Wholesale in 2025 Was Hard. 2026 Doesn't Have to Be As Hard.

If you work in wholesale right now, you don’t need another think piece to tell you it’s “challenging out there.” You live it every day.

You’re watching tariffs, freight costs, and geopolitical decisions change your landed cost mid-season. You’re trying to manage MAP and promotions across retailers, marketplaces, and your own DTC site. You’re fighting to protect margin while still being a good partner to your retailers. And somewhere in the middle of all this, you’re supposed to keep your systems clean, your data accurate, and your B2B platform easy to use.

That’s a lot.

As we wrap up 2025 and look ahead to 2026, I’ve been thinking about what I’m hearing from brands and retailers in the trenches. Recently, I spent time at the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance trade show in Kansas City. It’s a buyer-focused show where retailers place a large portion of their seasonal buys in a short amount of time.

After dozens of conversations, one theme was crystal clear:

Retailers want proactive, transparent, real-time partnership from their brands.

They don’t expect perfection. They do expect respect, communication, and tools that make their jobs easier.

So, in this blog I want to do two things with that in mind:

1. Name the real challenges brands faced in 2025 in their wholesale business.
   
   
2. Lay out concrete opportunities for 2026 that turn those challenges into competitive advantages that align with what retailers want.
   
   

Here is what I hear when I sit across the table from retailers and brands who are trying to make next season work.

The Wholesale Reality of 2025: Five Interlocking Challenges

1. Volatility in Manufacturing and Distribution

Let’s start with the obvious one: volatility.

Tariffs, shifting trade policies, port congestion, regional disruptions, they all roll downhill into your wholesale business. Suddenly your costs are up, lead times are longer, and the neat demand plan you built last spring doesn’t match reality anymore.

For brands, this isn’t just an operational headache. It’s a relationship risk.

If a retailer places a big prebook, builds their floor set around your brand, and then finds out weeks before the season that you can’t deliver? That’s more than a hiccup; that’s a breach of trust.

• Retailers understand that things happen.
  
  
• What they won’t tolerate is finding out too late or not at all.

They want early, honest communication. If you’re going to be short on a key style or category, they want to know as soon as possible so they can pivot the buy, adjust their assortment, or shift marketing.

The implication is simple:
Wholesale partners expect predictable supply, cost-control where possible, and flexible service – and when that’s not possible, they expect transparency.

That means brands need to build more resilient, tariff-aware supply chains, be willing to accept a higher cost base in some situations, and absolutely must improve their forecasting and communication.

2. A Hyper-Competitive, Promotional Market and Channel Conflict

The second challenge is the promotion-heavy market and the resulting channel stress.

Everyone is fighting for the same consumer who has less to spend and more options than ever. That means more discounting, more promotions, and greater pressure on price.

In that environment, some brands treat MAP as a nice-to-have guideline. Others enforce it inconsistently across channels. And that’s where channel conflict shows up:

• A specialty retailer loses a sale to a discounted marketplace listing.
  
  
• A brand’s own DTC price undercuts their wholesale partners.
  
  
• One “favored” retailer plays by different pricing rules than everyone else.
  
  

Retailers feel that. And they remember.

Retailers told me they want respect on MAP and consistency across channels. They’re not asking for miracles. They’re asking not to be undercut by the very brands they’re betting on.

The implication:
Brands must carefully manage channel strategy, stay tightly aligned with wholesale partners on MAP, and ensure the wholesale channel remains a value-driver – not collateral damage.

3. System Complexity and the Need for Real-Time Data

Next up: systems.

A lot of brands are running a Franken- stack – multiple ERPs, different B2B portals for different brands or regions, custom spreadsheets, plus a few “temporary” tools that somehow became permanent.

From the inside, it may feel like “just how we do things.” From the retailer’s perspective, it’s friction:

• Different logins for different brands or divisions.
  
  
• Inventory data that doesn’t match what your reps are saying.
  
  
• Orders that have to be emailed or phoned in because the portal doesn’t quite reflect reality.
  
  

Retailers want something simpler:

“Let me log into your B2B and see exactly what I can buy, when I can get it, and what’s happening with my orders in real time.”

When a retailer’s experience inside your B2B is real-time, they are far more likely to self-serve, place more accurate buys, and rely on your platform as the source of truth. 

The implication:
Brands that service wholesale channels must invest in digital infrastructure and data flows that support real-time, accurate, streamlined ordering and fulfillment.

