Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I always wondered how stores like Best Buy, FRYS, New Egg, Tiger direct and Circuity City ( well before they busted) etc get their supplies from? Are the suppliers coming to them & asking to hold their products?

You will have to do some searching to get into the business. Do an internet search for manufacturers of the type of product you are looking for. Join groups like alibaba.com and other networking sites. I get about 10 messages per day related to the business I am working for. Most manufacturers who have a large catalog will be happy to send you an excel spreadsheet of all their inventory. Then you upload the whole spreadsheet onto your website. Most manufacturers will deliver straight to your customer so you dont even need to stock anything. I am developing a program that presorts the whole spreadsheet and formats it to your liking for upload onto your web shop. Contact me if you are interested or want more info.

Yes, these "big box" stores as we call them purchase from a number of suppliers and Tier 1 and Tier 2s.  Have you contacted these stores to inquire as to who their internal "buyers" are?   They usually have a specific policy and guidelines that they follow.   A number of this big stores also have diversity requirements where they must purchase a certain amount of goods and services from minority, women and veteran-owned businesses.   Do you meet any of these criteria?   If so, and if interested, you may want to learn how to leverage these business certifications to obtain contracts at:  www.innoventum.com/bizcert.html.

Keep us posted.