From the course: Selling into Industries: Retail and Consumer Products

What you need to know

From the course: Selling into Industries: Retail and Consumer Products

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What you need to know

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- You went to meet with the merchandise buyer at a retailer where you really wanted your product to be available. Think about how you would react if you heard the following statement from them: In reviewing our planogram, it's clear that our open-to-buy dollars are gonna be monitored closely and that may impact the SKU count that I'm able to maintain. You're gonna have to help keep my costs of goods under control, on hands at a bare minimum, and increase your level of co-op support. How much of that statement did you really understand? I've actually heard it many times from buyers. In fact, it may be in all buyers' handbooks of things to tell every salesperson who comes into their office. It basically means they don't have a lot of money to buy new products. Those are called SKUs. If they do buy your product, they don't want a lot of it sitting on the shelves. So you better make sure it sells and you replenish it quickly if it does. Then you can never forget that every buyer wants you to supply them with aggressive advertising support. Every industry has their own terminology and buzzwords. That's certainly true for the retail world. There are even specific terms used at online resellers, brick and mortar superstores, and warehouse clubs, new ones like showrooming. It's one you better learn fast, since it's the cause of a lot of annoyance for retailers. The term is used to describe when a consumer goes into a store to look at a product in person, then searches online to buy it at a less expensive price elsewhere. You will get eaten up alive if you don't take the time to understand the key terms of the retail marketplace you're targeting. There will always be new terminology to learn, and this course will provide you with a solid foundation before meeting with potential new retail accounts and the buyers who work there. However, you have to ask questions if you don't know. You can study and learn from many places, including from resources provided by the National Retail Federation. It will go a long way to show that you've done your preparation, are a solid sales professional, and are ready to do business.

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