By Patrick O’Donnell, Founder & CEO, GlobeTrader
In a Sana Commerce survey of 1,000 professional B2B buyers, 79% said they prefer to place repeat wholesale orders online. Gartner, in a survey of 646 B2B buyers published in March 2026, found that 67% want to engage on their own terms, on their own schedule, at 10 p.m. after close if that’s when they have time… buyers are making clear that online catalogs, line sheets and digital look books are more important than ever.
Winter market season is fast-approaching. Atlanta Market showrooms open January 12, 2027. Las Vegas Market runs January 24–28. NY NOW is at the Javits Center January 31–February 2. Buyers from across the country will walk those aisles looking for new products. Most will leave with a bag full of catalogs, a phone full of photos and a stack of business cards. The brands that get the order are usually the ones that make the next step easiest.
For most brands, that next step is still a PDF line sheet. This post covers why that’s costing you orders, and how you and your reps can use live line sheets, look books and digital catalogs everywhere you meet buyers: at the booth, in the showroom, in your inbox, on your website, on social and at reorder time.
The problem with static PDF line sheets
A PDF line sheet was a big step up from a printed catalog. But it was built to be looked at, not ordered from. Here’s where it breaks down.
It’s out of date the moment you send it
Prices change. Colors sell out. A new SKU lands two weeks after the show. The PDF a buyer saved in January still shows what you had in January. When they order from it, someone on your team has to explain what’s changed, and the buyer has to start over.
Accuracy matters more than most brands assume. In Sana Commerce’s survey of 1,000 professional buyers, 68% said order errors discouraged them from ordering online, and buyers reported errors on 33% of their online orders. The top barriers were missing or inaccurate information on delivery times, pricing, stock levels and product details. A static file can’t keep any of that current.
It turns an order into a project
To order from a PDF, a buyer has to copy SKUs into an email or a spreadsheet, guess at quantities against your minimums, and send it off. Then your team or your rep retypes it. Then come the back-and-forth emails about what’s in stock. Every step is a chance for the order to stall, especially when the buyer is a shop owner who’s also working the register.
It tells you nothing
Once a PDF leaves your outbox, you have no idea whether it was opened, forwarded to a co-owner or buried. You can’t tell which buyers are interested and which aren’t, so follow-up becomes guesswork.
It doesn’t fit how buyers want to buy
McKinsey’s B2B Pulse research has found a steady “rule of thirds”: at any stage of the buying journey, roughly a third of B2B customers want in-person interaction, a third want remote contact and a third prefer digital self-serve. A PDF serves none of those groups particularly well. A live line sheet can serve all three: a rep walks a buyer through it at the booth, shares it on a video call or sends it so the buyer can order when it suits them, with the order still tied to that rep’s account.
What a live line sheet changes
A digital line sheet is a single link to your current wholesale catalog: products, images, wholesale pricing, minimums and availability, with a way to order right there. Update a price or mark a product sold out, and every buyer who opens the link sees the change. There’s no new file to send.
That matters most for reorders, which is where buyers most want to order online. Retailers are also ordering more often in smaller amounts. In a Faire survey of retailers published in October 2025, 35% said they were ordering in smaller batches. Smaller, more frequent orders reward brands that make ordering quick. They punish brands that require an email chain every time.
The point is that one link can do the work of a dozen PDFs.
Why live links work for reps, too
Independent reps are often the reason a brand gets into a store in the first place. A live line sheet should make their job easier, not route around them.
- Reps share the link. The same link a brand puts on its booth signage is the one a rep texts to an account, pulls up in a showroom or sends before an appointment.
- Orders stay with the rep. Set up your ordering so an order from a rep’s account is credited to that rep, whether the rep enters it or the buyer places it from the link. Agree on that rule with your reps before the season starts, and put it in writing.
- Less keying, more selling. When a buyer can place a routine reorder from a current link, the rep isn’t retyping an emailed order or a photo of an order form. That time goes into opening new doors and working the accounts that need attention.
