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How to write wholesale product descriptions
Store buyers and shoppers want different things from a product description. Buyers want facts they can order from. Shoppers want a reason to love it. Here's how to write both from one product sheet, in your voice, with an AI prompt that never invents a fact.
- Buyer copy vs shopper copy
- What buyers need to see
- Write a voice guide once
- Write both versions with AI
- Claims to leave out
- Check and save
Buyer copy vs shopper copy
| Buyer copy | Shopper copy | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it goes | Your line sheet and wholesale listings, like Faire | Your own shop |
| Job | Answer a buyer's questions before they ask | Help a shopper picture it and want it |
| Length | 30 to 40 words | 50 to 70 words |
| Tone | Plain facts. No hype. | Your brand voice |
Keep them separate. A warm, story-style description makes a buyer hunt for the fabric and the case pack.
What buyers need to see
Buyers often copy your description straight into their own systems. Faire says retailers look for details that are hard to tell from photos, and "many copy your description directly into their own point-of-sale (POS) system" (Faire).
Faire's listing checklist suggests covering materials, dimensions, weight, where the product is made, ingredients if any, and how it's packaged, and recommends 150 to 300 characters for the description (Faire). For apparel, that usually means:
- Fabric, with percentages (for example 100% merino)
- Fit and size range
- Colors
- Care
- Where it's made
- Case pack, so they know how many to order
Put all of this in your product sheet first. The AI should only use what's in the sheet.
Step 1. Write a voice guide (once, 10 minutes)
Pick three product descriptions you like, your own or ones whose style you admire. Open ChatGPT, Claude or Grok Bot and paste:
From these 3 descriptions [paste], write a 6-bullet brand voice guide: tone, sentence length, words we use, words we avoid. Plain.
Save the six bullets. You'll paste them in every time, so every product sounds like the same brand.
Step 2. Write both versions (2 minutes a product)
Paste your voice guide and one product row at a time:
Using my voice guide [paste] and this product row [paste], write: (1) Buyer copy: 30 to 40 words, fabric, fit, care, case pack, and why it sells (only if I gave you a reason). No hype. (2) Shopper copy: 50 to 70 words in my voice.
Use only facts in the row. If a fact is missing (e.g. fit), write [MISSING: fit] instead of guessing.
Got a lot of products? Paste up to 10 rows and ask for a table with SKU, buyer copy and shopper copy, so it pastes straight back into your sheet.
"Tidewren Knits," an invented sweater brand, ran its Ridge Crew Sweater row. Buyer copy: "100% merino crew in Oat and Moss, XS to XL, relaxed fit. Hand wash cold. Case pack 4. A year-round neutral that pairs with denim." Shopper copy: "The sweater you'll reach for first. Soft merino, a relaxed fit, and two colors that go with everything. Hand wash cold, lay flat, wear it for years." The first draft also said "sustainably made." That wasn't in the row, so it came out. The Cove Wrap Scarf row had no fabric listed, so the AI wrote [MISSING: fabric], and the founder filled it in.
Claims to leave out
AI loves to add nice-sounding words. Delete any you can't back up.
- "Eco-friendly," "green," "sustainable." The FTC says marketers "should not make broad, unqualified general environmental benefit claims like 'green' or 'eco-friendly,'" because they're hard, if not impossible, to back up. If something is true and specific, say that instead, like the actual recycled content (FTC).
- "Best seller." Only if your sales show it. Faire also suggests keeping subjective claims like "bestseller" out of product titles (Faire).
- "Organic" and health claims. Only if true and you can prove it.
- Anything not in your sheet. If the AI added it, ask yourself where it came from.
Check and save
- Every fabric percentage, size and care line matches your sheet.
- No [MISSING] tags are left. Fill in the fact, then run the row again.
- No claims you can't prove.
- Save both versions back into your product sheet, so your line sheet, your wholesale listings and your shop all use the same words.
Mistakes to avoid
- One description everywhere. Buyers and shoppers need different things.
- Letting AI guess a fact. A guessed fabric or size looks just as real as a true one. Use [MISSING].
- Editing in five places. Fix the sheet, then copy from it.
- Hype words. "Amazing" and "must-have" tell a buyer nothing. Facts do.
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