There are so many companies who can supply your store with products. How do you choose? What should you consider when deciding which companies and brands to support? Below is a summary of a helpful topics to consider.

Packaging is often looked at first as a consideration for buying. It doesn’t matter if the absolute best product in the world is inside the package. If the package isn’t attractive, the product won’t sell. The customer won’t be attracted enough to it to ever find out if it’s a great product or not.  Yes, the packaging must support the product, but the packaging should stand alone, separate from the product as an aspect in the buying decision.  

Does the product have unique qualities? How is the product different from others in the same part of the industry, or your store? If you carry 4 different company’s dog treats, you certainly don’t want them all to be the same size, flavor, packaging, and price.  

ow about the ethics of the company and their brand? If it’s important to you and your store, consider, are the product’s components or ingredients sourced in the USA? Is the brand made in the USA? Does the company support a cause? Does the brand work towards leaving a small environmental footprint?

Is it easy to order? No one has any extra time these days. Not having the process of ordering be as easy as possible makes that brand hard to work with. A brand you want to support should have multiple avenues through which you can order. Email, phone, fax, the brand’s website, the various b to b websites, or reps may all be ways in which to place an order. It should not be hard or take a long time to order.

Is the brand carried in the big box stores? This may be a hard NO for you, or you may not care. But regardless of how you feel about it, you need to know if the brand you are considering is in the big box stores or not, so you can handle and price the brand accordingly.

How is the brand's support? Do they stand behind their products? Is there a rep easily accessible? Does the rep follow up? Are there any sales support materials? This is a very important part of the puzzle in my opinion. I don’t want to represent a brand at retail if the support at wholesale is lacking.

Last is price. Of course, the price must be in the ballpark of that segment of whatever that industry is. But especially post covid, price is often, NOT the most important thing. The brand, the product, and the shopping experience is.

An interesting thought process should be gone through before choosing between brands you want to support in your store. The above topics may give you pause. You may automatically and unconsciously consider these things, but if not, they may help you make better choices for your store.