What: Business of Fashion’s podcast ‘The Debrief ‘ covers navigating the return to wholesale.

Why it is important: Business of Fashion’s ‘The Debrief’ podcast reports that as shoppers return to stores, brands are seeing value in ramping up their partnerships with multi-brand retailers through wholesale models.

Department store bankruptcies, pandemic-induced store closures and the boom in online shopping pushed brands further towards their direct-to-consumer and e-commerce businesses to drive revenue and avoid the pitfalls of wholesale. However, there is a shift back towards wholesale models as customers return to in-store shopping looking for curated experiences in which they can discover new designers and brands.

Some other factors contributing to the return of wholesale include its ease as a means of entry for international brands looking to expand to the U.S. market. Brands are also having more of a say over how their products are marketed through retailers, like sharing campaign assets or designing shop-in-shop setups.

Both parties are also increasingly open to exploring other models like concession, consignment and drop-shipping, where the brands themselves are responsible for fulfilling orders made through retailer’s websites.

The wholesale model is returning post-pandemic