How to Sell to Home Depot Stores

Today we will be discussing becoming a Home Depot vendor. 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.

About Home Depot

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 home improvement-type products people want to sell to Home Depot.

Corporate Buying Power

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. 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.

Local Buying Options

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. 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.

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. 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.

Getting Started with Home Depot Sales

Again, it’s just a really great way to get started with a new product and to support yourself but while having this big brand name of having people know that you sold into Home Depot but not, maybe, selling to all of their stores. You can start out small and the cool thing is if you do well with that Home Depot product at that particular store, you can go and drive to other Home Depots, sell to those stores and then ultimate build your brand that way, show proof of sales and then I guarantee at that point, if it does well, you can actually sell to Home Depot corporate and really grow your brand. So this is supportive in so many ways, especially for a small company or just a company really just trying to grow their business.

Anyways, there are so many other things to know about selling at Home Depot, so if you’re interested in learning more, please take a look at the link below; my website is retailmba.com. Essentially, we have a training program that supports people on how exactly to get into a retailer such as Home Depot. So, if you want to learn more, please take a look at our training program because we’re there to support you.