Premium Content: The Smart Merchant Series

Fill out the form below and receive free access to articles by retail expert Ted Hurlburt...articles that will provide further insight into inventory management and handling vendors.

Vendor Management For Small Retailers
By managing your vendors, rather than the other way around, you save time and energy for other things -- like growing your business.

The True Cost of Retail Inventory
When not managed carefully, inventory costs can be the difference between being profitable or losing your shirt.

The Coin of the Realm
Why inventory management is of critical importance to small retailers.

Premium Content - Supply Chain Management

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Vendor & Supply Chain Management

Does This Describe You?

Our vendors have these complicated programs we have to follow.
We have to place our orders way ahead of when we need goods.
We often never know exactly what we're going to get or when we're going to get it.
We're a small company and our vendors treat us like one.

Getting a Handle on Vendors & Supply Chain Management
Vendor management and supply chain management are a critical part of retail inventory management and can be a challenge for many retailers. Vendors that manage you, rather than the other way around, can be very expensive. They can cost you sales, slice several points of gross margin off your profitability, tie up valuable cash in unnecessary inventory, and chew up your precious time as you try to straighten out problems. A poorly performing retail supply chain will cost you money.

Your Business is Important to Your Vendors
The fact is that in almost every case, you are just as important to your vendors as they are to you, even if they are bigger companies. You are a proven account in their eyes. If they lost your business they have no assurance that another account would do as much business with them as you have. And they know it. So changing your perspective about vendors is the critical first step to better vendor management.

We'll Help You Create Win/Win Vendor Management Strategies
We understand that win/win relationships with your vendors are critical to your success. You absolutely have to have the right goods, in the right quantities, at the right time, and at the right price, and that both you and your vendors must be committed to making that happen.

We'll listen to you to learn about your business and the vendors you work with. We'll help you measure the performance of your vendors. We'll work with you to develop strategies to work through the issues you're having, and develop strategies for making sure your portfolio of vendors is properly balanced. And we'll be there until your vendors are working for you as much as you're working for them.