- Current information. Reps stop selling from last season’s PDF and stop fielding calls about what’s in stock.
On GlobeTrader, reps get their own logins and can place orders for their accounts without copying your team on every email.
Every way to use your line sheets, look books and digital catalogs
Three formats do most of the work, and the same habits apply to all of them:
- Line sheet: products, wholesale pricing, minimums and availability, with a way to order. This is the working document.
- Look book: styled photos and the story behind a collection. This is what gets a buyer interested before an appointment or after a show.
- Digital catalog: your full assortment, browsable by category. This is what a rep or buyer scrolls through when they want to see everything.
Keep them linked to each other, so a buyer who likes something in the look book is one tap from ordering it on the line sheet.
1. At trade shows: put a QR code in the booth
This is the most obvious use and the one most brands underuse. Print a QR code that opens your line sheet and put it where buyers stand: on the table, on a counter card, on shelf talkers next to hero products and on the back of your business card.
Practical tips:
- Make it big and label it. “Scan to see wholesale pricing and order” tells buyers exactly what they get. A bare QR code gets ignored.
- Test it on the show floor. Convention center Wi-Fi and cell service are often weak. Scan your code from the booth on day one, before buyers do.
- Offer a show incentive. A show-only discount or free shipping threshold, valid through a set date, gives a buyer a reason to order now instead of “after I get back.”
- Let buyers order at the booth. If a buyer is ready, have your staff or the territory rep help them place the order on a tablet right there. The order is in before they walk to the next aisle, and it’s credited to the rep who covers that store.
Example scenario: A candle brand at Atlanta Market places a QR code on each display shelf. A gift shop owner scans it, sees wholesale pricing and the case pack, and places an opening order before she leaves the booth. The rep for her territory spends the conversation on scent stories instead of reading prices off a sheet, and the order lands in his account.
2. The digital catalog on a tablet, in showrooms and at shows
A tablet with your digital catalog replaces the binder. Reps can filter by category, show what’s in stock, pull up a look book image to show a product styled and start an order in the same place. In a permanent showroom where a rep group carries dozens of lines, it’s the fastest way to show a buyer your full assortment without a table covered in samples.
Example scenario: A rep in a Las Vegas Market showroom carries 30 lines. A buyer asks about a home fragrance brand that isn’t on the floor. The rep opens that brand’s digital catalog on a tablet, walks through the new collection and writes the order in a few minutes.
3. After the show: send the link the same day
Speed matters more than polish. In a study published in Harvard Business Review covering 1.25 million sales leads, firms that tried to contact a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify that lead as firms that waited even an hour longer, and more than 60 times as likely as firms that waited 24 hours or more. That research looked at web leads, not trade show contacts, but the lesson carries over: interest fades fast.
Most exhibitors aren’t fast. In EXHIBITOR magazine’s 2015 Sales Lead Survey (as compiled by ExhibitorLens), only 22% of exhibitors followed up with leads within 24 to 48 hours of the show.
A same-day email from the booth is easy when you have a link:
- Write a short follow-up template before the show. Two or three sentences, plus your line sheet link.
- Split the list. Each rep follows up with the buyers in their territory, using the same link. The brand follows up with anyone outside a rep’s territory.
- Send it that evening, from the hotel, while the conversation is fresh. Mention one thing you talked about.
- Skip the attachment. A link opens on any phone and shows current stock. A 20 MB PDF may not even get through.
Example template: “Great meeting you at Las Vegas Market today. Here’s our current wholesale line sheet with show pricing through February 15: [link]. The stoneware mugs you liked are in stock and ship within a week.”
4. Event-specific line sheets
Build a line sheet for each show: only the products in your booth, show pricing and a clear deadline. Buyers who met you at NY NOW see what they saw at NY NOW, not your full catalog of 400 SKUs. When the show ends, you’ll know which event drove which orders.
