As a retail buyer, sourcing CPG (consumer packaged goods) products to supply your shelves is critical to your business’ success. You will not have customers until you have the right products. And if you don’t have clients, you don’t have a company.
Suppliers of all sizes are eager to get their items onto store shelves and into online stores. Customers must know where their goods are sourced and how this influences their company.
Read on, and here’s what you should know about product sourcing.
What Does Sourcing a Product Mean?
Product sourcing is the method through which a company obtains inventory to sell. Explore manufacturers, distributors, artists, and other producers and companies that generate product sales to get viable inventory for your online shop.
Typically, the product procurement process involves the following:
- Price comparison
- Vendor analysis
- Product ideas research
- Supply deals negotiation
How to Do Product Sourcing?
It’s not as easy as simply finding an excellent product and placing it in your shop to source new customers. However, merchants may make efforts to help the process go more smoothly. Here are the steps you should take when doing product sourcing:
- Research the Product
First, retailers must comprehend the goods. Market research is critical to success; acquiring items without doing the appropriate research is a recipe for trouble. The study that merchants need should be comprehensive. This might involve:
- Store data
- Consumer demand
- Trends
Buyers may make better-informed choices when it comes time to approach suppliers armed with this knowledge. The more consumers understand the goods they want, the better the outcome.
- Contact Prospective Suppliers
Understanding what you want from the first interaction with a supplier is critical in the purchasing process. This is where customers put their trade show relationships to work, reaching out to vendors they’ve met or talked with. It’s also a period when they can interact on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, simplifying the process and allowing buyers to study items and contact suppliers directly.
- Request Samples
You will not stock a product as a retail buyer without first testing it. When contacting vendors, include a request for samples so that team members may provide comments. Requesting samples is an essential component of any sourcing approach. It’s an excellent approach to evaluating product quality.
- Choose a Provider to Trial-run a Purchase
When retail buyers discover a product with prospects, they should purchase a trial run. This might indicate that the buyer requests a set quantity of units to be trialed throughout a retail chain or that a product is evaluated in just a few places. During the trial run, buyers should establish criteria and key performance metrics, such as customer feedback and sales ratios.
- Evaluate Supplier
Retail purchasers should inquire about the supplier’s connection. Were their messages clear and timely? Did shipments arrive on schedule and with the correct quantities and products? Were the goods in good condition when they arrived at the store? Was the advertised price right? Details like these may build or destroy a buyer-supplier relationship.
- Keep Other Supplier Alternatives
Having more than one source for a product guarantees that the retailer and the customer get exactly what they need. Companies combine or disintegrate altogether, supplies might be hard to obtain, and product quality can suffer. It may be devastating when a customer expects to constantly see a product on the shelf and then doesn’t.
What Is a Product Sourcing Agent?
A product sourcing agency assists eCommerce businesses in obtaining ready-to-sell items, or raw materials, at a competitive price. They play an essential role in maintaining the profit margin of a company. Sourcing agents may represent a single eCommerce firm or operate on a contract basis with numerous merchants.
Unlike a sourcing agency, a product sourcing agent is essential in the worldwide supply chain. Most of the time, these experts are locals of the originating country. They have a great business sense, speak the local language well, and are aware of bias and other variables that might influence a commercial transaction.
Product Sourcing Services
Product sourcing services such as Pacific IC aim to assist small and medium-sized firms in purchasing products. It makes no difference if your company operates on Shopify, Amazon, or in person. You may be sure that its customer care professionals will be there for you throughout the complete product sourcing process, including the original request, inspection, procedure, samples, and shipment to your designated location.
Pacific IC specializes in locating goods that are out of stock, have extensive wait periods, or have been discontinued. They know where to look for hidden stock or alternatives that meet your specifications. Their vendor network and authenticity tests are crucial.
Furthermore, they often have equal or better competitor prices. And they handle all of the searching, organizing, shipping, and quality checking.
Conclusion
The process of product sourcing for CPG retail is not always easy. Maintaining the product’s integrity and quality is critical, as is building the connection with the provider. Customers should constantly look for new supplier partnerships and remember the key actions that will lead them to success.