and manufacturing, to marketing, to sales. His biggest passion is “Made in the UK”.
In this Lesson, we demystify the wholesale process and how to maximise your sales with some fabulous tricks and advice, including his take on launching your own physical shop.
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Visual Merchandising Trade Shows & Fashion Shows
with Jade Maria BurrowesSummary
With a background in visual merchandising and having worked for one of Britain’s most famous multi-channel department stores, Jade Maria Burrowes is an expert on the fundamentals of visual merchandising. She also has first-hand experience of organising fashion shows - we couldn't be in better hands for this Masterclass in visual merchandising trade events and fashion shows.
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Trade Show & Fashion Show Information
with Charlie Bradley RossSummary
In this Masterclass, we round up all of the information surrounding trade and fashion shows for sustainable designers.
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Working with Sales Agents
with Davina EbikemeSummary
Davina Ebikeme runs the London-based wholesale agency and brand consultancy July Rollings. She gives us an insight into what she does, the benefits of working with sales agents and the inner workings of holding a seasonal showroom.
With an impressive background as DKNY's wholesale sales executive and then managing the UK and international sales of renowned designer Hussein Chalayan, Davina is well placed to advise brands on the wholesale side of the fashion industry. She launched July Rollings with the mission to nurture and grow emerging and small brands, across ready to wear, footwear and accessories. July Rollings organises and manages seasonal sales campaigns for their clients, presents their collections to key retailers and consults on overall brand strategy from merchandising, pricing, development, production and sales.
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How To Approach Online Marketplaces And Stand Out
with Caroline HenneSummary
Caroline Henne is Chief Marketing Officer Wolf & Badger. Her career started in large luxury brands and Google. She has incredible experience working with large luxury advertisers, including Rolex, and LVMH group to name a few. Her heart, however, was always in smaller, luxury brands; the story behind those companies and directly supporting those brands.
Wolf & Badger believes they sell the worlds best - unique, independent and ethical brands. Unique, independent and ethical is the absolute priority for them. They have two stores in London and one in New York with sales predominantly online. They sell womenswear, menswear, childrenswear. They love to work with smaller brands as they embrace independent, ethical brands.
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How To Approach Fashion Buyers
with Charlie Bradley RossSummary
Buyers are powerful creatures - they could "make" your brand. Their opinions, experiences and advice is extremely important to the success of your business. We had the opportunity to pick the brains of three sustainable boutique owners, to get a behind-the-scenes look at how the buying cycle works, what to do to get in front of them and how they like to be approached.
Sheer Apparel is an online sustainable and ethical womenswear boutique founded by Paula Haunit; she knows the customer and she knows the modern lifestyle too. Consumers don’t often have the time to shop around and research, so she compiles the best ecofashion brands into a stunning online boutique that makes sustainable style easy. Paula also writes for the Huffington Post. The aim of the business is to “prove to you that beautiful, high-quality, conscious style is available at comparable prices to equivalent brands you’ve loved for years.” Well, I salute that! Some of the brands they stock include Armed Angels and Maska.
Alicia Taylor, Co-founder of Gather & See is very well equipped to understand the fashion market, consumer habits and the way that designers and labels work. She worked in PR, then at LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), and then moved on to Value Retail. Launched in 2014, Gather & See first started to sell products in their online boutique. They select like-minded, forward thinking designers that fit into at least three of Gather&See’s five founding philosophies: Fair Trade, Organic, Eco-Friendly, Small Scale Production and Heritage. Examples of the brands they stock include Conditions Apply and Kowtow.
An avid researcher of the most sumptuous and delicious of ethical brands, Kate Richards curates a shop that almost resembles a gallery with all of its fantastically crafted eco-luxe items. The task of filling a physical shop allows Kate to really showcase the textural, sensual qualities of the brands she represents. She stocks brands such as Desmond & Dempsey and Thought.
With a bricks and mortar, Kate offers the unique perspective of how consumers behave and respond to pieces in a physical setting; these are the moments when a passer-by can be distracted by the sheer beauty of a garment in a shop window, and a lifelong appreciation for that brand can blossom. But how does Kate know which brands will work? And how do you become one of those brands in the window... watch to learn!
Interviews
Your Fitting Room: A new shopping concept with an eco edge
Tuesday Aug 29th, 2017
Staiy: Where Style Meets Sustainability
Wednesday Jul 1st, 2020
Past Events
Additional Links
Are you ready to sell wholesale?
What price to use when talking to retailers
How small brands can make the most out of PR Agencies
Signs you are ready for a runway show
Selling On Third-Party Marketplaces [Podcast Episode 14; Resilient Retail Club]
An Introduction To Wholesale [Resilient Retail Club]
How To Grow Online Sales [Resilient Retail Club]
Selling On Social Media [Resilient Retail Club]
Follow on Masterclasses:
Where And How To Sell: Getting Started And Going It Alone
Survival Strategies For Fashion Retail
How To Build An Authentic And Powerful Social Media Presence
Additional Reading
How can you build a successful ethical fashion line while making profit?
Monday Feb 7th, 2022
What The Fashion Industry Should Take Away from COP26
Monday Nov 15th, 2021
What Wellbeing Strategies Can You Implement To Be An Agile Business?
Thursday Dec 17th, 2020
Can The High Street Recover From The Covid-19 Pandemic?
Thursday Dec 10th, 2020
How Fashion Retail Has Survived The Covid-19 Pandemic
Thursday Dec 3rd, 2020
Building A Healthy And Happy Work Culture After Coronavirus
Thursday Jun 11th, 2020
Transforming the swimwear industry with Deakin and Blue at Pure Origin
Friday Feb 14th, 2020
Crowdfunding craft with Kickstarter + Yodomo
Monday Oct 21st, 2019
The Key Questions to Ask Before Planning Your Marketing Budget
Monday Oct 14th, 2019
Are you getting the message across? Why it might be time to rebrand your business
Monday Aug 12th, 2019