5. Sales events, pop-ups and showroom days
The same approach works anywhere buyers gather: regional gift shows, makers’ markets with a wholesale day, showroom open houses, buying group meetings. A counter card with a QR code and an event-specific line sheet turns casual interest into an order without a laptop or order pad.
6. A seasonal look book before rep appointments
A week before a store appointment, the rep sends the buyer a link to the season’s look book with a short note: “Here’s what’s new for spring. Flag anything you’d like to see in person.” The buyer arrives having already looked, the appointment starts with their picks and the rep spends less time flipping pages and more time on quantities and placement.
7. A wholesale link on your website
Many retailers find brands online first. Add a “Wholesale” link to your website’s main navigation or footer that goes to your digital catalog or an application to view it. If a store owner finds you on a Sunday night, they can see what you offer and get started right away. Route new accounts from a rep’s territory to that rep, so the website brings reps new business instead of competing with them.
8. Social media posts and bios
Put your wholesale link in your Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn bio, or in a link-in-bio page, labeled “Wholesale / Stockists.” Look book images make strong posts. When you post a new product, note that retailers can order it through the link. Buyers browse social media too, and many discover brands there.
9. Rep-specific links
If your platform supports it, give each rep their own version of the link, or assign accounts to reps, so every order from that link or account is credited to the right person. Reps can then put the link everywhere they work: email signatures, texts to accounts, their own social posts and the leave-behind card after a store visit. A rep who knows the link earns them credit will share it more.
10. Personalized line sheets for key accounts
For key accounts, a line sheet built for them, with their pricing and the products that fit their store, goes a long way. Build it with the account’s rep, who knows the store best, and have the rep send it. Sana Commerce’s survey found 55% of B2B buyers want to see their personalized agreed prices when they order online. A tailored link does that without a custom PDF for every account.
11. Seasonal line sheets
Build line sheets around the retail calendar: spring, summer, back-to-school, holiday. Send them when buyers are planning that season, not when you finish designing it. Retailers prepare well ahead. Faire reported that searches for “Christmas” on its platform rose 124% from June to July 2025.
12. New product releases
When a new product launches, build a short line sheet with just the new items. Send it to accounts outside rep territories yourself, and give reps the link to share with their territory with a personal note. It’s easier to act on than a full catalog and gives everyone a reason to reach out between shows. CEIR research has found that 92% of trade show attendees say they’re looking for new products. That interest doesn’t end when the show closes.
13. Promotions and clearance
Use a separate line sheet for a time-limited promotion: an end-of-season sell-down, an overstocked SKU or a free-shipping week. Set an end date, share the link and take it down when the promotion ends. No one orders from an expired PDF a month later.
14. Reorder reminders
This is where a live line sheet pays off over time. Set a reminder to send accounts their line sheet link at a natural reorder point, such as six to eight weeks after an opening order or ahead of a seasonal peak. Have the rep send it, or copy the rep if it comes from the brand, and include a note about what’s selling well elsewhere and what’s back in stock. The buyer reorders on their own schedule, the rep gets credit and nobody keys in the order by hand.
Reorders are where a wholesale account becomes valuable. One GlobeTrader customer, AirFort, saw a 40% increase in reorders per store in its first 12 months on GlobeTrader.
Practical tips to get your line sheet ready before January
- Start with your best sellers. You don’t need every SKU on day one. Get your top 20 to 50 products right, with clean photos, accurate wholesale pricing, case packs and minimums.
- Show availability and ship dates. These were among the top things buyers said were missing from supplier sites in the Sana Commerce survey.
- Keep the link short and branded. It will be on business cards, booth signage and email signatures.
- Test the buyer view on a phone. Many buyers will open your link on a phone in a crowded aisle.
- Set a reminder to follow up. Block an hour each night of the show to send follow-up emails.
- Brief your reps before the show. Send them the links, the show pricing and the follow-up template, and confirm how orders from their accounts will be credited.
- Plan inventory alongside the line sheet. If you’re also trying to forecast demand for the season, our forecast demo shows how that can work.
