Three lash styles can become twelve stock items surprisingly quickly. Add a second color and a second pack count, and every combination needs a name, a quantity, a photograph and a place in your stock records. Packaging versions can multiply the work again.
The opening range should help a customer make a clear choice. Before asking a supplier for a large catalog, write down which choices your brand actually needs to offer. That is a more useful starting point than collecting every style you like.
Give each style a job
Describe the customer and the occasion in ordinary language. A buyer looking for a subtle everyday strip is making a different decision from a customer building a dramatic cluster map. Trying to serve both is possible, but it calls for a deliberate range rather than two nearly identical products with different names.
For each proposed item, finish this sentence: “This is the option for a customer who wants ___ and does not want ___.” If two styles produce the same answer, compare them side by side. You may only need one of them at launch.
- Decide whether the first range is built around strip lashes, clusters or a professional extension format.
- Choose the visual differences customers can recognize: shape, density, length distribution or color.
- Write down what is outside the first release. Keeping a future idea on the list is different from placing it in the first order.
Count finished stock items before requesting quantities
A style is not always a finished SKU. In your own stock system, a different color, pack count or retail configuration may need its own identifier. Use an internal SKU scheme that the team can read without opening the box.
The following is a planning example, not a recommended assortment or a supplier’s minimum order quantity.
| Range decision | Calculation | Finished variants |
|---|---|---|
| Three styles, one color, one pack count | 3 × 1 × 1 | 3 |
| Three styles, two colors, one pack count | 3 × 2 × 1 | 6 |
| Three styles, two colors, two pack counts | 3 × 2 × 2 | 12 |
An internal SKU and a GTIN serve different purposes. If your sales channel requires GS1 identification, review the GS1 GTIN Management Standard for the relevant retail unit and pack configuration. Do not assume that one barcode covers every version of a collection.
Separate the product choice from the packaging choice
Keep two lists in the brief. The product list describes what the customer receives: the lash format, approved style reference, color and count. The packaging list describes the tray, carton, printing and any included accessories.
Then ask how minimum quantities apply to each list. A supplier may quote a product minimum, a printing minimum or a minimum for each artwork version. Those are different constraints. Ask for the basis in writing rather than treating a headline MOQ as the answer for the entire project.
This also makes revisions easier to price. You can see whether an extra color changes only the lashes or also creates another printed carton, barcode and packing instruction. The packaging brief guide sets out the information to settle before artwork approval.
Put quotations on the same basis
A lower price is only useful when it buys the same thing. “One unit” could mean one pair, one tray or one finished retail box. Write the quotation unit next to the price, and list what is included.
- Product: the exact approved style and quantity inside each retail unit.
- Packaging: tray, outer carton, printing and any inserts included in the quotation.
- Development: sample, artwork, tooling or setup charges, where applicable.
- Delivery: the agreed trade term, named place and which freight or import costs remain outside the quote.
- Timing: what must be approved or paid before the stated production period begins.
Keep product cost, one-time development charges and estimated delivery costs in separate columns. You can combine them for a planning total without losing the reason a second quotation differs. Freight and import estimates should remain estimates until the actual shipment details are known.
Plan the second order while placing the first
Ask how a repeat order will identify the approved version. A style name on its own is a weak record if the tray, length mix or artwork has changed. Keep a product code, a specification revision and an approved sample reference together.
Also decide how you will judge the opening range. Units sold tell only part of the story. Record which lengths or styles customers ask for, which packs are returned and whether one variant is repeatedly confused with another. That information gives the next order a purpose.
Send a brief that fits on one page
A useful first message includes the intended customer, selected product format, a short style list, expected quantity by finished variant, packaging direction, destination market and target launch window. Mark unresolved items as questions. A supplier can work with a stated uncertainty; it is harder to work with a decision that has never been mentioned.
Use the product collections to narrow the format, then turn the shortlisted styles into a written product specification. When you are ready to discuss a project with Aerilia, send that same brief through the contact page.
