Want to see your products on store shelves? We asked Caryn
Neary, a buyer from Saks.com,
how to sell your stuff to the big boys-without getting on their
nerves.
Entrepreneur:What can
vendors do to make your job as a buyer easier?
Caryn Neary: Have a clear
business plan targeting the retailers best-suited to sell your
products. You should prepare a press kit, including any important
information about your product, press releases and a [high-quality]
catalog of your product offering. You should then personalize the
cover letter, explaining why your product will work in the
retailer's store, how it will round out the total assortment
and how you feel it targets the retailer's customer. Keep in
mind, a buyer's main responsibility is to edit
"assortments" to offer customers what they're looking
for.
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Once an appointment has been set, make it as easy as possible on
the buyer, i.e., going to them instead of making them travel to
you, or editing a large collection to focus on the elements best
suited for the retailer.
What common mistakes do vendors make when pitching
you?
Neary: Vendors most often
cold-call or mail product information to a buyer without
understanding the direction of that buyer or store.
What preliminary tasks should a vendor do before contacting a
buyer?
Neary: Look at the
retailer's selling space, adjacent vendors, price points,
fixtures, etc. to clearly understand where your product would fit
in and what void you can fill on their sales floor and for their
customers.
How often, if at all, do you purchase from start-ups,
independent companies or lesser-known designers?
Neary: The most important
element of buying is ensuring we offer the right product mix for
our customer. It's more important that the product, not the
name of the product, is right. The retail business is always moving
and changing, so it's important to add new businesses and
products to the mix. In our business, we do have customers who feel
most comfortable buying from brand names they know. However, we
also have customers who are looking for the newest thing, so we
have new offerings usually once a season.
What are your pet peeves with prospective vendors?
Neary: Name-droppers, people
with overbearing personalities, vendors who are unprepared, someone
who knocks competitors, unpunctual peo-ple and vendors who
don't listen.
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