Question

Topic: Strategy

How To Approach Outdoor Wear/gear Retailers

Posted by Anonymous on 12/3/2010 at 2:36 PM ET 125 Points
Start-up outdoor accessory company looking to approach outdoor apparel and gear retailers to set up a vendor relationship. Wanted to ask those with experience how they have grown like relationships, and what some potentially successful strategies might be, and what buyers are looking for when presented with a new product.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 12/4/2010 at 6:58 PM Accepted
    If in the States, you might want to attend Outdoor Retailer Trade Show, of which there are 2 versions (summer and winter). https://www.outdoorretailer.com/ Not cheap, but these are the shows that get a lot of retailers to come see new products. If in a specialty area, there may be other trade shows (for example, Interbike would be the place to go for bike industry).

    On what buyers look for, there are the standards (that it is a product thy can sell at a profit - so either high "turns" or high "earns" - something they sell a lot of or sell at a great margin). Also looking for product that is good for what it does (has right level of quality, functionality, etc) and a company that provides the right support (product info, ease of ordering, etc) and will be in business for as long as the distributor buys from them.

    There is always a lot of hesitancy to buy new products and/or from new companies.
  • Posted by cookmarketing@gmail. on 12/5/2010 at 5:21 PM Accepted
    Phil is on the right track, there are multiple means of approaching such retailers - dependent of product category.
    If not proprietary, give us a hint.

    As with WMMA, it is what we do; reps/two tier pricing. DSD and several other means of distribution
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