The Endless Search For New Suppliers
To get your subscription box business off the ground, you need to secure a business license and build an initial list of suppliers.
However, this is just the beginning.
Running an online business is not always a smooth endeavor, and a subscription box business is no different. These are some common issues that you may experience with suppliers:
- They can’t deliver their goods by your deadline.
- There’s a recall on one of their products.
- They can’t meet the quota of products you need.
- They raise their overall prices due to inventory storage costs.
- You can’t pay the price they’re asking for a minimum order quantity.
- The products you wanted are too big or heavy for this month’s box.
- They decide to stop offering you trade credit.
- There’s a sudden change in shipping regulations that impacts your delivery.
- A natural disaster prevents them from delivering your products.
These challenges can lead to delays, product shortages, or quality issues that affect the overall customer experience.
Whether you’re running a curated subscription box service, a replenishment model, or anything in between, staying prepared is key.
Therefore, it’s always smart to work with multiple suppliers at the same time—even if you don’t work with each of them every month.
💡 Top tip
To an extent, it’s a numbers game. Having a bulging list of suppliers will help ensure you can continue serving customers if there is a problem with one of them.
Cold Email Templates To Reach Out In Style
If you want a positive response and eager suppliers—and you’re not able to wow them in person at a conference like SubSummit—your cold emails have to tick the right boxes.
It’s the only way you’ll be able to nurture a fruitful, long-term business partnership.
Whether you’re looking to start buying wholesale or simply secure a handful of product samples from a dropship vendor, you need to build trust from the start.
Below you’ll find five cold email templates you can use for contacting suppliers.
Cold email template 1 - The short and sweet
1. The Short and Sweet
This cold email template is all about brevity.
Chances are the people you’re reaching out to don’t have a lot of time on their hands. Keeping things short shows that you value their business.
If your email rambles on about the details of your company rather than simply getting to the point, it’s likely to end up in the trash.
The template below is used by one of our merchants, BusterBox, and has achieved great success:
Hello,
My name is [NAME] and I am the CEO of a [DESCRIPTION] subscription box service based in [LOCATION] called [BUSINESS NAME]. We send a monthly box of [PRODUCT TYPES] to [CUSTOMER TYPE].
Having looked at your products online we are very interested in getting sent prices. We have a growing subscriber count of over [SUBSCRIBER COUNT] and the boxes are shipped [weekly/monthly/quarterly].
Looking forward to hearing from you.
NAME, CEO
YourBusiness.com
2. The past and present
Here’s a slightly different strategy to help you approach wholesalers and other suppliers:
If you’ve already shipped previous boxes, then you’re going to have more email options at your disposal.
For this sample email, we’re going to highlight the beauty of your past boxes to get your potential supplier on board.
Sometimes images connect with us in ways words can’t.
If you have some enticing images of your past inventory you can use these to get your suppliers hooked.
Hello,
My name is [NAME] and I am the CEO of a [DESCRIPTION] subscription box service based in [LOCATION] called [BUSINESS NAME]. We send a monthly box of [PRODUCT TYPES] to [CUSTOMER TYPE].
We’ve looked at your products and would love a price sheet.
If you’re interested, here’s a quick look at some of our past boxes.
[IMAGE OF BOX #1]
[IMAGE OF BOX #2}
Your products are a perfect fit for our [NICHE] and the theme for this month’s box.
Our subscriber count of over [SUBSCRIBER COUNT] is steadily growing and would love to expose your awesome products to our audience.
Look forward to hearing from you.
NAME, CEO
3. The master influencer
Social proof is a powerful tool for every online store.
If you recently landed a business relationship with a well-known brand, it’s a good idea to mention them in your cold call email.
The same can be said for any large media outlets you’ve been featured on, whether they’re international or from your own country.
It won’t take more than a simple Google search for your suppliers to verify these achievements.
When you’re cold-emailing, the deck is stacked against you, so you want to build credibility in any way you can to boost your negotiating power.
Whether you’re trying to avoid paying upfront or you want to get a seller’s permit to stock a licensed product, highlighting your track record is a great way to do this:
Hello,
My name is [NAME] and I am the CEO of a [DESCRIPTION] subscription box service based in [LOCATION] called [BUSINESS NAME]. We send a monthly box of [PRODUCT TYPES] to [CUSTOMER TYPE].
We’d love to feature some of your products alongside [BIG BRAND ONE] and [BIG BRAND TWO] in our next box.
We are very interested in getting sent prices. We’ve been featured in [MEDIA OUTLET ONE] and [MEDIA OUTLET TWO] and the boxes are shipped [weekly/monthly/quarterly].
Looking forward to hearing from you.
NAME, CEO
This sample email allows you to leverage your social influence and position yourself as a high-value business associate.
As a result, your new supplier is likely to be more flexible when it comes to things like:
🚀 Minimum order quantities for products that they’re selling wholesale.
🚀 Shipping costs for products being sent from abroad.
🚀 How generous they are when you request samples.
Overall, this increases your chances of securing favorable terms, helping you build a stronger, more beneficial relationship with your supplier.
4. The friendly collaborator
You can get potential suppliers interested by making them feel like they have a special opportunity.
Let’s say you run a subscription box that delivers baseball gear and accessories every month (like The Baseball Box that’s powered by Subbly).
You might want to reach out to a new baseball glove brand.
