What to do when wholesale sales go quiet (and how to fix it)
- 15 hours ago
- 7 min read
Every product-based business hits a quiet patch. Orders slow down, inboxes go quiet, and the gap between your last sale and today starts to feel longer than it should.
And if you've been in wholesale for any length of time, you'll know that quiet periods have a particular kind of psychological weight. Because unlike a slow day on your own website, a wholesale slump can feel like rejection. Like the buyers have moved on, or found someone better, or just... forgotten you exist.
The good news is that a slow patch is almost never about your products. It's usually about visibility, timing, or pipeline (ie. are you actually pitching and bringing in enough leads into your funnel). And all three of those are things you can actually do something about. So instead of sitting with the anxiety and hoping things pick up, here's what I'd do instead.
First, check whether it's seasonal
Before you do anything else, take a breath and check whether this is actually a problem or just the calendar.
Wholesale has natural rhythms, and a lot of brands are genuinely quieter at certain points in the year. If your products are heavily giftable, January and February can be slow as buyers recover from Christmas. Summer can be quiet in some categories while winter buying is in full swing in others.
If a slow period lines up with a pattern you've seen before, or one that makes sense for your product type, that's useful information. It doesn't mean you do nothing, but it does mean you don't need to panic either.
What not to do
When sales go quiet, there are a few very tempting things to do that will almost certainly make things worse.
Don't slash your prices out of desperation. Discounting your wholesale prices to get orders moving is a short-term fix with long-term consequences. You attract buyers who are buying on price rather than on fit, you undermine the value of your products, and you make it harder to get back to your correct pricing later.
Don't go silent either. It sounds counterintuitive, but a lot of brands retreat when things go quiet, when actually the quiet period is exactly the time to be more visible, not less. Buyers don't notice you're having a slow month. They just notice whether you're showing up or not.
And don't assume the buyers who haven't ordered recently have moved on. Most of the time, they're just busy. A well-timed, well-written message from you is often all it takes to get back on their radar.
What to actually do
Look at your sales funnel
The most common reason wholesale goes quiet is that the outreach has dried up. When orders are coming in, it's easy to stop pitching because you feel like you've got enough on. Then the orders slow down, and you realise you haven't been filling your funnel.
Have a look at the last month. How many new buyers did you contact? How many follow-ups did you send? If the answer is very few, that's your starting point.
You don't need to send hundreds of emails. You need to send the right ones, consistently. Even five new outreach emails a week, done consistently, can shift things noticeably over a month.
Reconnect with stockists who've gone quiet
Before you focus on finding new stockists, go back to the ones you already have. A lapsed stockist is a warm lead, not a cold one. They already know your brand, they've bought from you before, and they're much more likely to reorder than a stranger is to place their first order.
A simple, personal check-in email or phone call goes a long way here. Ask how things are selling, whether they'd like to see your newest products, or whether there's anything they need from you. Keep it genuinely conversational and low pressure, because the goal is to reopen the relationship, not to force a sale.
When I work with brands that are down year on year on their sales, it’s almost always partly because they are not nurturing and marketing enough to their existing customers. And they are often leaving thousands of pounds up for grabs by other brands.
Review your wholesale materials
A quiet period is also a good time to look at your line sheets, lookbook, and wholesale information with fresh eyes. Are they up to date? Do they reflect your current range clearly? Would a buyer who received them today know exactly what you offer, what your terms are, and how to place an order?
If you've been using the same materials for a while without updating them, there's a decent chance they're not doing as much work as they could be. A refreshed, clear, well-designed line sheet won't generate orders on its own, but paired with good outreach it makes a real difference.
Research new potential stockists
If you've been reactive about finding new stockists, a quiet period is a good time to get proactive. Set aside a couple of hours to research stores that would be a good fit for your brand. Visit their websites, check what they're currently stocking, and make a list of the ones you genuinely want to get into.
Then write them a pitch that shows you've done your homework. Not a generic "I'd love to wholesale with you" email, but something specific to them. This is what takes the most time and effort, but it's also what actually gets replies.
Tighten up your follow-up
Most wholesale orders don't happen on the first contact. They happen after the third or fourth touchpoint, which means the brands who follow up consistently are the ones who get the orders.
If you've sent pitches recently and not heard back, go back through them. Who hasn't replied? Who opened your email but didn't respond? Who said "maybe later" and has had a bit of later?
A quiet time is a good time to work through your follow-up list, because you've got the headspace for it and it's exactly the kind of work that keeps your sales funnel moving.
Use the quiet time to build, not just chase
One of the things I always say to the brands I work with is that a slow sales period and a slow business period are not the same thing. Some of the most useful work you can do for your wholesale business doesn't result in an immediate order. It results in a better sales funnel, a stronger pitch, a clearer offer.
So if you're in a quiet patch right now, use some of that time for the strategic stuff you keep saying you'll get to. Update your line sheet. Write better follow-up emails. Research your target stockists. Think about which trade shows or markets might be worth doing next year.
None of it will turn into orders tomorrow. But it will absolutely turn into orders, and that's worth something.
If you want a structured, practical session on exactly what to do to get your wholesale moving again, I'm running a workshop called The 5 moves to get your wholesale moving. It covers the five specific actions that consistently shift wholesale sales, and you can join us here: The 5 moves workshop. It’s happening on the 8th of June 2026 and you can join up until 5th of June at 2pm BTS.
If you’re reading this past this date, and this has got you thinking about your wholesale sales, here are a few posts that might help you take the next step.
Frequently asked questions:
Should I reach out to stockists even when I don't have anything new to say?
Yes, and you don't need a new product launch to have a reason to get in touch. A genuine check-in email asking how things are selling, or sharing a bit of useful information about your category, is a perfectly good reason to reach out. Buyers appreciate brands that stay in touch. It keeps you front of mind so that when they are ready to order, you're the one they think of.
Is it worth discounting to get orders moving during a quiet period?
I don’t think there’s any shame in discounting, but I would try other ways first, checking to see if you have been ghosting your customers and not communicating with them before panic discounting. I also like other types of offers to incentivise an order, a small add-on, like free samples or a pack size of products, a slightly lower minimum for a first reorder, or early access to a new range, rather than cutting your price.
What if I've tried all of this and things are still quiet?
It's worth stepping back and looking at the bigger picture. Are you pitching to the right kinds of stockists for your brand? Is your product positioning clear? Is your pricing right? Sometimes a sustained quiet period is a signal to look at the fundamentals rather than just turn up the volume on outreach. Getting outside eyes on your wholesale set-up, whether through a mentor, a peer, or a structured programme, can be genuinely useful when you can't see the wood for the trees.
How do I stay motivated during a slow sales period?
This is a very real question and I don't want to brush past it. A wholesale slump can feel genuinely deflating, especially when you're putting in effort and not seeing results. A few things that help: focusing your energy on actions you can control rather than outcomes you can't, connecting with other brand owners who understand what this feels like, and breaking your activity down into small, specific tasks rather than looking at the big picture too much. Progress is quieter than results, but it's still movement.
And if you want ongoing support, and reading this thinking, what even is a sales funnel, check out my signature sales program, specifically made for small business owners who manage their own wholesale sales and need systems that work for them. It’s called Sales Growth Lab and you can read all about it here.
