Do you have a product that is perfect to sell to Nordstrom stores?
Are you interested in selling your product at Nordstrom stores? Would you like to become a supplier for Nordstrom? If thats the case, we have a short video training listed above, that can guide you on how to sell your product to Nordstrom today!
Discover How to Become a Supplier for Nordstrom
If your goal is to have your product featured and sold at Nordstrom, Karen Waksman, the Founder of Retail MBA has some tips for you. In this video, we will delve into the buying process of Nordstrom and show you how it can work in your favor!
Understanding Nordstroms Regional Buying Process
Unlike prominent retailers, Nordstrom operates with a regional buying approach. This means that instead of having one buyer for purchasing a particular product category across all their stores, they have individual buyers assigned to different regions. This distinction is crucial when attempting to sell your product at Nordstrom, as it provides an opportunity for outreach to buyers and increases the likelihood of having your product accepted!
Karen Waksman explains;
Typically when one buyer rejects your offer you need to explore avenues or wait for a new buyer to come along. However Nordstrom operates differently. They have buyers who purchase products, for regions or stores.
Regional Buyers
For instance, they have a Northwest region and several other regions that they divide their buying process into. Instead of having one buyer for all their stores, Nordstrom assigns a single buyer to each specific region overseeing approximately 10 to 20 stores. This varies!
If you’re interested in getting your product into Nordstrom here are some tips from Karen Waksman;
1. Reach out to the buyers and introduce them to your product on a REGIONAL LEVEL. This means you have many buyers you can reach out to!
2. Consider utilizing Retail MBAs training program for strategies on how best to approach, pitch and sell your products to retailers like Nordstrom.
3. Stay on the lookout for training videos that focus on retailers.
Selling your product through Nordstrom can significantly contribute to the growth of your business. By familiarizing yourself with Nordstroms buying process and following Karen Waksmans advice you can enhance your chances of success.
Make sure to take a look, at the training program offered by Retail MBA for details.
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Transcript Outline for "Selling to Nordstrom Stores!"
Hey everyone my name is Karen Waksman. I’m the founder of a company called Retail MBA. Today I want to discuss how you can get your products sold at Nordstroms. The reason, for this topic is because I often get asked how to approach stores with products like fashion or apparel items. Many people are particularly interested in getting their products into department stores such as Nordstrom.
In this segment I’ll provide you with some insights and inspiration on how to navigate the process of becoming a supplier for Nordstrom. Lets delve into the aspects of Nordstrom that set it apart from retailers; their regional buying approach. This unique aspect plays a role in understanding how to establish a partnership with Nordstrom.
If you’re interested in learning about strategies, for selling your products in Nordstrom stores keep reading!
Getting Started with Selling to Nordstrom Stores
When you’re aiming to sell your products to chain stores such, as Neiman Marcus or any other prominent chain, their typical approach is to assign a buyer responsible for purchasing a specific product category for all their stores. For example if you have an apparel product targeted towards women Neiman Marcus will usually have a buyer who handles the procurement of womens apparel for all their stores. This practice is common across retailers like Walmart and others where they centralize purchasing through one buyer for their store network. The key lies in identifying the buyer who deals with your product. In my course I actually teach strategies on how to determine and connect with the buyer when selling to retailers like Nordstrom.
Now lets get back to our discussion. Nordstrom presents a scenario as they operate buying offices. You may wonder why this matters? Well here’s why; When attempting to secure a deal with a retailer where theres one designated buyer, for your particular product category what happens if that specific buyer rejects your proposal?Moving forward can be challenging until that buyer is no longer, in the picture or until you explore strategies outlined in my course. In scenarios it’s essential to find another avenue or wait for a buyer to emerge. However Nordstrom operates differently as they have buyers designated for regions and stores.
Becoming a supplier for Nordstrom can be a bit tricky.
They have divided their operations into regions like the northwest region each with its dedicated buyer. This means that there isn’t one buyer for purchasing products, for all their stores. Instead each regional buyer oversees buying decisions for an area, which may include 10, 20 or even more stores. So what does this mean for you if you’re looking to sell your product to Nordstrom? Well you have the opportunity to reach out and connect with each buyer who handles products to yours. Keep in mind that while one buyer might decline your proposal another may give it the light. This is how things typically work in the industry.
Perhaps there might be a situation where one customer doesn’t have the means to purchase your product. Another retailer, say, at a different branch of Nordstrom or, within a different division might have the capability and interest in buying your product.
Becoming a supplier for Nordstrom presents an opportunity for your business.
