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by RepSpark Team on September 9, 2025
When big apparel brands scale wholesale, the wheels often wobble in the same places: inventory chaos, spreadsheet-driven order ops, messy assortments/pricing, and a buyer experience that feels stuck in the past.
Meanwhile, your wholesale buyers increasingly prefer to purchase digitally on small and large orders, so the pressure to modernize is real.
Recent research shows B2B buyers are increasingly more comfortable using self-servicing options, like ecommerce platforms, to make large orders (upward of $500,000 orders).
So the question is, why aren’t more enterprise brands embracing B2B wholesale platforms into their operations?
And, the answer is mainly due to some pain points that they might not be aware that these wholesale platforms can alleviate.
Today we’re looking at four of the biggest pain points and how wholesale platforms can help.
1. Issues With Inventory Visibility
As wholesale volume grows, you’re juggling prebooks and at-once orders across multiple warehouses, seasons, colors, and sizes.
Without unified, real-time visibility and allocation logic, you’re going to get stockouts in core SKUs.
Multichannel growth magnifies this: orders hit from many places at once, and it’s easy to lose track without software designed for it.
The fashion industry has chronic issues with excess stock and uneven inventory positions. And without resolving it, this issue will continue to weigh on margins across the industry.
How software helps:
- Real-time ERP integration to surface accurate ATP/ATS to reps and buyers.
- Dynamic Ordering / multi-date ordering so buyers split quantities across ship windows (prebook vs. at-once) without manual back-and-forth.
- Assortment controls that show the right inventory by account, region, and more.
2. Spreadsheet-Driven Order Management
As line volumes and retailer counts rise, so do manual touchpoints. This can come in the form of PDFs you’re emailing, orders you’re rekeying, or a constant game of phone tag you’re playing to make changes.
All this bogs down cycle time and introduces errors.
How software helps:
- Structured, self-serve ordering replaces email chaos; buyers build accurate POs with your rules baked in (minimums, packs, cutoffs).
- Your buyers have a constant view of their order and its status so you don’t have to think about questions like “where’s my order?” Or any last-minute scrambles.
- ERP integrations ensure the data you’re sharing with your customers is accurate and reflects real-time inventory.
- Change management at scale: edits, cancellations, and splits are captured in the system so finance and operations aren’t chasing spreadsheets.
3. SKU & Pricing Complexity
This means more sizes, inseams, colorways, capsules, regional exclusives and the operational cost of carrying, picking, and forecasting all of it.
Add on customer-specific price tiers, dating/terms, and seasonal programs, and it’s easy for reps or buyers to “get it wrong” during market.
How software helps:
- Catalogs and pricing that’s up-to-date with your ERP inventory so each retailer sees only what they’re allowed to buy.
- Microsite experiences to curate post-event shops, trunk shows, and special assortments without spinning up a new site every time.
- Line sheets and quick order tools that keep popular SKUs front and center and makes reorders that much easier.
4. Buyer & Rep Experience That Doesn’t Match How People Buy Now
Wholesale buyers want the speed and clarity they get in consumer e-commerce (24/7 access to catalogs, inventory, pricing, and order status).
And, they want an easy way to place large, complex orders as well.
Reps need the same: a clean UX, mobile access, instant line sheets, and analytics to help pick the right mix for their buyers. Reps need tools that help them help the buyers that want the assistance but can also empower buyers to place orders on their own.
As we mentioned previously, data is showing that B2B buyers are increasingly preferring self-serve channels for their orders (big or small).
How software helps:
- Modern, intuitive user experiences that shortens time-to-order for reps and buyers alike.
- Self-serve portals so accounts can discover, assort, reorder, and track without a need for anyone’s assistance.
- Guided selling and analytics help reps focus time on high-impact activities and not simple, repetitive, manual tasks.
The short of it is that some of the immediate features you want out of your wholesale platform in order to scale your enterprise brand's wholesale include:
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Real-time inventory visibility
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Automated order validation & ERP integration
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Flexible SKU, pricing, and assortment management
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A modern buyer/rep experience
RepSpark checks all of these boxes and we've already helped enterprise brands excel in wholesale. Reach out to our team to learn what enterprise brands we're already serving, and how we can help yours.
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