4. Margin Pressure and Price Sensitivity

If you’re feeling margin pressure, you’re not alone. So is every retailer you sell to.

Costs are up. Consumers are cautious. Discounting is aggressive. And the temptation is to negotiate hard, protect your own profitability, and hope your partners figure out theirs.

But that’s not how you build durable wholesale relationships.

Retailers are telling us:

• “We need brands who understand our margin realities.”
  
  
• “We don’t just want low prices; we want profitable assortments.”
  
  

Simply pushing more products at more aggressive pricing doesn’t work in this environment. It just pushes the problem downstream.

The implication:
Brands must identify cost drivers, find efficiencies, and – most importantly – differentiate on value, not just price, while understanding the retailer’s margin equation.

5. Globalization and Fulfillment Complexity

For larger global brands, there’s another layer: globalization.

Different regions, different assortments, different currencies, different warehouses, different service expectations. In many organizations, the result is:

• Multiple B2B systems by region or brand.
  
  
• Inconsistent wholesale experiences.
  
  
• Fragmented visibility into inventory, orders, and performance.
  
  

That’s hard enough for your internal teams. For retailers, it’s even worse: they just want one simple place to work with your brand.

The implication:
Brands need regional fulfillment strategies, localized SKUs and inventory, and a global view of wholesale performance – ideally all supported by a centralized B2B platform.

Opportunities for 2026: Turning Pain into Advantage

The good news: every one of these challenges has a matching opportunity.

If 2025 was about surviving, 2026 can be about designing a better wholesale business.

Let’s walk through five specific opportunities.

1. Build Tariff‑Aware, Communication-First Supply Chains

We can’t control tariffs or global disruptions. But we can control how predictable we are to our retailers.

In 2026, there’s a huge opportunity to become the “predictable brand” in your category, not because you never have issues, but because you’re the best at communicating.

That means:

• Making your supply chain tariff aware and modeling different scenarios, understanding the impact on cost and timing, and having clear playbooks.
  
  
• Offering transparent fulfillment visibility to retailers:
  
  
  • live ETAs
    
    
  • disruption alerts
    
    
  • clear communication on which parts of a prebook will ship and which won’t
    
    
• Introducing flexible buy options like rolling buys and multi-window prebooks, so retailers can pivot as conditions change.
  
  

It also requires a mindset shift: Brands need to think like a retailer after the PO.

Once that order is placed, your retailer now owns the risk on that inventory. They’ve built marketing around it. They’ve allocated open-to-buy. They may have passed on other brands to buy yours.

If you can’t fulfill, they need to know early. If you can fulfill more of something that’s working, they need to know that too.

In 2026, the brands that communicate clearly and early, will win long-term shelf space and loyalty.

2. Strengthen MAP and Channel Greatness Programs

Instead of playing whack-a-mole with discounting and channel conflict, 2026 is the moment to build Channel Excellence Programs that align brand and retailer behavior.

This looks like:

• Building MAP resources directly inside your B2B:
  
  
  • clear MAP guidelines
    
    
  • current approved prices
    
    
  • easy ways for retailers to understand promo calendars
    
    
• Using your reps not just as order-takers, but as channel partners who help retailers execute MAP supported strategies that move product.
  
  
• Training both reps and buyers on brand storytelling, differentiation, and assortment building, not just on price and terms.
  
  

Retailers don’t want to be undercut. They want brands who respect the role of specialty and independent retailers, and who don’t treat the wholesale channel as an afterthought to DTC.

A strong MAP and channel program isn’t about control. It’s about partnership and clarity so that everyone who has invested into the season has the opportunity to win.

The outcome?
Better channel cohesion, fewer conflicts, stronger margin protection, and more predictable sell-through for everyone.

3. Adopt a one destination for Wholesale mindset

Your B2B platform can either be:

• A glorified PDF catalog, order form, and order capture destination that retailers tolerate,

Or it can be:

• The central hub where they plan, buy, reorder, and get insights for your brand.
  
  

In 2026, the opportunity is to turn your B2B into a more connected and realtime destination for wholesale.

That means:

• Implementing real-time inventory and ATP visibility so what retailers see is what they can actually buy.
  
  
• Bringing the entire buying cycle – planning, ordering, reordering, and payment – into a single destination. One login, one workflow.
  
