Please listen closely, dear makers and product designers: I’m throwing myself at your feet, imploring you not to get stars in your eyes when it comes to corporate retail deals. Corporate accounts are the big, flashy accounts that many makers dream about. These details usually involve multiple locations (sometimes hundreds of doors, sometimes just a few dozen) that are all managed by a singular corporate entity. You know the ones: Nordstrom, Macy’s, Target, Sephora, Paper Source, Dean & Deluca, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters… there are dozens and dozens of coveted corporate accounts that many makers are itching to crawl into bed alongside. Over the course of my fourteen years as a full-time maker, I’ve done business with many corporate retailers. I’ve also helped dozens of makers navigate these relationships, giving me a unique peek inside the collaborations that so many of us covet. And while I’m huge proponent of dreaming big and scaling up a business, I know all-too-well that corporate retail deals aren’t right for every brand. Before you tee one up, I hope you’ll make certain that it’s a good fit for your business. THE BALANCE OF POWER SHIFTS SIGNIFICANTLY WHEN YOU’RE WORKING WITH CORPORATE ACCOUNTS. These accounts expect you to have a game plan together and they offer far less flexibility than your friendly neighborhood boutique. Why? Because there are a lot of legs on this octopus. The owner is not the buyer. The buyer is not the person who unpacks and inventories the order. And that’s not the person who puts merchandise out on the sales floor nor the person who rings the sale and wraps the parcel for you to carry home. Corporate accounts are highly systematized and the buyer is, in essence, a conductor who’s managing a dizzying number of logistics. They’ll expect you to climb aboard the train and keep your promises in order to ensure that the orchestra plays on. Because these relationships involve more people, there will necessarily be more complexity and more coordination. Corporate accounts often mandate that orders are packaged a certain way, tagged in a particular fashion, shipped on a precise date, etc. They don’t want it a week early and they certainly don’t want it a week late. Working with corporate accounts may find you buried beneath a tidy stack of paperwork and wading through vendor manuals that explain the intricacies of order fulfillment. You’re the sister-in-charge when working with independent stores. You call the shots, informing them how things will be packaged and delivered, and detailing how you expect to be paid. However, the balance of power radically shifts when you crawl into bed with corporate accounts. They’ll tell you how they do business. You have to decide whether or not you can work within those perimeters and if you can’t, then you’ll need to pass on the account. CORPORATE ACCOUNTS BOAST MUCH LONGER TRANSACTION TIMES. There’s a common misconception that corporate deals are the fastest way to scale an […]
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