1. Major Retail buyers for stores are looking for you!

Most people don’t realize how important it is for a big retail buyer to buy new and interesting innovations. It’s a big part of how they decide what to buy. At the end of the day, big stores have a lot of competition, and their customers are picky and want the newest, coolest, best thing in the store. The people who buy for stores know this, which is why they are always looking for new things. Now is the best time ever to get your products into a chain store. You just have to know how to set up your product so that the buyer will buy it.

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2. You don’t have to have a big business to sell to major retailers.

In fact, most of the companies I’ve worked for over the years were just starting out. The buyers really do care more about finding the right product than about how big your company is. If you have a great product that they think will make money for their business, trust me, that’s all they’ll care about.

They don’t care if you’re a big or small company; they just want to make sure you’re set up right to be able to ship products to them. I talk about this in my Retail MBA Training and Coaching System, which you can find here: https://www.retailmba.com. But you should know that you don’t have to be a big business to sell to big stores. I know this because I have worked with small businesses that were just starting out and because I teach this to a lot of small students who are just starting out.

3. Your success on selling to major retailers depends on how you package your goods.

If I could give you any advice about selling to big retailers, it would be that you should always spend more time, money, and effort on packaging. The reason for this is that when you walk into a store, you don’t look at your product, you look at its packaging. People won’t buy your product just because it’s good; the way it’s packaged is also important. So, whoever has a product to sell needs to make sure that it is well packaged, because a buyer will pay attention to that because they know that packaging drives sales. And that’s what buyers care about. So packaging is a must if you want to be successful.

4. You must do the work and research you need to do to help you win major retail business!

Most people don’t know how much they can learn just by walking into a store and looking at the product aisles. In reality, you can tell exactly what a buyer wants to buy by looking at what they put on the shelves of their store. A store shelf will tell you everything you need to know, like what your retail price should be and how your packaging should look. I mean, if you look at it from the point of view of the buyer, they chose one of your competitors. Which means they bought your competitor’s products that are already in the store. This means the buyer likes the price, the packaging, and the way the product is set up. You can find out how to get your products into stores by going into a store and doing the research and homework you need to do.

5. Avoid Vendor Departments

What that really means is that you shouldn’t call the front desk of a chain store and ask how to get your products into their stores. Basically, you shouldn’t do what everyone else does, which is to fill out the online forms they give you. So, if you want to get your products into a major retailer’s stores, most people call the front desk. The front desk then sends them to a department, which could be a place on their website or an 800 number or something.

You have to fill out a lot of forms and send them your products. I think that’s the worst way to get your products into stores because you can’t set yourself apart. You’re doing what everyone else is doing, and it’s up to fate and whoever is processing things online to decide whether or not your products should get into stores. I teach people how to do what professional retailers do, which is to get in touch with the buyers directly. I teach you what to say to buyers to get them to buy, but tip number 5 is to avoid vendor departments and go straight to the buyers. Don’t follow the rules and don’t chase down chasers? 4:34 You can do this by calling the front desk and filling out forms. You can get your products into stores in other ways.

6. Find out who the right buyer is and how to reach them.

Most people don’t know that there are places you can go to get a buyer’s contact information and, ultimately, find out which buyer is in charge of your product type. So, for example, there is a company called RetailBuyerLists.com that sells lists of names of people who want to buy things. This is just one example. In my program, I have a full tutorial on how to do this. When you look at their contact information, you can see what the buyer is responsible for buying.

So, if you have a product for consumers or stores, you can find the exact buyer who will buy it. There are companies that sell this kind of content that you can use, and it’s very important to find the right buyer for your product type. Again, I go into detail about all of this in my program, but it’s important to keep in mind.

7. Get along with the other buyers.

What’s the meaning? Well, most people don’t know that most buyers start out as assistant buyers. And what they really mean is that assistant buyers will soon become buyers. So, all buyers start out as assistants. Eventually, they become buyers, and most people think of assistant buyers as secretaries, assistants, and so on. But I think it’s a terrible idea because assistant buyers will soon be buyers themselves, and if you’re nice to them, you’ll be able to get your products into stores in the end.

You have no idea how many times I was nice to an assistant buyer and got a product into a store. I was different from everyone else to them because I knew how valuable they could be in the long run. I knew they would buy that type of product in the end, so I knew they were valuable. So, I always try to be nice to the assistant buyer, which is also something to think about.

8. Explore vendor day

What is vendor day, then? Vendor day is a day of the week, month, or year when a buyer lets potential vendors or people with products come to their corporate office and basically pitch them. It’s just one day where the buyer goes and maybe 10 vendors can go and basically pitch their goods. Most of the time, you only have 15–30 minutes with a buyer. This is your chance to stand out and “wow” them. So, now it’s time to sell. Buyers always do this because they are always looking for new things to buy.

So, I think it’s important for you to know that vendor day is a great way to get in front of a chain store buyer. Now, I have a lot of other ways to get my products into stores, and they have nothing to do with vendor day. I like to meet with buyers one-on-one, and I don’t want my competitors there at the same time as me. So I’ll always try to get that buyer alone, but if there’s no other way to get a product into a store, I’ll have to go through vendor day.

And to get a meeting with that buyer for that vendor day, just call their assistant and say, “I’d like to be a part of your next vendor day.” So on vendor day, their assistant buyer can help you meet with that buyer. So that’s something to think about, but again, there are a lot of other ways to get your products into stores. I usually use vendor day as my last resort, but it is a way to meet with a buyer. Again, you only have about 15 minutes, and then it’s on to the next vendor. That buyer meets with vendors all day, and if they like your product, they might buy it. This is what vendor day is, and it’s important to know.

9. It’s a game of numbers

I can’t even count how many of my students have called me after going after chain stores because they don’t realize how many stores they have to go after to get that one hit. And the thing about selling to retailers is that you only need one chain store to say yes to your product, put it in their store, and let it sell during a test for your whole business to change. One big retail order that goes well can change everything about your business. So, it’s a numbers game: you have to contact a lot of chain stores because you’ll get a lot of “no”s. That’s just part of selling to chain stores, but the good news is that you only need one chain store buyer to buy your product and make it successful for you to succeed.

So just know that it’s a numbers game and that you shouldn’t give up. If you believe in your product, you will eventually be able to get it into stores, and I’ll show you exactly what to do. But just know that it’s a numbers game, which means that you have to contact a lot of different chain stores, and all you really need is that one shot. When people get that one shot, their lives change. And that’s why I think selling to chain stores is so cool.

10. Just don’t give up

I know that the idea of selling your products to the big stores seems overwhelming, but I’m here to tell you that it’s not that hard. All it takes is time, effort, focus, and desire. If you really think your product should be in stores, you don’t give up. Instead, you keep going until you succeed. I’ve had students reach out to a lot of buyers, which is very disheartening and frustrating. Then, one day, they get a “yes,” and their whole lives change, and the journey was so worth it. So, if I had to give you any advice, it would be to keep going.

I hope that these top ten tips for getting your products into chain stores give you at least a sense of what it’s like to get your products into stores. In my Retail MBA program (https://www.retailmba.com), I go over the whole process of getting a product into stores, including how to pitch buyers, but I thought this was a good start to get you going.