  
• If you have multiple brands, divisions, or regions using different B2B systems, centralizing into a single B2B platform with segmentation, so each retailer sees only the brands, assortments, and regions relevant to them.
  
  
• Reducing system complexity behind the scenes so that your internal teams, reps, and retailers are all working from the same source of truth.
  
  

Here’s where the conversation gets really exciting:

Retailers are increasingly willing  to share their POS sell-through data back to brands in real time.

Why? Because when you, as a brand, can see what’s selling:

• You can alert retailers when certain products are flying and additional supply is available.
  
  
• You can recommend alternative products if something sells out before more stock can land.
  
  
• You can build smarter assortments and forecasts for future seasons.
  
  

This two-way data flow – POS data from the retailer into your B2B, and actionable insights back to the retailer will become a real competitive advantage in 2026. 

The outcome of this transformation:
Retailers self-serve more, your team fields fewer “where’s my order?” calls, and your B2B becomes a direct contributor to channel growth.

4. Protect Margins Through Collaborative Pricing Strategy

Margin pressure isn’t going away in 2026. But how we respond to it can change.

Instead of reactive price cuts and one-off negotiations, there’s a big opportunity to move toward partnership-driven margin management.

Think about:

• Co-developing margin maps with retailers that identify pricing sweet spots by category and SKU.
  
  
• Embedding SKU-level profitability callouts directly in your B2B so buyers can see high profitable products as they build their buys.
  
  
• Using POS data (when retailers share it) to understand:
  
  
  • which SKUs support premium pricing
    
    
  • which items are workhorses that quietly drive profit
    
    
  • where you may need to adjust positioning or features
    
    

This is where storytelling matters too. Some SKUs deserve a premium: they’re more technical, more sustainable, more iconic. Others are volume drivers. Help your retailers understand which is which and give them the support and tools to protect margin accordingly. Additionally, retailers and brands should begin to leverage AI tools to more easily pull performance insights together during the prebook buying process.

When retailers see that you care about their profitability, not just your top line, the relationship changes:

• You’re no longer just a vendor.
  
  
• You become a profit partner.
  
  

And profit partners tend to get more open-to-buy, more floor space, and more long-term loyalty.

5. Become a “Globally Local” Wholesale Organization

For global brands, 2026 is a prime moment to rethink how you operate across markets.

The old model – separate systems, separate processes, is cracking under its own weight. It’s painful for internal teams, and confusing for buyers.

The opportunity is to become “globally local”:

• Centralize all B2B ordering logic in a single global platform, but configure it to support local realities – currency, languages, assortments, pricing, and fulfillment rules.
  
  
• Build smarter routing rules that assign orders to the optimal regional warehouse to reduce transit time and cost.
  
  
• Equip your C-suite with unified global analytics:
  
  
  • performance by region
    
    
  • product uptake by market
    
    
  • seasonality insights
    
    
  • inventory risks
    
    

This matters because your wholesale strategy isn’t just seasonal; it’s global and multi-year. If your leadership can see what’s happening across regions with clarity, they can make better decisions about production, product strategy, and where to lean in or pull back.

The Simple Truths for 2026

After all the tech, all the tariffs, all the dashboards and programs, I want to bring this back to a few simple truths that came up again and again in conversations with retailers this year:

1. Communication is your first competitive advantage.
   Tell retailers early when there’s a problem. Tell them early when there’s an opportunity.
   
   
2. Respect the partnership.
   Respect MAP. Respect their margin. Respect their need to build a profitable, sustainable business. When retailers are respected, they lean into the brands that treat them that way.
   
   
3. Make it easy to work with you.
   One B2B platform. Real-time data. Clear assortments. Simple workflows. The easier it is to do business with you, the more business you’ll get.
   
   
4. Share and use data – both ways.
   Retailers sharing POS information more dynamically with brands. This will become a baseline expectation in serious partnerships and a major differentiator in 2026.
   
   

Closing Thoughts

2025 pushed a lot of brands to the edge of their comfort zone in wholesale. Volatile supply chains, promo-heavy markets, system complexity, margin pressure, and global chaos all collided at once.

If you’re a brand leader reading this, my encouragement is simple:

Talk more openly with your retailers. Reduce friction in your B2B. Get serious about real-time data. And keep reminding yourself: at the end of the day, wholesale is a partnership business.

The brands that lean into that truth with better communication, better tools, and genuine respect will be the ones winning the next season, and the one after that.