How to become supplier of electronics chain

[paneuromedia]

Hi, my company works on very specific market for UK - car dash cams. It is not so huge like in Russia, for example, where a car camera is an integral part of each vehicle, however a lot of drivers still very interested in this accessory.

I started approximately 2 years ago with ebay and my own website. Ebay was giving me not to much sales so I invested money in SEO and the number of sales increased but still I want to increase this further.

So I decided to try to put one of my products on the shelves of some big electronics chain in UK, like Curry's or Jessops, or PCworld. Right now, to be honest with you, I know nothing about this industry and is it actually possible to do.

Does anybody here have any experience in this ? I have already sent them emails but maybe somebody will help me here as well.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[10032012]

Yeah youtube is full of funny and wacky Russian car cam videos... some are really shocking!

Is it a product you have developed yourself or are you buying a generic product from china and branding it yourself?

Amazon might be a good option. I wouldn't bother with Jessops - they don't advertise on TV and have very few shops now. You would have to spend effort encouraging people to go in there and Jessops would want a big retail mark up. Currys/PC World advertise quite a bit, if you could get the product feature on an advert it would be really good for you... this wont happen overnight and you would have a really low profit margin - if you made any money at all.

Retailers would want to at least double the wholesale cost. If you could do an exclusive deal with Currys/PC World for example, say for 6 months; would you be able to survive making no money per each item? You could then squeeze their margins a little when opening up to other retailers.

But I think you need someone with the skills to do this. I am sure someone else could help better than I can with this. Some have had success in getting a contacts name and simply sending them the product but I think its more of luck than a recipe for success. Failing all else you could make an unannounced visit to their HQ if you aren't a million miles away. This would annoy some people however. Depends on the organisation and its people.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Before going to a retailer, look at your products, the competition and the general market.

Then, look at costs - retail, your selling and your costs.

Once you understand where you are and where you fit, you can then approach retailers.

Do you have a website, marketing materials, presentations?

Do you know who the buyers are or do you know someone who does?

 

[charlesdupont]

Hi paneuromedia,

Full disclosure: I work for a company that helps suppliers get listed on the websites of top retailers (Argos, Asda, eBuyer, Maplin, Staples, Tesco)


There are several ways to get your products in front of a buyer. Your approach depends on what you're aiming for - on shelves at Curry's, or online only, for example. The first is much harder, and as others have mentioned, you might have to make some difficult decisions about exclusivity, margins etc.

Either way, your first point of call should probably be meeting the relevant buyers. Some retailers will have a specific contact method, but I've mostly seen suppliers use trade-shows/exhibitions to get face time with decision makers for their range. For dash cams, you might catch relevant buyers (and customers!) at Focus on Imaging, for example.

If you're selling these products directly to consumers already, do consider drop-shipping via rangespan. Once you're set up on our systems, we'll pitch your products to retailers in our network. We've found that if your sales do take off, retailers are more willing to put your product in their stock and on shelves, so that's an avenue too. Send us an email via info at rangespan.com and we'll be happy to answer any questions.

Hope this helps!