Where this fits with marketplaces
Plenty of brands sell well on wholesale marketplaces like Faire, and they should keep doing it. Marketplaces are good at helping retailers discover new brands. A live line sheet is for the buyers you already meet yourself: at your booth, through your reps, on your website and in your inbox. With a brand-owned portal like GlobeTrader, those orders come in under your brand with no marketplace commission, and the account relationship stays with you.
Get your line sheet ready for market season
The buyers walking Atlanta, Las Vegas and New York this winter want to see current pricing, know what’s in stock and order when they’re ready. One live link makes that possible at the booth, after the show and every time they reorder, while your reps stay in the loop and get credit for the accounts they’ve built.
See how it works in our free line sheet demo. If you’d rather walk through it together, book a 30-minute call with our team.
Sources
- Gartner, “Gartner Sales Survey Finds 67% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Experience,” press release, March 9, 2026 (survey of 646 B2B buyers, Aug–Sept 2025). https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-03-09-gartner-sales-survey-finds-67-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-experience
- Digital Commerce 360, “Many B2B sellers lose online buyers with error-prone order processing” (Sana Commerce survey of 1,000 professional buyers: 79% prefer to place repeat orders online; 68% discouraged by order errors; errors on 33% of online orders; 55% want personalized agreed prices; top barriers on delivery time, pricing, stock and product information), March 11, 2024. https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/03/11/sana-commerce-survey-b2b-sellers-online-buyers-error-prone-order-processing/
- McKinsey & Company, “Five fundamental truths: How B2B winners keep growing” (B2B Pulse 2024, “rule of thirds”). https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/five-fundamental-truths-how-b2b-winners-keep-growing (supporting coverage: Digital Commerce 360, https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/09/17/b2b-ecommerce-must-have-mckinsey-infographic/)
- James B. Oldroyd, Kristina McElheran and David Elkington, “The Short Life of Online Sales Leads,” Harvard Business Review, March 2011. https://hbr.org/2011/03/the-short-life-of-online-sales-leads
- EXHIBITOR magazine, 2015 Sales Lead Survey, as compiled by ExhibitorLens (22% of exhibitors responded to leads within 24–48 hours). https://exhibitorlens.com/research/exhibitor-statistics#stat-39
- Faire, “How Retailers Are Preparing For Holiday 2025,” October 28, 2025 (35% ordering in smaller batches). https://www.faire.com/news/2025-10-28-how-retailers-are-preparing-for-holiday-2025
- Retail TouchPoints, “Independent Retailers Switching to Duty-Free, Buying Closer to Need this Holiday Season” (Faire data: “Christmas” searches up 124% June to July 2025). https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/news/independent-retailers-switching-to-duty-free-buying-closer-to-need-this-holiday-season/155193/
- CEIR, “The Role and Value of Face to Face,” as cited by Skyline Exhibits in TSNN, “16 Powerful Stats on the Value of Trade Shows” (92% of attendees looking for new products). https://www.tsnn.com/trade-show-marketing/16-powerful-stats-on-the-value-of-trade-shows
- Atlanta Market, “Market Dates & Hours” (Winter Market 2027 showrooms Jan 12–17, 2027). https://www.atlantamarket.com/Attend/Market-Dates-and-Hours
- Las Vegas Market, Winter 2027 First Finds flyer (Jan 24–28, 2027). https://www.lasvegasmarket.com/-/jssmedia/Las-Vegas-Market/Exhibit/Apply-to-Exhibit/LVMW27_Print_Flyer_FirstFinds_85x11.pdf
- NY NOW, “NY NOW Expands Winter 2027 Brand Roster” (Jan 31–Feb 2, 2027, Javits Center). https://nynow.com/press-releases/ny-now-expands-winter-2027-brand-roster/
- GlobeTrader, For Sellers page (AirFort: 40% increase in reorders per store in its first 12 months, as reported by AirFort). https://www.globetrader.com/sellers/
