Learn everything you need to know to become a Home Depot Supplier

Hey everyone, this is Karen Waksman, founder of Retail MBA and today I want to talk about becoming a Home Depot supplier. Now, the reason I decided to create this particular segment is because I teach thousands of product companies across the country on the subject of selling to retailers and one of the questions that comes up all the time is, 

“How do I get my products into a retailer such as Home Depot?”

 And so I really wanted to take a minute to give you some value and to support you in your quest of getting your products in the stores.

There are many advantages when you become a Home Depot supplier

So, let’s talk about Home Depot. Well, first of all- the reason people are interested in that store is because they have over two thousand stores that they are responsible for. So, this is a retailer that has tremendous buying power and you obviously want to get your product in front of that many people, especially if you have a hardware product or a garden product or whatever related to a kind of home improvement-type products people want to sell to Home Depot. So, let’s talk about one thing that I give you as a suggestion to support you in your quest of getting to that store.

It’s a little tricky to sell to Home Depot

Now, what happens with a retailer such as Home Depot is that they typically have a corporate buying office where one buyer buys products for that particular retailer. So, for instance, if you have like a home improvement tool, or something like that, you can find a buyer that would buy that product for all of the Home Depot Stores so there is usually one corporate buyer who buys for that particular- for all of their stores. But Home Depot is a little bit different; they also have the ability to buy on a local level.

Why you should be selling to Home Depot

Now, this is really interesting for some of you who are just getting started and are maybe having some challenges getting into the big stores and also for those of you who are reaching out to these retailers and maybe you’re having some challenges, working with Home Depot can really make a big difference for you. If you’re getting stuck somewhere, this strategy can really support you. So, Home Depot has kind of evolved into allowing store managers to buy products on a local level. So, what that means for you is that you can conceivably sell your product to just one Home Depot store and not all two thousand of them.

Once you become a Home Depot supplier they will buy different types of products from you

So again, why is that interesting to you? Well, if you have a product and you don’t necessarily have the financial means to go after major retailers such as the home Depot right now; because you are worried about the volume that they’re going to be handling and so forth, if a retailer has a local buying program, that means that you could conceivably just sell to one particular store. And that means… although they buy a smaller quantity which could be great for you, depending on your product or where you’re at in the process especially for a small company. So… that’s awesome but the other thing is that you could tell people, 

“Hey, I’ve sold into Home Depot…” 

but you personally know that you’re selling this product on a local level.

How to get your products into Home Depot local retail stores & become a Home Depot vendor

Essentially what it really means is that if you are trying to get into Home Depot and you can’t get in front of the corporate buying office to actually sell that product to them, consider reaching out to the store manager at your local Home Depot and letting them know about your product. Just sincerely go, bring your product with you, drive your car to a Home Depot, talk to the local store manager and say, “Hey, do you have a local buying program for this particular Home Depot?” And a lot of times, they’ll say yes and then you can work accordingly to try and get your product in that particular store.