Let them know that if they join your supplier list, you’ll feature their logo on the next batch of baseball shirts included in your upcoming box.
This not only gives them a spot in your box but also turns your thousands of subscribers into free advertising for their brand.
Here’s a cold email template they might use:
Hello,
My name is [NAME] and I am the CEO of a [DESCRIPTION] subscription box service based in [LOCATION] called [BUSINESS NAME]. We send a monthly box of [PRODUCT TYPES] to [CUSTOMER TYPE].
We’d love to offer your brand [DESCRIBE OPPORTUNITY].
In return, perhaps we can add you to our suppliers list and feature some of your latest products, such as [LIST PRODUCTS], in our upcoming subscription boxes?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
NAME, CEO
5. The flip-around
Instead of asking for a favor, you can flip the script and make it seem like you’re doing them a favor by reaching out.
Let’s say you have a subscription box business that allows subscribers to bundle dog treats based on their dogs’ needs.
You could approach a new dog treats brand and make them feel like they’re being considered for your exclusive supplier list.
Perhaps you could invite them to send samples for testing to determine if their products are suitable, or suggest setting up a call to learn more about their offerings.
Here’s a template you can use for this approach:
Hello,
My name is [NAME] and I am the CEO of a [DESCRIPTION] subscription box service based in [LOCATION] called [BUSINESS NAME]. We send a monthly box of [PRODUCT TYPES] to [CUSTOMER TYPE].
We recently came across [NAME THEIR COMPANY] and believe your products would make a fantastic addition to our subscription boxes.
Please send us samples of your products for consideration or let’s set up a call so that we can learn more about what your products have to offer.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
NAME, CEO
How To Organize Your Cold Email Outreach
If you’re using Gmail or Outlook to send out cold emails, you’re likely to lose track of them or spend a large amount of time tracking different suppliers.
Here are some quick tips on how to stay on top of your outreach campaigns that are linked to your sourcing strategy.
Tip 1: Use GMass for Gmail follow-up
Your follow-up email is just as important (if not more important) than your initial email.
GMass is a Gmail plugin that can help you send out bulk emails and remind you to follow up with your prospective suppliers.
It’s easy to use and can take the headache out of sending a ton of emails. You will also get the following benefits:
🔥 Send personalized emails by pulling details like names and addresses.
🔥 Auto-follow-up sequences for recipients who didn’t respond.
🔥 Avoid the spam inbox and land in your suppliers’ primary inbox.
GMass offers a 7-day free trial, which allows you to send 50 emails per day. Thereafter, prices start at $18 per month.
If you’re looking for alternatives, you could try MailSuite or Mailometer—both of which allow you to send bulk emails and track responses.
Tip 2: Use Mailshake for easy automation
Managing long-term supplier relationships can get tricky if your strategy to communicate effectively relies predominantly on email.
Mailshake lets you:
💥 See if your emails have been opened by your prospective suppliers.
💥 Manage replies when you’re juggling dozens of email responses.
💥 View your entire email history so that you can easily pinpoint any interaction.
💥 Create campaigns that let you email all of your suppliers at once.
Unfortunately, they don’t offer a free trial. You will have to immediately sign up and their pricing starts at $25 per month.
Alternatively, you try Lemlist and Woodpecker, which both offer email automation features.
Tip 3: Go old-school with Excel
If the two tools above don’t strike your fancy, you can always kick it old school with Excel.
When you create your spreadsheet, make sure you track:
✅ The name of the company you contacted.
✅ The date you sent your initial email.
✅ Details about their response.
✅ Follow-up dates for future contact.
You may want to create a new spreadsheet for each box you ship, so your spreadsheet doesn’t get too messy.
Tip 4: Easily track down email addresses
If you have a hard time finding emails for potential business partners, you can use a nifty app called Hunter.io.
All you need to do is sign up for the app and enter your website of choice. The app will work its magic and you’ll have a list of all the emails associated with the company.
This can save you a significant amount of time and effort, allowing you to focus on reaching out and building relationships rather than searching for contact information.
Hunter offers a free version, which allows you to search for up to 25 email addresses per month. From there, pricing starts at $34 per month.
Tip 5: Capture leads with Subbly’s email tools
Subbly’s email lead capture feature makes it easy to gather contact details from visitors to your website, helping you stay in touch and drive conversions.
With Subbly, you can create lead forms that allow users to subscribe to your newsletter or receive an instant discount in their inbox—perfect for turning casual visitors into leads.
Once you have a lead’s contact, Subbly’s automation tools allow you to send personalized follow-ups, such as a welcome email sequence or an exclusive offer after they sign up.
These automations can strengthen your cold email outreach and help build a connection with new prospects.
We're Here to Support You
If you’ve never done email outreach before it can be a little overwhelming.
It sometimes helps to remember that there’s another person on the other side of the email. It’s easy to get caught up in being formal, but it’s far more important to be yourself.
Effective communication is both efficient and personable—if your email doesn’t read like a conversation, then you’re doing it wrong.
Make your email about your suppliers and what they stand to gain from a partnership with your company. There’s no need to tell them unnecessary details about your company.
If you entice them with social proof, information about your subscribers and details of your previous boxes, you’ll have a steady stream of solid suppliers to work with.
As an all-in-one subscription platform, we always want to help new businesses establish strong relationships with their suppliers.
Have any questions about sending your first supplier email? Please tweet us!
