I enjoyed time earlier this week at the head office / warehouse of a wholesaler of gift products in regional Victoria. The visit was an insight not only into their business and their products but more broadly into the segment in which they operate. I learnt plenty.
This post is not about this specific visit though – it’s about the opportunities for suppliers hosting opportunities at their warehouses for newsagents and other retailers learn more about their products and how to sell them.
Often in a supplier showroom or warehouse we will see products displayed in a way that tells us more about them than if we only see them in our retail situation. We can probably talk with the buyers who know more about the heritage of the products. We can learn abut future plans for products. Plus we can see what else suppliers would place with a product.
Often our buying is done in store from a catalogue or at a trade show with relatively limited range on show. At a suppliers own location we can get a more compete picture that can help us be better retailers and thereby improve sales of product from the supplier and thereby benefit our business.
I’d like to see more suppliers to newsagents open their offices to help achieve these win win outcomes.