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Green Retail Store Suppliers

If you are one of the many suppliers that a retail store is buying from, it will help you to make sure that you stand out with good products, good service and always expert knowledge. Making sure that you also can educate about the importance of going green whenever possible is important too.

What skills do I need for this business?

Sales skills are the most important followed by people skills. You will be competing with many other types of suppliers for the business of these retail stores and depending on the area, those could be severely limited. Make sure that you are giving the best prices on your outstanding products by always staying ahead of the competition and developing a nose for a killer deal. Remember, a good salesperson is also a good shopper in most cases.

Do I need to have an advanced, college degree for this business?

It may not be necessary, although having a business degree would certainly not hurt at all. There are some skills that are innate and can only be enhanced, not taught however, so if you are an expert salesperson with a high school education, do not fret because you can become the best in your field as well.

Why is it green?

This would depend on the products that you are selling to the retail stores. This is also where you need to make a decision of being either an only green supplier or offering both green and non-green items and letting the stores make these choices on their own. Of course, that brings up an interesting question: if you are a "green" retail store supplier but never actually sell any of the green items that you offer, are you still considered green?

Who is the competition?

All of the other retail store suppliers (green or not) are in direct competition with you, because most offer overlapping stocks as well. Some retails stores will buy their items from many different suppliers even though they may all offer some variation on the same product.

What is the potential market size?

The number of retail stores in a reasonably sized area is the potential market size. Once you travel so far out of your area, you are starting to lose any of the greenness of the product, simply by virtue of distance traveled.

What is the potential market growth?

If there are plans for new retail stores then you have a potential new client. You can also increase your market by increasing the amount of sales you make to your regular retail store customers.

What are the risks?

If you are facing the cheaper, non-green market you will have the potential of losing out on business, especially if the economy forces people to choose cheap over green.

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