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10 Simple Tips
By Karen Waksman
Selling an invention to major retailers can seem like an overwhelming task, but it doesn’t have to be. You just need a little insight into how retailers operate and what makes them more inclined to buy.
1 Buyers Are Looking For You
Most inventors don’t realize how important it is for major retail buyers to buy new innovations. It is a huge part of their purchasing strategy. With competition these days, buyers can’t afford to ignore new products. Moreover, customers are finicky. They want to purchase the next best thing and retailers know this. Retailers want to know about you.
2 You Don’t Have to Be a Big Company
Most of the companies I’ve represented over the years have been startups. Buyers care more about finding the “right” product for their stores than they care about the size of the company. Don’t assume because you’re from a small business that you can’t get your products into major retailers. I know you’ve heard plenty of horror stories about the “little guy” trying and failing to sell to major retailers. Yet I assure you, I’ve witnessed many success stories as well.
3 Packaging Is Essential to Your Success
Spend time, money and effort on packaging. When you walk into a store, you are not looking at a product – you are looking at a product in its packaging. Customers are making purchasing decisions based on packaging. Packaging can make or break a buyer’s decision. If your packaging is not on point, buyers will not buy from you.
4 Go Shopping!
You can learn more about a buyer’s purchasing habits simply by visiting the section of their store. A store shelf will tell what the retail price should be for your product as well as the type of packaging you should create. It also will tell you what buyers are missing within their product base, so you can provide an excellent story as to why they should buy your product.
5 Avoid Vendor Departments
If you’ve ever contacted the front desk of a major retailer about becoming a new vendor, then you’ve probably been redirected to their vendor department. Retailers typically will direct you to a page on their website and request you fill out a bunch of forms about your product and/or company. Vendor departments take forever to review products. It also can be depressing to fill out all of those forms. My advice: Find the appropriate buyers and contact them directly about your product.
6 Find the Buyer’s Name & Contact Info
Major Retailers don’t readily offer this information. A couple of great resources to help you get started: The Chain Store Guide: www.csgis.com and/or the Salesman’s Guide: www.thesalesmansguide.com. Your local library likely has these titles on their shelves, so you can get this information for free!
7 Make Nice with Assistant Buyers
Assistant buyers become buyers fairly quickly. You have no idea how many times I’ve worked with assistant buyers and then found out that they were promoted to a buyer position. And usually within a matter of months. Be kind and courteous to assistant buyers. They will remember your kindness and can purchase accordingly when they become buyers themselves.
8 Explore Vendor Day
Vendor day is a day of the week, month or quarter (depending on the retailer) where major retail buyers spend time reviewing new products. Buyer’s typically review several new vendors in 10- to 30-minute increments. If you’re having trouble getting traction with a major retailer, try contacting the assistant buyer and ask to be a part of the company’s next vendor day.
9 It’s a Numbers Game
One of the biggest mistakes I see inventors make while trying to sell their inventions to major retailers is that they focus exclusively on their top five “dream” retail accounts that they want to sell to and ignore all of the other potential opportunities. Look past the Walmarts and Targets of the world to the hundreds of other potential retailers that may want to buy your product.
10 Don’t Give Up!
Selling an invention to major retailers can be a frustrating process, especially if you’re getting rejected over and over again. Yet every rejection also is an opportunity to receive valuable information about your product that can help you sell to the next retailer. And really, all you need is one retail buyer to take a chance on your product. Just one! Many inventors start the process of trying to sell to retailers, but walk away when things get tough. Don’t make this mistake. Try to sell your inventions to retailers until you win!
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