Tips for a Growing Candle Business

Updated September, 2023

Is your candle line growing? We hope it is! As with any growing business, there are important opportunities along the way to add value for your customers – both in the way of the physical product they purchase, in addition to the experience and engagement involved in that purchase. Here, we share some tips for a growing candle business in the hope that you may continue to grow yours!

Educate your Customers:

Educate and encourage your customers in proper candle maintenance. Be sure to include burning instructions that are customized to the type and size of each candle. It may even impress your clients if you take the time explain what a melt pool is and why it matters to their enjoyment of their purchase. Share these Safety Tips for Burning Candles with your readers.

Offer Value-Added Tools

Take it a step further by offering the proper tools. Not only will they encourage proper care for the customer, but they are also good add-ons for candles purchased as gifts and could be bundled for seasonal events like Mother’s Day or Christmas.

There are several ways in which you can extinguish a candle, and while you might not have a strong preference, there are some considerations. Wick Dippers are a great alternative to blowing out candles – no smoke, and the wick is primed for the next lighting. However, if your candles are dye-free or your wicks mushroom, the method used will have an impact on the amount of soot ending up in the wax pool. In these cases, consider a snuffer as a good solution to offer your customers.

If your wick requires regular trimming, offering wick trimmers which trim and catch the snippet to keep your wax clean will encourage proper burning.

Every candle should have a caution label or tag listing the key rules for candle fire-safety. A label should include basic instructions for burning a jar candle properly. We’ve just added new warning labels that include basic instructions for burning a jar candle properly.

The labels are professionally made in the USA using the best label material to form to the jar, strong adhesive to stay in place, and smudge-free printing.

Expand your Customer Base

Don’t forget about those who are unable to burn candles because of housing regulations or fear of fire! If you haven’t added wax melts or wax for warmers, you may wish to consider it. We do carry the Tart Clam Shells.

Elevate your Finished Products

Lids and covers also add to the cost of your end product. Sometimes there are more choices, and although it may be more to manage, it could strengthen customer loyalty. You may wish to consider offering lid options. We offer a wide range of lids and covers from real wooden lids with fitments, to rustic looking Old Time lids, to glass lids with fitments and more! To ensure that you’re choosing something that is compatible with your container, click on the “Accessories tab” of the vessel to see what lids or other fitment options are available for that container. 

Share your “Green” practices & Encourage your Customers

If you’ve implemented earth-friendly practices, share it with your customers! More, now than ever, customer’s purchasing decisions are being influenced by what they know about your business.

Encourage your customers to be environmentally aware by offering suggestions on how to avoid tossing the spent candle containers. Provide ideas for re-purposing the containers in their home or provide contact information for your local Craft Reuse Center or thrift shop (Lancaster Creative Reuse is always our referral). Consider offering an incentive for returned containers. (This isn’t always practical, and does take a little time to manage, BUT if you have a very environmentally conscious customer base, could be a very good thing. Don’t forget to be very clear about your standards for the return especially if you’re offering a credit.)

Learn more about your Shipping Options

Consider palletized shipping for some of your orders…especially during the busiest of your seasons. This article explains what that could look like, how to determine if it’s the move for you, and what to expect with this type of delivery. Make sure that you are comparing landed cost instead of just the sticker price.

If your quote from our site doesn’t seem correct, please don’t hesitate to give us a call! If you’re looking for volume that surpasses the pricing tiers on our site, please email the details to Chad@fillmorecontainer.com .