Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) is to host its first Meet The Buyer day with B&Q next month.
The event, which takes place on January 14 at the Hilton Hotel in Chilworth, Southampton, will provide an opportunity for suppliers to present their new and innovative products and packaging ideas to buyers from the DIY and garden centre retailer.
There will be 12 buyers available on the day from the chain, which currently offers around 40,000 home improvement and garden products for the homemaker, serious DIYer, and trade professionals.
They will be looking for products/kits that make the job easier for customers, products that sell well in other hardware retailers around the world, and at any areas where a gap in their current offerings can be addressed.
Suppliers will be allocated a 20 minute appointment with respective buyer/s and will be given a template presentation format to ensure best use of time. A maximum of two people from each company will be allowed to attend. There is obviously a limit to the number of appointments that can be accommodated so applicants will be allocated appointments on a ‘first come-first served’ basis.
B&Q is looking to trade with companies of all sizes. To speed up the listing process, it has partnered with Birmingham Innovations Ltd to act as a distributor to get suitable products into store as quickly as possible. There will be no listing fee to get the product into B&Q.
Potentially, the day will enable potential suppliers to access B&Q online in the first instance. This represents the quickest to market option with trading within 14 weeks a possibility. From acceptance/approval of the product,
suppliers can expect two weeks of loading the product, then a further 12 weeks to facilitate the online build before it goes live. B&Q online is currently achieving four million hits a week and is the fastest growing part of the business. Suppliers may also be selected to go straight into store, with retail opportunities expected to go live by August 2016.
BHETA home improvement sector director Paul Grinsell commented: “This is a first for potential suppliers and is certain to attract a big response. There will have to be a limit to the number of people that can be accommodated on the day and I therefore urge interested suppliers to contact BHETA as soon as possible. “We will do our utmost to accommodate everyone so please contact BHETA on 0121 237 1130 or email pg@bheta.co.uk or sh@bheta.co.uk as a priority.” The absolute deadline is January 5.
