Cottonmount Trading
Turning a 50-year-old phone-and-paper wholesaler into a modern B2B operation with 900+ retail partners.
Cottonmount Trading had been supplying workwear to hardware and trade stores for decades. Phone orders. Paper catalogues. Relationships built on handshakes and rep visits. It worked for 50 years. But the markets been changing fast, and the business needed to keep up.
Role
Head of Brands & Marketing
Company
Cottonmount Trading
Website
cottonmount.com ↗
Challenge
Cottonmount was a 50-year-old wholesaler built for a different era. And that era was ending.
The business ran on phone orders and personal relationships. Retailers ordered by calling reps. Product information lived in printed catalogues that were outdated the moment they shipped. There was no B2B real ecommerce platform. No digital lead generation. No systematic way to onboard new stockists.
Sales collateral was basic. Store support was minimal. Retailers stocked Cottonmount products, but there was nothing making them official partners. No benefits. No in-store experience guidance. No reason to prioritize Cottonmount over any other supplier.
The retail network sat around 600-700 stores, mostly in Ireland. Mainland UK was barely penetrated. And there was no infrastructure to change that. No way to generate qualified wholesale leads at scale. No partner program to make stockists feel special. No modern platform to make ordering efficient.
Competition was modernising. Younger suppliers were launching with digital-first operations. And Cottonmount? Still operating like it was 1990.
The question wasn't 'should we modernise?' It was 'what does a modern B2B operation actually look like?'
Goal
To compete in modern wholesale, we needed to rebuild everything. The platform. The programs. The support. The entire infrastructure.
A B2B ecommerce platform needed building from scratch. Not just a website where retailers could browse products, but a proper ordering system that made the phone-and-paper process obsolete. Something that gave retailers control, speed, and transparency.
Lead generation needed systematising. Digital campaigns that could generate qualified wholesale leads at costs that made expansion viable. Not hoping reps would stumble into new accounts, but actively bringing interested retailers to us.
A retail partner program needed creating. Something that made being an official Xpert stockist actually mean something. Benefits, support, exclusivity. Reasons for retailers to choose us over competitors who were just suppliers.
Sales collateral needed upgrading completely. Quarterly magazines that kept customers engaged. Prospecting newspapers that worked as door-openers for new territories. Annual catalogues that positioned the brand properly. Materials that made selling easier, not harder.
In-store experience needed defining. Retailers weren't just order placeholders - they were the brand's frontline. They needed guidance on merchandising, display, and customer engagement. The "Workwear Made Easy" initiative needed building to support them.
And POS materials needed creating. Give retailers the tools to sell better. Make it easy for them to make Xpert successful in their stores.
Result
The creation of a complete infrastructure that lets a traditional wholesaler compete in modern markets.
The retail network expanded to 900+ stores across UK and Ireland. Mainland UK went from minimal presence to established distribution. But the numbers only show part of what changed.
We built the B2B ecommerce platform from the ground-up. Launched it as the first major digital initiative, then massively progressed it since. Retailers could order digitally, track shipments, access account history. Made the phone-and-paper process obsolete.
Lead generation became systematic and profitable. Generated 627 qualified wholesale leads at £3.35 cost-per-lead - against an industry benchmark of £31. Turned wholesale expansion from luck into process. Digital campaigns that fed the sales pipeline consistently.
The Xpert Partner Scheme launched, giving official stockists real benefits for choosing Cottonmount. Made retailers feel like partners, not just customers. Created reasons to stay loyal when competitors came knocking.
Sales collateral became comprehensive. Quarterly customer magazines keeping engagement high. Prospecting newspapers opening doors in new territories. Annual catalogues positioning the brand properly. Materials that actually helped sell, not just looked nice.
In-store experience transformed through the "Workwear Made Easy" initiative. Gave retailers guidance on merchandising, display standards, customer engagement. Made their stores better at selling our products. POS materials that worked.
And we made it all digital-first while keeping the personal touch that built the business. Modern systems. Traditional relationships. Best of both.