If you’re a small-scale consumer brand and you’re not selling on Faire, you should be.
It’s at the forefront of a new breed of companies revolutionizing the wholesale market. And it’s had robust success, to put it mildly.
Founded in 2017, Faire already has over 100,000 brands that buy and sell on the platform. The wholesale industry has grown at a steady clip over the last decade — 7% over the last two years alone — and Faire has grown with it.
While brands have benefited from the increased attention the platform receives, they’ve also had to contend with more competition. If you’re a business selling on Faire or considering it, this guide can be a good starting point to improve Faire SEO and boost your visibility and sales on the platform.
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Why Faire Is So Popular
The wholesale industry has traditionally relied on expensive and protracted trade shows to function. However, with the transition to ecommerce, as many as 40% of B2B buyers are buying at least 50% of their goods on online marketplaces.
Faire has capitalized on this shift by offering a host of advantages to both buyers and sellers that are rare to find outside the platform.
It allows brands, called ‘makers’ on the platform, to effectively showcase their products online and weave a narrative that encapsulates their values and offerings.
The onboarding process is completely free and very quick. You simply pay a commission once you start selling on Faire — and only for new customers that you discover on the platform. If you migrate your existing customers to the platform, you can sell to them for free.
Best of all, every sale is guaranteed. Buyers have the option of returning products, but Faire absorbs the cost of this. The platform also gives you the luxury of offering your buyers credit on net 60 terms. Your own payment is guaranteed within 30 days and you can even access it earlier for a small fee.
If you’re selling on Faire, consider partnering with an experienced ecommerce agency such as Coalition Technologies to level up your presence and conversions on Faire.
What Determines Your Ranking on Faire?
Faire’s search and ranking algorithm is designed to provide a customized experience to all retailers. The goal is to help them curate a tailored collection of products that would sell really well in their stores. Implementing Faire SEO can make selling on the platform a much more productive experience for you.
Over 100 factors go into how search results are ranked as Faire tries to serve up the most relevant recommendations to each shop owner. These factors can be classified into three primary categories:
Product Information
This includes things such as product names, descriptions, and categories. Faire analyzes the keywords used in your product titles and descriptions, in addition to the type of product and category, and matches them with search queries. As with non-Faire SEO, exact matches are prioritized, but synonyms and relevant terms are also included.
Retailer Behavior
Buyers’ activity on the platform, including the kind of brands and products they engage with, is an important consideration in the results that are served up to them. Factors like their purchase history, on-site navigation, responses to preference quizzes, and purchases from similar retailers all play into the products they see in their feed.
Brand Performance
Your brand performance is perhaps the most important factor in how well your products rank on Faire. Selling is much easier when retailers have a positive experience engaging with your brand. This is indicated by factors including:
- How well your products convert into sales when retailers spot them
- Review ratings for your brand submitted by buyers
- Quality customer support and responsiveness
- The frequency with which your products are returned
- How often you cancel received orders
- The speed with which you fulfill your orders
How to Improve Your Ranking on Faire
Improving your ranking is key to selling more on Faire. Retailers typically find new brands through search and product recommendations as they’re browsing other brands. The more work you put in to demonstrate relevance to your target audience, the higher you’re likely to rank, giving you more opportunities to sell.
A lot of this comes down to Faire SEO and improvements you can make to ensure your products are more discoverable for your buyers.
Optimize Product Titles
The title should convey exactly what that product is all about. You want to be concise, but also incorporate enough detail to encapsulate all the unique characteristics of your product. For example, Foaming Bath Bombs With Spring Blossoms is a better title than Bath Bombs. Also, make sure you’re tagging the right product types for each SKU to ensure it’s being recommended to relevant buyers.
Provide Detailed Product Descriptions
Your product description has a lot to do with Faire SEO and selling. It should include all of the important information that a retailer needs to know before they buy that product. You have a 1000-character limit here, so you do need to be concise as well. Try not to incorporate too much storytelling — you have other avenues for that on your brand page — but focus on product specifications and keywords that align with potential buyers’ search queries.
Include High-Quality Photos
Selling on Faire is no different from selling on other platforms; people shop with their eyes. 75% of online buyers rely on product photos when making a purchase decision. You’re going to want to add a range of high-res photos that accurately depict your products. Compelling, well-shot photography can do wonders for your conversion rates, which directly impact your ranking.
Optimize Your Pricing
Pricing is an important part of the Faire ecosystem. As a rough rule of thumb, wholesale prices tend to be half of retail prices. Site managers on Faire make it a point to regularly audit maker prices to ensure they’re in line with wholesale standards as well as your pricing on other wholesale platforms. Repeated discrepancies can result in temporary or permanent suspension which, of course, affects your Faire SEO and selling ability.
You’re allowed some leeway to sell at less than your keystone (50% of retail) as well as run special offers, and you should take maximum advantage of this to boost your sales.
Maintain Low Order Minimums
Order minimums are sometimes necessary to cover shipping costs and ensure a profit on the sale. However, it’s a good idea to maintain a balance when you’re selling on Faire. Retailers often filter results based on minimum order value and high order minimums can impact your visibility.
Faire recommends keeping them to $200 or below for local customers. You can also modify your minimums for each country, depending on shipping distance and cost.
Leverage Faire Direct
Faire Direct lets you sell to buyers at 0% commission. It’s a personalized link that you can offer to retailers you know directly. If they’re new to Faire, they’re offered a range of incentives, including trade credit, that they can use to boost sales from your brand at no cost to you or them. Crucially, the increased traction you generate helps improve your ranking on Faire and facilitates more selling.
List Your Whole Catalog
Faire advocates listing your whole catalog on the platform to ensure customers have maximum choice when they’re shopping for your brand. It gives you an opportunity to maximize conversions. It also contributes to improved retailer experience and can reflect in their engagement with you on the platform.
Provide Exceptional Customer Service
Much like everywhere else in the business world, prompt and friendly customer service is key to selling on Faire. Buyers can reach out to you through Faire Messenger and resolving their queries quickly and effectively can vastly improve customer satisfaction. Try to keep lead times and delivery times low and provide constructive after-sales support.
So What’s the Catch?
In return for all the benefits Faire offers, they charge a sizable commission on each sale.
As a maker, you have to shell out 25% on your first order from any shop owner and 15% on repeat orders. This can be quite a hefty sum if you’re used to offering sales reps a standard 5-12% for each sale.
The platform also incentivizes buyers to place a lot of initial orders, which, for sellers, means fewer repeat orders and a more costly proposition in general. Another complaint brands selling on Faire tend to have is that the platform aggressively pushes alternate brands when buyers are browsing your wares.
Despite these challenges, lots of makers have done very well for themselves on Faire. With the right approach, you can maneuver your brand into a place where it’s among the most recommended ones on the platform. This ensures increased purchases and repeat purchases from buyers and makes it a sustainable long-term channel for you.
How Coalition Can Help
As with all marketplaces, Faire relies on a specific set of criteria to rank and display brands. Working with an expert can help you navigate these requirements to maximize discoverability and accelerate selling on Faire.
Coalition Technologies is an award-winning ecommerce agency with proven experience helping businesses of all sizes obtain success across platforms. We’ve generated over half a billion dollars in revenue for over 1,000 clients worldwide. Schedule a personalized consultation to see how we can replicate these successes for you.
