No Bricks and Mortar Premises

CapedCrusader

Hi all,

We run a number of internet retail sites. Recently we have come up against a number of suppliers that won't open accounts with internet only retailers and will only deal with "Bricks and Mortar" shops.

I'm looking for suggestions of getting around this. We have a warehouse where people can collect. If we just stick a cash register in a corner, how can you say we're not a bricks and mortar premises? Would this work?

Another option, perhaps, is to develop a partnership with an existing "bricks and mortar" store.

Does anyone have any thoughts and/or suggestions on this?

BennyBlanko

Hmmmmm, this is a tough one.
What they are suggesting is that you are not in a proper little retail shop.
Develop that relationship with an existing store owner is your best option to get around these ackward suppliers.

antoinolachtnai

what do you think their core concern is? What industry is this? Is there any possibility they have received a request from their upstream supplier not to supply Internet-only outlets?

Are they refusing to supply you even on a cash basis?

I would put in the cash register, sell a few whotsits from your warehouse and say that you are now in retail and see how that goes.

CapedCrusader

Thanks for the replies folks.

@antoinolachtnai: I believe their core concern is that they don't want to supply to the likes of Amazon etc.

By the way, can a supplier decide to simply not supply someone without a good reason? I suppose they can. My understanding is that the just can't be descriminatory... is this correct?

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Nope a supplier can choose not to business with you for any reason, not much you can do about it on that front. Its their brand after all.

I suppose their concern would be that it is a luxury item with high profit margins for both them and the retailer. So they are concerned about comparison shopping and cutting the healthy profit margins to attract sales.

I'd suggest looking for alternatives that do the same thing, no point in doing business with someone who's not keen to work with you.

Gstore.ie (Tony)

Hi,

We have encountered something similar before with suppliers but have managed to get around this by agreeing not to undercut the bricks and morter stores they supplier sometimes these suppliers retail are dictated by the manufacturer and they want to keep the pricing up.

If they are a distributor of the item then maybe contact the manufacturer and explain your case.

We managed to get a few of them to change their minds after a while once they saw that we were outselling the other retail stores and would do even better by dropping the prices, I would suggest this approach trial it at their price and if it sells well go back and negotiate if you think you could sell more at a lower price. At this stage unless it is something that I really want I would never let a supplier dictate my pricing as more often than not the recommended retail they are suggesting can be higher than you would like to retail it at.

Best Regards
Tony

EDIT: Just read ronans reply and he is completely right why deal with someone that is making it so difficult I have made this mistake a few times and learned it is never worth it.