Did you know that retail is a major way that you can expand your business!? It’s not uncommon for clients to ask their service provider about the best products they should be using to care for their tan. I’m sure you get asked those types of questions all the time, right!? Well, if that’s the case, then it’s extremely beneficial for you to keep your clients purchasing products from you instead of sending them off to a different place for sunless safe sunscreen, body lotion, cleanser, etc. As a spray tan artist, one of your number one goals is to help your client’s tan stay looking flawless, which means pre-tan prep products and after care is crucial. Not only does having your own retail help bring in more money to your beauty biz, but it also helps improve your client’s trust in you as the expert and creates an overall better client experience for them. When they’re able to use all of the products you recommend, they’re going to be even more obsessed with their results!

If you’ve thought about offering retail products, but you haven’t quite taken the leap yet because you’re not really sure where to even start with getting the products you want, this information is for you! The good news is that you don’t have to formulate and manufacture your own products in order to offer retail to your clients. You can still offer retail that you love without having to go through the time and expense of creating your own products. In order to make this happen, you will find a company that offers their products at wholesale pricing. When you purchase something at wholesale, you are getting a larger quantity of goods at a lower price so that you can take those goods and resell them to make a profit for your business.

Let’s say you decide that due to the amount of requests and comments you get from clients about aftercare products, you want to offer a body cleanser as a retail product. When you find a supplier you want to go through that has the item you like, you will choose the quantity of the product you want and purchase it at the company’s wholesale price. Once you receive these products and start retailing them to your clients, you will price them at a higher retail price so that you can make a profit. For example, if you decide you want to make a wholesale order for 10 body cleansers and want to receive a 50% profit on the items, you will price them at double the amount you paid for them. 

You may have already realized that you want to be able to start retailing items as a wholesale vendor, but aren’t sure how to actually find the companies to purchase from. Well, don’t worry babe, because the good news is that you actually probably already know where to go. As a spray tan artist, I’m going to assume that you’re also obsessed with getting a sunless tan yourself, right!? This means that you’re currently using products that you love and that work best for you when you have a spray tan. To start the process of finding a wholesale supplier, make a list of the brands of the products you’re interested in offering to your clients. Generally, when you visit the websites of those brands, they have information about becoming a wholesale vendor. You may have to apply to be a wholesale partner and make an account on that company’s website. However, If you want to use a brand and don’t see the option for wholesale directly on the company’s website, don’t be afraid to reach out to the company to ask if there’s an opportunity to become a wholesale vendor for their products. 

The downside of wholesale is that some of the products you choose to offer may not be exclusive to your business. Popular brands may be offered in larger stores like Ulta, therefore if a client runs out and is in a rut, they may just choose to go to that store because it’s more convenient. If you want to ensure that your clients can’t purchase the retail products you offer anywhere except from your business, you can choose to order from certain companies that only provide wholesale options. One of the things we are most proud of when it comes to X-TAN is the ability to be a one-stop-shop for premium sunless products that has positioned itself as the place for business owners to provide retail products at wholesale that are made by professionals for professionals. Since we do this, we are able to offer an opportunity for beauty biz owners to create exclusivity in their retail offerings.

When looking for the right spray tan wholesale product supplier, it’s important to keep in mind the quality of products that you’re hoping to carry in your business, the profit margin you want to make when reselling the products and the budget you want to put toward this expense. When pricing your new retail items, having a profit margin of 50% is a good rule of thumb to keep in mind. Like we stated earlier, this means that if you buy an item for $10, you’d resell the item for $20. Typically, the wholesale supplier you purchase from will have a suggested retail price that they recommend to their retailers. However, if they don’t have that recommendation and you aren’t sure the best way to price your retail products, doing some research can be a helpful strategy to put into place. Researching other retailers who offer similar products to gauge what their pricing looks like will allow you to get an idea of how you should determine your pricing. 

If you haven’t started your retail journey through your business yet, hopefully this will give you the push you need to navigate wholesale suppliers. You deserve to have the business you dream of and offering retail is a stepping stone to making that dream a reality! To explore all of the premium sunless retail items and the wholesale options available, head to the PRO Shop on our X-TAN website! 

Xoxo,

Kelly