Wholesale outreach that gets small brands into independent stores
Storeknock is an email only wholesale outreach service for small US consumer brands that want to be in independent stores: specialty food shops, gift and home stores, beauty and grooming boutiques. We find the stores, score each one, write to them individually from your own email address, follow up, and hand you every reply. You approve each email before it goes out, answer the stores that write back, and ship the orders.
A 15 minute questionnaire, a written assessment within two business days, then 20 stores we would start with. No calls, and nothing to pay.
Who it is for
Brands doing roughly $100,000 to $2 million a year, mostly through their own online store, who want to be in independent shops and do not have a sales team. Our first three categories are specialty food and drink (no alcohol), home and gift, and beauty and personal care. We do not take alcohol, or anything that needs cold chain, a prescription, or age verification.
How it works
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Tell us about your brand
Fill in a 15 minute questionnaire about your products, prices, current stockists, and the stores you want. Within two business days you get a written assessment: how we read your situation, what makes your brand sellable to a store owner, the store profile we would target, and what we would do in the first 30 days. If we have read it wrong, reply and tell us.
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See 20 stores, free
Within three business days of your reply, we send 20 independent stores we would write to first, each with a score, three pieces of evidence with links, and the first line we would use. They are yours to keep whether or not you go ahead.
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Get set up in five business days
If you go ahead, we turn your answers into a brand facts document, walk you through setting up a sending address on your own domain, tune the scorecard to your category, and write the first email and follow-ups in your voice. The mailbox warms up for two weeks before the first cold email goes out.
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Then every business day
20 new stores and 15 follow-ups arrive for your approval at the time you choose. Nothing sends until you reply. Replies from stores reach you the same day with context and a suggested answer. Every Monday you get a one page report.
Built for our own brand first
Before Storeknock was a service, it was how a small handmade cigar brand in Los Angeles, a two person team, sold into stores. Over 17 months the same process reached 465 independent retailers. About 10% replied, about 5% asked for samples, and at least 4 first orders on record started with a cold email, taking 3 to 9 months from first email to first order.
Those are the figures from one brand in one category. Your category, price point, and samples policy will give different numbers, and we do not promise any of them. What we promise is the work: the stores, the emails, the follow-ups, the reports, and a reply from us within one business day.
What you get each month
- About 400 new stores contacted and about 300 follow-ups across 20 business days.
- A score and three pieces of evidence for every new store, so you can see at a glance why we picked it.
- One approval list a day. Ten to fifteen minutes of your time. Nothing goes out without your approval.
- Every reply forwarded to you the same day, with context and a suggested response. From there the conversation is yours. We do not negotiate or reply on your behalf.
- A report every Monday: sent, bounced, replied, samples requested, which states are responding, and next week's plan.
- A contact list that belongs to you, as a CSV. If you ever stop, you take it with you.
Pricing
Retailer list pack
$299 per pack
One category, one region, 200 independent stores. Delivered in five business days.
- Store name, city, state, website
- Verified email address
- Decision maker, where we can find one
- Match score and three pieces of evidence
Monthly outreach service
$1,200 per month
Month to month. Stop anytime.
- 20 new stores and 15 follow-ups every business day
- Every email approved by you, sent from your own address
- Three email sequence, then we stop
- Replies handed to you the same day
- A report every Monday
Onboarding setup
$500 one time
Waived for the first two founding clients.
- Brand facts document
- Scorecard tuned to your category
- Sending mailbox setup and two week warm up
- Do not contact list built from your stockists and territories
The first two clients are free for 60 days. We are looking for two brands to run the full monthly service at no charge for 60 days, then continue on the monthly service at the rate above, or stop. To qualify: your products fit one of the three categories above, you have samples on hand, you can ship an order within five days, and you can spend about 10 minutes a day approving emails. In return we ask for permission to use your results in anonymized form, one sentence of feedback at the end, and an answer to one question each week. The free period runs exactly like the paid service: your own mailbox, every email approved by you, a report every Monday.
Questions
How long until I see results?
Plan in months, not weeks. In the case above, the stores that ordered took 3 to 9 months from the first email to the first order. The first two to three weeks of the service are onboarding and mailbox warm up, so cold emails start after that. Every Monday you see exactly where things stand: sent, replied, samples requested, and the orders you have told us about.
Will this get my domain flagged as spam?
We send from a dedicated address on your domain, not your main inbox, with SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up. The mailbox warms up for two weeks before any cold email goes out and never sends more than 35 emails a day. Every address is verified before we send. Each email is written for one store, carries your physical address and a one line way to opt out, and a reply or an opt out stops the sequence at once. No store gets more than three emails from us, ever.
What do you actually send?
A first email of four short paragraphs: where your brand comes from, what you make, why this particular store (with one specific fact about that store), and one clear next step, with one product photo you provide. Then up to two short follow-ups in the same thread, five and fourteen days later, with no image. That is the whole sequence. You approve every email, and during onboarding you edit the templates until they sound like you.
How much of my time does it take?
About 10 to 15 minutes a day to approve the day's emails, plus the time you spend replying to stores that answer. Onboarding takes about an hour to fill in the brand facts template and a few clicks to authorize the sending address. If you would rather not approve daily, you can authorize us in writing to send stores above a score you set and only review the rest.
Can I try one month?
Yes. The monthly service is month to month with no minimum term. Keep in mind that the first two to three weeks are setup and warm up, so a single month is mostly onboarding plus the first batches. If you want to see our research before committing, the retailer list pack is a one time purchase. And right now the first two brands that qualify get the full service free for 60 days.
Start with 20 stores
Fill in the questionnaire and within two business days you will have our written read on your brand. Three business days after you confirm it, you will have 20 stores we would write to first. No call, no charge, and the stores are yours either way.
Prefer to write first? Email storeknockofficial@gmail.com. We reply within one business day.