Apparel wholesale is the channel where brands sell through retailers, distributors, and buying groups. This category covers line sheets, B2B ordering portals, EDI for big-box partners, tiered pricing, retailer onboarding, and the operational difference between wholesale run as a spreadsheet-and-email operation versus wholesale run as a real channel with its own discipline.
Short, specific answers to the questions we hear most often. Click any question to expand.
What is apparel wholesale?
Apparel wholesale is the channel where brands sell to retailers, distributors, and buying groups rather than directly to consumers. It typically involves line sheets, seasonal order windows, tiered pricing, credit terms, and order volumes larger than DTC. Wholesale is the backbone of most scaling apparel brands even when DTC gets the attention.
What is a line sheet?
A line sheet is a seasonal catalog prepared for wholesale buyers. It shows each style, available colors, MSRP and wholesale pricing, minimum order quantities, delivery windows, and usually a product image. Line sheets can be PDF, printed, or (increasingly) live inside a B2B ordering portal where buyers place orders directly.
What is a B2B ordering portal?
A B2B ordering portal is a self-service site where wholesale buyers log in to see a brand's catalog, available-to-sell inventory, their specific pricing, and place orders. It replaces phone, email, and spreadsheet-based order intake. Good portals show real-time inventory so buyers do not order what cannot ship.
When does a brand need EDI?
When the brand starts selling into big-box retail (Nordstrom, Macy's, Target, Saks, etc.), EDI becomes required. Most major retailers will not process manual POs or invoices at scale. EDI handles purchase orders, shipping notices (ASN), invoices, and inventory advice in a standard format the retailer's systems can ingest directly.
How should wholesale credit limits and AR be managed?
Credit limits per retailer, with automated holds on orders that would exceed them. Aging reports weekly so collection calls happen before invoices become seriously overdue. A clear cutoff for suspending future shipments on accounts past a threshold (often 60 or 90 days). Wholesale AR discipline is what separates brands that scale the channel cleanly from those that accumulate bad debt.
How do apparel brands balance wholesale and DTC?
Through channel-specific inventory allocation, pricing discipline (DTC does not undercut wholesale MSRP), and shared operational infrastructure (warehouse, ERP). Brands that run the two in parallel silos typically end up with cross-channel conflict; brands that run them from the same backbone with clear rules do not.
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