Step 4 · Drive more business your way · AI course
Get your products onto retailers’ shelves.
Find the shops that suit you, reach the person who actually decides, and send a trade pack buyers say yes to. Then set up a Stockist Agent in Claude that keeps finding, writing and chasing every week, while you approve every message.
Available now. Included in Academy membership.
Try it now · takes a minute
Will shops pay you enough?
Put in what one item costs you to make and what you sell it for on your own website. You’ll see what a shop would expect to pay you, and what you’d keep.
Most independent shops roughly double what they pay you, then add VAT. Department stores and catalogues often want a bigger share. The course shows you how to price for every route.
A shop would pay you about
Your price has room for shops
Faire takes 15% plus a small payment fee on shops it finds for you. Shops you bring yourself pay no commission.
Get the courseWhat you’ll learn
The right shops. The right person. A yes.
Ten parts, each a step by step workbook with a prompt to copy into Claude, and working calculators where you need them. By the end, your Stockist Agent is running every week.
Check you’re ready before you ask
The worst thing isn’t a shop saying no. It’s a shop saying yes when you can’t deliver. You’ll learn how shops buy now, the four questions every buyer asks, and how much stock and cash you need before the first order comes in.
Tools: the Retail Ready check, the Stock and Cash calculator, and Claude.
You’ll leave with: your Retail Ready score and a short list of things to fix first.
Get the paperwork buyers check
Barcodes, insurance, labels and batch numbers. Not exciting, but a buyer who loves your products will still say no if they’re missing. You’ll know exactly what applies to your products and what it costs.
Tools: GS1 UK, your local Trading Standards service, and Claude.
You’ll leave with: a paperwork checklist made for your products.
Price it so every route still pays
Plenty of makers get into shops and then find they’re losing money on every order. You’ll set your cost, wholesale and shop price properly, see what each route takes, and set your terms before you quote anyone.
Tools: the Wholesale Price calculator and Claude.
You’ll leave with: a Wholesale Price List that pays on every route you use.
Choose the best ways into shops
Independent shops, Faire and Ankorstore, online department stores, catalogues, trade shows and sales agents. You don’t need them all. You’ll pick the two or three that suit your products, your prices and your time, and work out whether a trade show would pay for itself.
Tools: the trade show calculator, Faire, Ankorstore, and Claude.
You’ll leave with: your Routes plan, and the trade shows worth a visit this year.
Build your trade pack in Claude
Your trade pack sells for you when you’re not in the room. Claude builds it as a PDF in your brand colours, with your products, prices, proof and terms, then checks it the way a buyer would before you send it.
Tools: Claude and your own product photos.
You’ll leave with: a trade pack ready to send.
Find the shops that really suit you
Thirty shops that really suit you will do far more than three hundred that might. You’ll borrow your competitors’ stockist lists, fill the gaps with Google Maps and Instagram, and score every shop so you know who to approach first.
Tools: the Stockist Score, Google Maps, Instagram, and Claude.
You’ll leave with: a scored list of your best 30 shops.
Find the person who decides
Sending your pack to info@ is like posting a letter to the occupier. You’ll find the owner or buyer at each shop using their website, Companies House and LinkedIn, and learn what the law lets you send them.
Tools: Companies House, LinkedIn, and Claude.
You’ll leave with: a name, and the right way to reach them, for every shop on your list.
Win the first order
Buyers reply to messages that are short, personal and easy to say yes to. You’ll write first messages that get answered, follow up without being pushy, and track every shop from first hello to first order.
Tools: your email, your CRM, and Claude.
You’ll leave with: your first messages sent and a simple stockist pipeline.
Keep them reordering
A shop that reorders every few weeks is worth far more than one that orders once. You’ll help your shops sell, get in touch just before they run low, and add a Where to buy page that sends customers their way.
Tools: the Reorder Reminder, your website, and Claude.
You’ll leave with: a reorder routine and a Where to buy page.
Hand the weekly work to your Stockist Agent
Everything you’ve built comes together in one Claude project that finds new shops, drafts your messages, chases replies and reminds you when shops are due to reorder. You approve every message and you talk to the buyers.
Tools: Claude projects, plus connectors for your email, calendar and CRM.
You’ll leave with: a Stockist Agent running every week, and a monthly stockist report.
Why most makers never get stocked
Sending more emails isn’t the answer.
Most makers send the same email to fifty shops, hear nothing back and give up. The ones who get stocked pick the right shops, reach the right person and make saying yes easy.
- The same email sent to fifty shops
- Sent to info@ and never read
- Prices that lose money once the shop takes its share
- One order, then nothing
- Thirty shops that really suit you
- A real name at every shop
- Prices that pay on every route
- Reminders that keep shops reordering
You’ll be surprised who says yes. The course makes asking easy, so you actually do it.
Every shop that stocks you puts your name in front of new people. Lots of them will find you, order through your own website and come back to you directly, where you keep the full price.
Available now
Included in your membership
Join the Academy and this course is yours straight away. Every other course is included too, as each one opens.
- This course, and every course as each opens
- Regular AI updates throughout the year
- Live group sessions
- Save £360 a year
- Every course, as each opens
- No commitment, cancel any time
- Included with your website
- Plus our client only courses
All prices include VAT.
Before you sign up
Your questions, answered
When can I start?
Straight away. It’s open now, so join the Academy and it’s ready for you.
Who is it for?
Anyone who makes or sells their own products and wants shops to stock them: gift shops, boutiques, farm shops, galleries, online stores, catalogues and department stores.
What do I need?
Your products, good photos of them, and Claude. A CRM helps you keep track of shops, but a simple spreadsheet works too.
Do I need to do anything first?
Do Your AI Marketing Brain first. Your trade pack, your messages and your Stockist Agent all draw on it, so they sound like you.
Will the agent send emails without me?
No. Your Stockist Agent finds shops, drafts messages and reminds you who to chase. You approve every message before it goes, and you talk to the buyers.
Do I have to use Faire or Ankorstore?
No. You’ll see what each route costs and what it’s good for, then choose the two or three that suit you. Plenty of makers start by going direct to independent shops.
Will I get stocked straight away?
Nobody can promise that. What you will have is everything a buyer expects to see, a list of shops that really suit you with a name at each one, and a weekly routine that keeps you asking.
What’s the example business?
Rosie, a candle maker in Stroud, so you can see every step in action, from her prices to her first email to a gift shop.
Do members pay extra?
No. It’s included in your membership, like every other course.
Get your products onto retailers’ shelves.
The right shops, the right person at each one, a trade pack they say yes to, and an agent that keeps them ordering.
Join the Academy to get it
Henny MaltbyPink Elephant AI Marketing Academy
Rosie is a made up example. Results vary and aren’t guaranteed. Marketplace fees and rules change, so check them before you sign up. Photos from Unsplash.