Wholesale Candles

Wholesale Candles

The Benefits of selling candles in your store

So you are looking for wholesale candles.

Of course you are! It’s a thriving market with growing demand and each year more and more boutiques, specialty shops, and mom and pop establishments are stocking them on their shelves.

If you haven’t joined the club yet, and are doing some research, you came to the right place.  This article will provide you with a view of the candle market landscape and why it is a wise business move to add candles to your portfolio.

If candles are nothing new for you but your current vendor is less than ideal, check out Where to Buy Candles Wholesale for a description of what to look for (and what to look out for) in a candle vendor.

NOTE: This article is intended for potential candle resellers. If you are not interested in selling candles but you would like to buy candles in bulk, our Bulk Candles page is the one you are looking for.

The Candle Market

The US candle market is the largest in the world at a whopping $3.2 billion.  That’s billion with a “B”. It’s projected to grow between 3-5% each year through the end of the 2020’s.

Isn’t that a little high?

I thought you might ask that, and the answer is no.  This is really what the experts are projecting. If you need some reassurance check out the market sources linked below.

Statista | Grand View Research | Future Market Insights

If you are short on time, allow me to summarize the key takeaways.

#1 – People love candles

#2 – 66% of sales occur in brick-and-mortar stores

#3 – Candles are likely to move in high volume

You heard that right! For once, the internet is not marching in to challenge your well-earned foothold on your local market.

(I’ll look the other way while you read this article.  If anyone asks how you accessed it, Ill say “The library of course!”)

What’s driving this growth?

In short, Millennials and Gen Z.  There is a large population of loyal Baby Boomers and Gen X that are consistently buying candles, but the two younger generations are flocking to candle sellers in droves. 

This is because candles complement current popular lifestyle trends that became mainstream when the pandemic hit.

Mental Health and Self-Care

The stress of the pandemic brought about the prioritization of mental well-being. This movement has not only persisted, its flourishing! A 2022 survey found that almost everyone living in the US believes we are experiencing a mental health crisis. As a result, more Americans are seeking out a therapist who is introducing them to practices like mindfulness and meditation.

So how does this relate to candles?

Candles are increasingly being used in a number of self-care practices.  Not only have they been shown to improve mood, but they also reduce stress and anxiety. As a result, Millennials and Gen Z are using them to create a comfy, safe environment to practice mindfulness or just relax at home.

In addition to fragrance, candles are filling an aesthetic role in the other big persistent trend that got its start during lockdown.

Home Beautification

After everyone put in the effort to create a beautiful living space, is there any going back? 

Not likely. And now there is more living space to fill. Millennials are at the age where they are buying homes and starting families. Home-buying was accelerated by reduced interest rates and the student loan repayment pause.  As a result, a lot of Female Millennials have become first-time homeowners and they are looking for home décor.

But home décor prices are skyrocketing!

True. Inflation in 2022 was higher than is has been since 1981 making the preferred home décor pieces of the Baby Boomers out of reach for this generation.

Side note – why was a glass cabinet full of unused plates and bowls such an important thing to own?

Regardless, candles are now filling this void because they are an affordable way to elevate the look (and smell) of any living space.

Seasonal Appeal, Gifting, and the Holidays

By now it should be no surprise that candles are consistently on the podium at the Best Gift Olympics (no that’s not a real event, I am just getting flashbacks of my English teacher saying “Use more metaphors!”).

In fact, the National Candle Association has reported that the majority of candle purchasers consider a candle to be an appropriate gift for almost any gift-giving occasion.

I mean, think about it…

We all experience those moments when it is appropriate to give a gift to someone that we don’t know super well.  I’m thinking about co-workers, mail carriers, hairdressers, kids’ teachers, kids’ coaches, etc.  I can go on forever, there are so many.

How do you give a gift to someone if you don’t know their hobbies or interests? 

Well, if you are like me, you give them something that everyone likes and appreciates. I know I don’t need to say what that thing is because you already know. In fact, you have given a candle as a gift yourself, haven’t you?

Of course you have!

Did we just become best friends? I feel like we are seeing eye to eye. Like we’re are two peas in a pod. You smell what I’m stepping in (a big box of fragrant candles).

While we are sitting here vibin’

Let me point out another fact that you know subconsciously but have never said out loud.

There is something about the fall and holiday season that makes people foam at the mouth for candles. It’s scary and exhilarating. Don’t get me wrong, when you stock candles on your shelf, they are going to consistently sell all year round. But if you want to lean into that Black Friday bump in revenue, I cannot think of a better product.

The above chart shows Google search term interest for three keywords from 2019 to early 2024. Notice the consistent spike in Google searches for “candle” in the fall and winter season.  For reference, I have included search data for “coffee mug” and “earrings”. During the fall months, this data shows an average growth rate of 25% for candles (what I am calling the Fall Ramp). 

If the Fall Ramp gets you excited, look at the size of that holiday spike! All three search terms see a spike during the holiday season but candle interest more than doubles between mid-November and Christmas, maxing out at about 2X higher interest than earrings over the same period.

This clearly demonstrates the value of stocking candles in your store, particularly during the fall and winter months. 

Fragrance and Memory

To continue our podium/Olympics metaphor (leave me alone, ghosts of teachers past!) the gold, silver, and bronze medals all go to smell in the competition for which sense is most closely related to memory.

This fact is well known by science and it has been leveraged to promote perfumes, body wash, and home fragrances for years.  As a result, it has become common knowledge and most people, including your customers, have heard this fun fact at some point. 

 

This creates an excellent opportunity

Souvenir shops and retail stores located in high-tourism areas can tap into this messaging. I’m looking at you Wisconsin Dells, Lake Geneva, Milwaukee, Madison, Northwoods and about a million others.  If people are vacationing in your town, they are making happy memories that they want to remember. 

 

How will they remember?

Through scent of course! In this way, a Wisconsin Wicks candle is like a time machine that allows your customer to be transported back to those happy memories with the strike of a match!

 

Do your competitors sell time machines? Didn’t think so.

Hyperbole aside, there is substantial scientific evidence behind the idea that scents can bring back memories and, thankfully, your brain favors happy scent-memories over sad ones.

Thus, stocking candles in your store allows you to accomplish the ultimate goal of business owners everywhere:

Creating a good customer experience again and again.

Which candles are best for your customers?

Okay! You’re in. The science and the market data are clear. You want to stock candles.

 

But what candles should you stock? 

With a huge field of local and national competitors, how do you decide which candles are best for your customers? 

If you have made it this far, you know that I am not going to feed you salesy tag lines with no basis in reality. 

 

I will only feed you cheesy tag lines (Wisconsin, remember?)

But those lines will always be backed up by solid scientific references and market data.

 

So if you want those delicious melty tag lines (oh LAWD!)

Let me tell you more about what makes a good candle and where to find it.

Toodles.