Vendors love to be included in promotions to see their products featured on your website and in your print materials. The types of promotions you can run are endless. In our pet division for example, vendors love BOGO’s (buy-one-get-one) and bundled packages.

BOGO’s add value in many ways. Consumers know they’re getting a sweet deal. Vendors get volume and exposure. They’re moving twice the amount of product and it often leads to repeat sales of consumable items. Bundled packages work well too. Here’s an example. A dog food company may want to offer everyone who purchases a 15 pound bag a free scoop or a free rawhide. This can either be provided by the manufacturer or taken out of your stock and billed back to the vendor. This is a great way to provide something novel that your competition can’t match while at the same time adding genuine value for your customers.

Good vendors should be more than happy to participate in any promotion you want to run. Pick up the phone, drop them an email or ask for a sit-down and explain what type of promo you have in mind. And remember, enthusiasm counts! The more detail and excitement you can put into it, the better the odds are they’re going to buy in.

Promotions will not only help boost sales for you, they’ll make happy vendors and best of all, happy customers!