Starting a business is not easy at all. There are many things you need to consider while running a business. Every business adopts new techniques and strategies to stay ahead of the competition. If you are into the wholesale business, then you should also be aware of tools that can help you boost sales and earn profits. One of the most important tools a wholesale business should have is the line sheet. It is a short document that contains all the information required by a buyer to make purchases. In a line sheet, the brand tells the customers how he can place an order.
What are the line sheets?
A line sheet is a document that helps you show the products you sell in the most organized way possible. As a wholesale business, you might have made a line sheet for someone. But if you haven’t yet, this is a chance to learn everything about it and create a killing line sheet that actually convinces buyers to place an order.
A line sheet is a simple document that contains information about your product line. You state your shipping and payment policies in a line sheet. You tell the customer about product styles and options. In fact, you tell him everything that he needs to make a decision.
But how a line sheet can convince the buyer to place an order when you cannot write long paragraphs in it? The line sheet must be precise. There should be no irrelevant details or information on the sheet. Keeping it short and precise does not mean that you can skip the important details. Please include all the details about the product, wholesale, and payment terms to make it easy for the buyer to make purchases.
How a line sheet convinces the buyer?
Line sheets are important to boost sales, especially when you are running a product-based wholesale business. In a line sheet, you tell the customer about how you can place an order. But before that, you need to convince him.
A line sheet provides the best opportunity for businesses to create a great first impression. It contains product images that allow the buyer to decide whether it is worth buying the products or not. To impress a potential customer, make sure you use quality images in the line sheet. Here we do not mean that you should spend huge money on the images alone.
Getting quality images can be expensive, but it is not that difficult. You should use photos that look great; otherwise, the buyer would not bother to take a look at the low-quality images in the line sheet. Another important thing to discuss here is the background of the images. Never use images with colored backgrounds. Remember, it is easy to get carried away with a colored background, so make sure you use pictures with a white/neutral background.
You want the buyer to focus on the product image, not the background, so make sure that the image itself is colored. High-resolution pictures with a neutral background look great in the lien sheets. Write a short description of the products under the images. Make sure that the layout you choose looks great with the product images. Font size and color should be according to the images you have used. Everything in the lien sheet should be aligned perfectly so that the buyer can decide at a glance whether or not to place an order. Make sure he places an order.
Why an online store needs a line sheet?
Now you may be thinking that why an online store needs a line sheet when they have all the information on its website. Well, you have all the product information on the website, but the buyer does not have time to check every item you want to sell. A line sheet is an amazing sales-boosting tool as it provides buyers with the necessary information they are searching for at a glance.
Retailers are busy people, and they do not have time to browse all the website pages to get the answers to their questions. In a line sheet, you provide answers to their questions only without adding any unnecessary details. Line sheets give your brand a professional touch that you need to stand out in the market. In this amazing sales tool, the name, style, size, and ID accompany the product picture, which makes it easier for the buyer to take a look and decide. But there are many other important details too that help you make a great line sheet.
Product images:
Product images play a vital role in convincing the buyer to place an order. You might have read a lot about what type of images you should use in the line sheet. Well, there is no right or wrong way to use product images in a line sheet. You are making it for the buyers, so make sure they like it. Style your pictures in a way that the buyer remembers it.
Using bad, unclear, or low-quality images does not impress potential buyers. It makes your brand look amateur, which is really not good for your brand reputation. You want to get recognition, and it is only possible when your line sheets would impress the buyers. Make sure that the images you use are of high resolution. By quality images here, we do not mean that you need to get fancy. All we are trying to say is that your product images should look good.
High-quality colored images of your products with a white background will impress the buyer, and he will place an order.
Product description:
A line sheet is a precise and brief document that contains all the information needed to place an order. But it does not mean that you can crush the important details. Under the product images, you have to add the product description too. Yes, you have to describe your product using a few words, but you cannot omit important details
To make things easy to understand for a buyer, add style number to the products. It will help him remember your products. To-the-point description of the products is what you need to include in the line sheet.