Whats interesting is that you don’t have to worry about being solely dependent on one buyer who could potentially reject your offer and prevent you from becoming a Nordstrom supplier. There are buyers within the organization whom you can approach. In my Retail MBA course I delve into how there are buyers within retailers that may not immediately come to mind. With my experience of selling millions of products to stores I can provide you with effective strategies.
To establish contact with Nordstrom and become their vendor it would be beneficial to reach out to their buying offices. This way you could potentially collaborate with five or more buyers in order to get your products on store shelves and significantly expand your business.
I hope this information has been valuable for you.
Learn how to approach, pitch, & sell to Nordstrom stores
I hope that helps. Now, if you want to learn exactly how to get your products into Nordstroms or other department stores, please take a look at my retail MBA training program. The link for that Retail MBA is listed below. It is the most comprehensive course available today on exactly how to approach pitch, you know, and sell and prepare your product for major retailers such as Nordstrom.
Regardless, I hope this helped and please be on the lookout for the additional training videos I’ve done on the different retailers, cuz I’m, I’m doing this, uh, often to really support you in all the different types of retailers so that you can really think about how to get your products in the stores. Just really trying to provide value. Anyways, thanks so much and I truly wish you the best.
Top 10 Tips for Selling into Retail Stores Such as Nordstrom Stores!
Nordstrom Buyers seek you out!
The majority of people are unaware of how crucial it is for a major retailer to purchase new and innovative products. This is a major component of their purchasing strategy. Ultimately, huge merchants face a great deal of competition, and their clients are finicky, desiring the next greatest, newest, and coolest product. This is something that retail customers are aware of, since they are continuously on the lookout for new merchandise. This is the ideal time to sell your products to a chain retailer. You only need to know how to prepare your product in order to convince the buyer to purchase it.
As a retail consulting firm, we collaborate with brands in many product categories! Examine what we’re doing here: https://www.retailmba.com
You don’t need to be a large corporation to sell to retailers such as Nordstrom.
In actuality, the majority of the businesses I have represented throughout the years have been modest start-ups. It is true that purchasers worry more about discovering the appropriate product than about the size of your firm. If you have a great product that they believe can generate revenue for their business, they will prioritize it above all else.
They don’t care if you’re a large or little business; they simply want to ensure that you’re properly set up to ship products to them (and I discuss this in my Retail MBA Training and Coaching System, which can be found at https://www.retailmba.com). However, you do not need to be a large firm to sell to major stores. I am aware of this since I have represented start-up companies and the like, and I also teach this to a variety of students who are small and just beginning their careers.
Packaging is crucial for your success with Nordstrom.
Always invest more time, money, and effort on packaging if you’re selling to large merchants. When you walk into a store, you don’t see your product; you see the product in its packaging. People will not purchase your product based just on the quality of the product itself; packaging is crucial. Therefore, a person must ensure that the packaging of whatever product they have is optimal, since buyers will ultimately pay attention to it because they are aware that packaging drives sales. And purchasers care about this feature. Consequently, packaging is vital to your business.
You must conduct the essential homework and research to succeed with Nordstrom!
The majority of individuals are unaware of the wealth of information available to them simply by entering a store and perusing the product aisles. The reality is that you can determine precisely what a buyer wants to buy by seeing what they place on store shelves. Everything will be dictated by a shop shelf, including the suggested retail price and packaging design. In other words, if you consider it from the buyer’s standpoint, they chose one of your competitors. Which means that they purchased your competitor’s products that are now available in the store. This indicates that the customer likes the product as it is: the pricing, the packaging, and the organization. And by entering a store and conducting the necessary homework and investigation, you can ultimately discover how to get your products into retailers.
Avoid Vendor Departments at Nordstrom
In actuality, this means you should avoid approaching the front desk of a chain retailer to inquire about how to get your products into their locations. Avoid doing what everyone else does, which is filling out the online forms they give. Consequently, if you phone a major retailer and try to get your products into the stores, the majority of people call the front desk, and the front desk leads them to a department, either a webpage or an 800 number.
In addition, they request that you submit a number of forms and items. I believe that is the worst approach to get your products into stores because you cannot differentiate yourself; you are doing what everyone else is doing, and you leave it up to fate and whoever is processing stuff online to decide whether or not your products should be sold in stores. I educate people how to contact buyers directly, as professionals in the retail industry do so. And I will tell you what to say to buyers in order to ultimately persuade them to purchase, but tip number five is to skip vendor departments and speak with customers directly. Why not disregard etiquette and avoid pursuing pursuers? 4:34 by contacting the front desk and completing forms. There are additional distribution channels available.
Determine the buyer’s name and contact details at Nordstrom.
