How to Sell to Sports Authority & Become a Sports Authority Vendor

Do you have a product that is perfect to sell to Sports Authority stores?

Hey everyone. My name is Karen Waksman and I’m the founder of a company called Retail MBA. And today I want to talk about getting your product sold at the Sports Authority and Becoming a Sports Authority Vendor. Now, the reason I decided to create this particular segment is because I deal with people and products in all sorts of categories. I teach thousands of people on how to get products into stores, but people with sporting good products tend to ask me about the Sports Authority and other retailers like that.

I want to take a minute to really acknowledge you and to try and give you some tips and strategies on how to think about selling to a retailer such as Sports Authority.

So let’s talk about selling to Sports Authority 

Well, they are obviously a niche retailer, right? They focus on sports products. And so, usually what that means is that they are looking for sports products and so, people with sports products typically want to sell to them. But if you actually walk into a Sports Authority store, they have products that are not just for sports. I mean, there’s products that it is definitely sports related, but they have consumer electronics products. They have all sorts of clothing. They have all sorts of other things, not just sports. So for those of you who have a product that might not be sports related, don’t ignore a retailer such as the Sports Authority , because some of my best businesses come from me selling to retailers that other people aren’t even thinking about.

What you can sell to Sports Authority

And so, if I have a product that’s not sports related, but I walk into a Sports Authority and I see that my product could potentially fit there, I’m going to reach out to that retailer as well, because I know that a lot of my competitors are not thinking about retailers such as the Sports Authority . But if you have a sports product and you want to get into that store, some things that I really think are important are that don’t get stuck in … Reach out to a Sports Authority retailer, for sure. You should always try that. 

Don’t be upset if Sports Authority says no

If you have a sports product, reach out to Sports Authority , but don’t be upset if maybe they don’t accept your product on day one, maybe they say no to you initially. I say that not to deter you from selling to Sports Authority, but just that the way it works when it’s a niche retailer, what happens is the retailer tends to receive tons and tons of tons of products only sports related, which makes it very, very competitive in that space.

It’s a little tricky to become a Sports Authority vendor

And so, what makes me sad is that when somebody has a new product and it’s sports related, and they reach out to a Sports Authority and the Sports Authority says no to them, or something like that, they assume that their product’s not good because that retailer said no to them. But the reality is that, just because Sports Authority said no to them, doesn’t mean that it’s not a great product. What Sports Authority really cares about and other niche retailers care about is making money. And so, for them, when they see the same types of products over and over again, it’s hard to differentiate your product with somebody else’s. So what my suggestion is always reach out to Sports Authority first, if they say no to you go after other retailers that sell sports products.

Once you are selling to other realtors you will be more likely to be able to become a Sports Authority vendor

Al the department stores have sports products, sports division, so many other chains have sports divisions. I’d reach out to them, try and get your products into those stores and ultimately, try and get some movement with your products and start making some sales and so forth. And then ultimately, when you have that proof of sales from another retailer, you can go back to Sports Authority and say,

“Hey, I’m making money with this product. You should really explore my product now. And I have proof that it’s selling.”

Learn how to sell to Sports Authority retail stores

So my point here is that with niche retailers like Sports Authority or like a Best Buy, if you have a consumer electronics good, those niche retailers tend to be highly competitive because all of your competitors are thinking the same way. They’re going after that same retailer that provides that particular product type.

If you become a Sports Authority vendor it is an awesome opportunity 

But as a manufacturer’s rep, as someone who sells to retailers, I don’t focus on the niches. I go out to the rest of the world where my competitors are probably not as often going to these other retailers, try to sell to them first, and then come back to the niche markets once I have more proven sales but you should always try. But that’s just food for thought with a retailer, such as Sports Authority.