General information:
You are making a line sheet to help the buyer place an order. So, you have to provide him all the details necessary to complete the process. You should include contact numbers, email addresses, and contact persons in order to make it easy for potential buyers to make a purchase. You should not make him search for anything. Add the contact information at the top of the line sheet so that he can easily find it.
Do not forget to add the logo of your brand in the line sheet. It is your brand identity, so place it at the top above the contact information. The delivery date is not to be overlooked at all if you want to avoid miscommunication. Always double-check the information provided in the line sheet before sending it to the buyers.
Cost of products:
Why are you into the wholesale business? Of course, you want to earn profits. But if you do not set prices carefully, how would you be able to earn profits. Set the prices carefully. You have to include details about the wholesale price and suggested retail price in the buyer’s currency in your line sheet. You should not set the price too high as the buyer would not consider your products if it hits his budget. Do not set prices too low as you do not want to bear any loss.
Buying options:
It is true that it has become quite difficult for brands to stay in the market when the competition is high. You need to provide the best solution to the customers if you want to stay ahead of the competition. So, provide them with diverse options. Tell them about the color options available. If you are providing different sizes, then state it in the line sheet.
How you pack and deliver products is also a point of concern? The buyer needs to know about the shipping company you work with. He wants to know if you cover the shipping cost or not. Also, a line sheet must contain information about your payment options. State clearly in the line sheet what payment methods you accept. And how much time you provide buyers to make payments. Everything should be stated in a clear manner to avoid troubles in the future that may arise due to misinterpretation and communication.
Other things to consider:
Making a line sheet is not your cup of tea if you do not know what information you should include in it. It is not easy to describe everything using minimum text. You need to be as precise as possible while making a line sheet.
You want to tell your brand story then the line sheet is not the right place for it. Do it in your catalog. Since retailers are busy people, they do not have time to read your story. They just want to take a look at the products and decide whether it is worth buying your products or not. You are not supposed to make them laugh or enjoy while reading your line sheet. So keep it short and simple.
Now you may be thinking that your line sheet is quite boring and why would the buyer pay attention to it. Remember, short things are normally boring. So, if your line sheet is boring, it’s ok. Let it be, but make sure that it does not contain and irrelevant information.
Do not use the same line sheet everywhere. It is a big mistake as the line sheet’s purpose can be different in different situations. For example, your line sheet does not bear the responsibility to sell when you are going to a trade show. But when you are reaching out to store owners, it should be a complete representation of your brand. It should contain information that could make buyers place an order.
When you see a buyer desperate to expand his store collection, then consider it as a great opportunity. You do not have to make him buy your products on gunpoint (pun intended). Make a line sheet just for him. Customize line sheet would let you cater to the needs of a particular customer. It would be easy to make changes in the wholesale line sheet template.
The visual appeal of the line sheets matters a lot. Would you invest your time going through a document that is a cluttered mess? Of course not! So, make sure that your sort through all the information and images you use match the format you have chosen. Do not add too many products on one page, thinking that the line sheet should be short. You can likely get at least nine products on a page. But this is not a hard and fast rule. How many items you should add depends on the image size you choose.
The first impression is the last:
If you are in the wholesale business and wonder why your sales are not increasing, you need a line sheet. It is a sales tool used by brands to boost their sales. It enables you to gather all the product information at one place that helps buyers to place an order. You do not use long descriptions to convince potential buyers. You just include the necessary information and impress them.
They say that the first impressions last long, so why not make a great first impression on potential buyers. A well-organized line sheet helps you exactly do that.
If you want to boost your wholesale earnings, create a line sheet today and make a great first impression on clients. A well-organized line sheet makes you look professional, and once the buyer is happy with you, he will place an order again. You can say that in a line sheet, you describe your products without babbling.