A small manufacturer can make a product people love and still struggle to sell it. The reason may have little to do with quality. Customers might not know where to find it, retailers may not understand who it suits, or the sales team could be concentrating on a route that reaches the wrong audience. These problems often look like separate issues. In practice, they point to the same question: how does a product travel from the business to the person who needs it?
For an independent food producer, that journey might run through farm shops, online subscriptions, local cafés and a handful of regional wholesalers. Choosing among those routes is a practical exercise in reach, cost and control. A useful starting point is to compare each option as part of a broader marketing channel mix, then test the assumptions against what customers actually do.
Start with the customer’s buying routine
Businesses often choose a sales route because it is familiar. A founder may have contacts at independent shops, so retail becomes the default. Another might prefer direct online sales because the website gives them control over pricing and customer information. Familiarity can help a new venture get moving, but it does not establish that the route suits the buyer.
Consider when, where and why customers purchase. Someone replacing a household essential may want a nearby shop and a predictable price. A person buying a specialist gift might search online, compare reviews and accept a longer wait for delivery. A café owner may need regular deliveries in consistent quantities, with invoices that fit the business’s accounting process. One product can serve all three customers, but each may expect a different path to purchase.
Customer interviews, support emails and sales records can reveal these habits. Ask recent buyers how they first heard about the product, what nearly stopped them from purchasing and where they looked for alternatives. Specific answers are more useful than broad questions about whether they like an idea. The aim is to understand the buying routine before investing in a route built on guesswork.
Match each route to the job it does
Every sales route has costs that sit beyond the obvious commission or delivery fee. Direct sales give a business more control over presentation and customer relationships, but they can demand time for marketing, fulfilment and support. A retailer can introduce a product to people who are already shopping, yet shelf space is limited and the store may require a margin that changes the economics.
Wholesale can simplify access to several shops, though it may reduce the producer’s influence over how staff explain the product. Market stalls allow founders to hear objections first-hand, but they take people away from production or other sales work. A partnership with a service provider can make an unfamiliar product easier to adopt, provided both sides agree on responsibilities and customer care.
Before committing, write down what each route must accomplish. It may need to introduce the product, make repeat ordering easy, reach customers in a new area or provide a dependable source of revenue. A single route does not have to do every job. A local shop could build awareness while a subscription option makes repeat purchases convenient.
Check the economics before expanding
A route that generates orders can still weaken the business if it costs too much to serve. Calculate the margin after packaging, payment fees, delivery, returns, discounts and any partner share. Include staff time. A founder who spends half a day arranging a small order is paying for that order in hours, even if no invoice records the cost.
Then estimate the volume needed for the route to make sense. A wholesale account may look attractive at first, but the business could need a minimum production run, extra storage or new packaging. Direct delivery may work in one town and become unprofitable across a wider region. These figures are not predictions; they are a way to identify which assumptions need testing.
When comparing routes, use the same period and the same definitions. One channel might report orders, another might report enquiries, and a third might count people who sampled the product. Those measures cannot be compared fairly without a shared view of what counts as a qualified lead, a sale and a repeat customer.
Run a small test with clear boundaries
A business does not need to overhaul its sales operation to learn whether a route has promise. It can run a time-limited trial with one product, a defined location or a small group of partner shops. Set a spending limit and decide in advance what results would justify continuing.
- Choose one customer group and describe the buying need the trial will address.
- Set a start date, end date and budget for staff time, stock and promotion.
- Agree who handles orders, delivery, returns and customer questions.
- Track sales alongside enquiries, repeat orders and reasons for abandoned purchases.
- Compare the results with a route the business already uses, using consistent measures.
- Decide what evidence would lead to expanding, changing or ending the test.
Clear boundaries matter because a trial can grow by accident. A few promising orders may prompt the business to add stock, accept a larger commitment or promise delivery it cannot yet sustain. A written limit gives the team room to learn without treating early interest as proof of lasting demand.
Review the route as the business changes
A successful route today may need adjustment later. A business might outgrow its manual order process, gain customers in a region where delivery costs are high, or find that a retail partner brings awareness but few purchases. These changes are reasons to review the arrangement, not necessarily to abandon it.
Keep an eye on what happens after the first order. Ask customers whether they could find the product, understand the offer and reorder without help. Ask partners which questions they hear most often and whether stock levels match demand. Small operational details, such as unclear product descriptions or inconsistent delivery windows, can prevent a viable route from performing well.
When a product struggles to reach the right people, the answer may not be a larger advertising budget or a wider range of stockists. It may be a better match between the customer’s routine and the way the business sells. A modest test, supported by honest cost calculations and useful customer feedback, can reveal where that match exists.