Last week I missed the ABC Kids show because we had to move out of our condo. If you make any kind of juvenile product, the ABC Kids show is a must! I have attended for the past 3 years and have found some great products. It takes place at the Las Vegas convention center and runs for 5 days (3 for online retailers). And believe me, you need that amount of time to make it to all of the great vendors.
Every year I attend, I find myself having to explain the value of an online retailer. The first year was the worst, announcing yourself as "online only" was like shutting the door. Most of the vendors wanted nothing to do with "online." For some reason, online = ebay.
So as I walked down the aisles, I found myself having to explain, prove actually, that adding online retailers to your arsenal can help increase awareness, which as a result can increase sales.
Then as my store grew and people started recognizing the name, the tables turned. I started to become more selective about the products I carried. There are several things I look for when considering a vendor. Here are just a few:
Product Images
In order to make your brand attractive to retailers, make sure you have high-resolution photos available for them to use. Telling an online retailer to just "pull the images off of the site," is a complete turn off. Have a CD of images readily available at conventions and tradeshows. Even better, provide a URL that retailers can use to download the high-resolution images themselves.
Drop ship
As an online retailer with limited storage space, I like to test products out on the site before placing a wholesale order, especially if the minimum order requirements are high. This isn’t because I don’t believe in your product, don’t have the money, or am not serious about my business. I prefer to drop ship so the search engines can start picking up the new products, and this can take weeks.
Communication
Keeping the lines of communication open with your retailers is absolutely necessary. There have been several instances where a product has been discontinued and I still had it on my site. Sometimes the only way I find out the item is out of stock is when someone places the item in their shopping cart and I contact the vendor to place the order.
Make sure your retailers know when key press is available. If a celebrity was wearing one of your products we want to know about it.
Open To Online Retail
I’m not biased, but adding online retailers to your arsenal is a great way to boost traffic, increase awareness and can increase your sell volume.
Offer Incentive Programs
I haven’t seen any incentive programs but I wish some of my vendors would give it a try. It could be as simple as lowering the "drop ship fees" to $3 instead of $6, or offering a rolling discount. You could offer a percentage off the wholesale price.
Be a Team Player
The relationship between retailer and vendor is an important one. If you treat your retailers like they are a part of your team, they'll return the favor. You should be working together to generate the most revenue.
Whether you are new to the business or have been selling for a long time, it’s important to get retailers excited about your product, the same way you want to get customers excited. Making product images and product descriptions readily available via DVD or FTP download is a retailers dream. And make sure you keep retailers up to date on new, refurbished and discontinued products. Working together can help boost sales for both retailers and vendors.
Comments:
View Terms of Use