The Multi-Buy Margin Killer: Don’t Let Your Supplier Do This

Suppliers love to push multi-buy promotions—“Buy 3, Get 1 FREE!”—as a way to boost sales. But who’s really winning here?

Here’s how it usually plays out:

• The supplier asks you to run the promo for a month.
• They’ll credit you for the free units at the end.
• Meanwhile, you’ve ordered, paid for, checked in, stored, picked, packed, and shipped stock… for free.

And it gets worse. If the deal is on food, drinks, or other products where retailers sell them as single units and don’t pass on the savings, all you’ve done is sacrifice your margin on that free unit—with no increase in sales. Your customers won’t buy more than usual, they’ll just buy the same amount for less.

And what does the supplier expect in return? For you to promote their offer on your website.

🚨 Don’t let suppliers cannibalise your sales. If they want you to push their brand, demand a rebate that protects your full margin—not just the cost of goods. Otherwise, all they’re doing is shifting sales away from other profitable brands and replacing them with this margin-killing free stock.

💡 Bottom line: Multi-buy promos should work for you, not just the supplier. Push back. Demand better terms. Protect your margins.