How to win more reorders from your existing stockists

Updated 2 November 2026 · DELLI

A stockist who reorders is worth far more than one who places a single trial order, and a reorder costs you much less effort than finding a new shop. Reorders slip away quietly: a shop sells out, gets busy, and fills the gap with something else. This guide shows how to learn each stockist's ordering rhythm, spot accounts going quiet, nudge at the right moment, and help your products sell so the next order follows.

1. Know each stockist's reorder rhythm

How often a shop reorders varies by category, by shop size and by season. A busy deli may want chilli sauce every few weeks, while a gift shop might reorder candles twice before Christmas and rarely in spring. There is no standard figure worth using, so work out each stockist's own rhythm from their order history.

Do this for every account and write the expected next order date next to each one. Also note order size. A shop that orders every six weeks but has dropped from 24 units to 12 is telling you something, even though it's still ordering on time.

Allow for seasons

Compare each stockist with the same months last year as well as with their recent orders. A shop that always goes quiet in January isn't a worry in January. A shop that ordered heavily for Christmas last year and hasn't ordered by October is.

2. Spot accounts going quiet

Set a simple rule and check it every week. For example:

• Due: the expected next order date has arrived.
• Quiet: it's been one and a half times their usual gap with no order. For Larkspur & Co, that's 63 days after 8 July, or 9 September.
• At risk: twice their usual gap, or two orders in a row noticeably smaller than before.

Other signs worth noting: they've stopped replying to emails, they've taken one of your products off their website, they've started stocking a similar brand, or they've asked for longer payment terms.

Treat a quiet account as a question to ask. Shops change buyers, shut for refits, run short of cash, or forget to order. One message usually tells you which.

3. What to send when a reorder is due

Send the nudge a few days before the expected date, so the buyer can order before they run out. Make it as easy as possible to say yes.

• Remind them what they ordered last time, with quantities. Then they don't have to look it up.
• Offer a one-word reply. "Reply 'same again' and I'll send it this week."
• Add one useful thing. A new product, a seasonal line, a stock update, or news that helps them sell.
• Keep it short. Four or five lines. The buyer is probably reading it on a phone behind the till.

If they don't reply, follow up once a week later with something shorter. If an account has gone quiet for longer, change the message: ask how the range has been selling and whether anything needs to change, rather than asking for an order.

4. Help it sell through

A shop reorders when the last order sold. Anything that helps your products leave the shelf makes the next order more likely.

In the shop

• Let customers try it. Tester bottles for skincare, a tasting day or open jar for food, a lit candle on the counter.
• Shelf cards. A small card with one line about what makes the product different, and where it's made.
• A one-page staff guide. What each product is, who it suits, and the one thing to say about it.
• Display help. Offer a small stand or crate if your products get lost on a crowded shelf.

Outside the shop

• List your stockists on your website so customers can find their nearest one.
• Post about them. Tag the shop when they get a delivery or set up a display.
• Send your customers to them. When someone asks where to buy locally, name the shop.

Ask what sells

Each time you talk to a stockist, ask which products are selling and which aren't. Offer to swap a slow line for a faster one. A smaller order of the right products is better than a full order that sits on the shelf and puts them off ordering again.

5. Keep notes so nothing depends on memory

When reorders depend on one person remembering who's due, they stop the week that person is ill, on holiday or at a trade show. Keep a record for every stockist, in a spreadsheet or a CRM, with:

• Buyer's name, email and phone, and how they like to order
• Every order: date, products and quantities
• Usual gap between orders and the next expected date
• Best sellers and slow lines in that shop
• Seasonal patterns, closures and holidays
• Anything you promised, such as "send testers of the new hand cream in March"
• The date and gist of your last conversation

Review the list at the same time each week. Work through every account that is due, quiet or at risk, and update the notes as you go, so anyone on the team can pick it up.

Questions about reorders

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