The majority of individuals are unaware that there are locations where you can obtain a buyer’s contact information and finally identify the buyer accountable for your product type. RetailBuyerLists.com, for example, sells buyer name lists. That’s an illustration. My program contains a comprehensive instruction on the subject. And when you view their contact information, you will see what the purchaser is liable for purchasing.
Therefore, if you have a consumer or retail product, you may discover the exact buyer who will purchase it, and there are firms that sell content that you can utilize; however, it is crucial that you find the appropriate buyer for your product type. Again, this is covered in length in my program, but it bears repeating.
Be courteous to the assistant purchasers at Nordstrom
What does this indicate? However, the majority of people are unaware that assistant buyers are typically the first step in a buyer’s career. Essentially, they imply that helper purchasers will soon become purchasers. Therefore, all buyers begin as assistants before becoming purchasers, and the majority of people view assistant buyers as essentially secretaries; assistants, etc. But I believe this is a terrible concept since assistant buyers will eventually become buyers, and if you’re kind to them, you’ll be able to get your products into stores.
You have no clue how many times I’ve gotten a product into a store because I was pleasant to the assistant buyer. Because I knew they would eventually become a buyer for that product kind, I was distinct from everyone else in their eyes because I understood how valuable they may be in the long run. As a result, I am always courteous to the assistant buyer, which is an additional factor to consider.
Explore vendor day at retailers such as Nordstrom!
What, then, is vendor day? Vendor day is a day of the week, month, or year on which a buyer invites vendors – potential vendors, persons with products – to their corporate office to present them. It is a single day in which ten or so sellers are given the opportunity to promote their items to the customer. It is your moment to shine and ‘wow’ the buyer throughout your 15 to 30 minutes of interaction. So concludes the vendor day. Constantly on the lookout for new things, buyers frequently engage in this behavior.
Vendor day is a terrific method to get in front of chain store buyers. I prefer one-on-one encounters with buyers, and I don’t want my competitors there on vendor day. If there is no other way to get a product into a shop besides vendor day, I will eventually resort to it.
And to offer you a short idea on how to do so (how to get a meeting with that buyer for that vendor day), phone their assistant and say, “I would like to participate in your next vendor day.” Therefore, their assistant buyer can help you secure a meeting with the buyer on vendor day. So this is something to explore, but again, there are so many other ways to get products into shops, and I normally use vendor day as my last resort, but it is a way to meet with a buyer. And again, you get about 15 minutes and then it’s back to back – zip – and the buyer is meeting with vendors all day; if they like your product, they may purchase it, but it’s important to be aware of this aspect of vendor day.
It’s all about the Number Game
I can’t tell you how many of my students have called me when they began targeting chain stores because they don’t comprehend how many retailers they must target in order to score one hit. And the interesting thing about selling to retailers is that you only need one chain store to say yes to your product, stock it in their store, and allow it to be sold for a test period for your entire business to change. One significant retail order — a successful retail order — can dramatically transform a corporation. Consequently, selling to chain shops is a numbers game; you must visit many chain stores since you will receive many rejections. However, the good news is that you need only one chain store buyer to purchase your product and for it to be successful for you to be successful.
Know that it’s a numbers game, that you should never give up, and that ultimately, if you believe in your product, you will be able to get it into stores. I teach you exactly what to do to get products into stores, but know that it’s a numbers game, in the sense that you must contact a large number of chain stores, and ultimately, all you need is that one shot. And this is why I believe it’s so fantastic to sell to chain retailers.
Step-by-step training on how to sell to retail chains!
We explain exactly how to do that and how to get started today. I’ve taught over 100,000 of companies over the years across the globe on how to get your products to the stores. And so we’re here to support you. Or please subscribe to our Youtube channel and or be on the lookout for additional training that we create.
We are here to expedite the process of generating revenue with your physical products and that’s what we’re all about. Take a look at our advanced training, live events, certification programs and so much more.
In this training, I will discuss some of the things to think about when approaching a retailer to sell your products and become a vendor. Hope it helps! 🙂
Karen Waksman,
Retail MBA
Questions? Contact Us!
1-855-Retail-2 (Call or Text)
Email: info@retailmba.com
Retail MBA provides a step-by-step formula on How to Sell to Major Retailers, Online Retailers, Smaller Retailers, Catalogs and More. No Experience Required! These solutions continue to convert for clients year-over-year! These are Time-Tested and Proven Strategies that we utilize ourselves when going after stores! Everything we teach, we test. Want access to these formulas? ANY one of our programs and coaching systems gives you access to them now. With that said…
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