Costco is a huge conglomerate, and purchases for their locations take place each and every day. It is reported that most Costco sales are actually achieved through manufacturer representatives, which is the reason why companies smartly choose to work with a manufacturer representative, rather than try to go it alone.
Our Senior Account Managers have over 15 years of independent Costco experience, which has given us expert Costco process knowledge and ensures that the majority of our clients achieve product placement at Costco.
PriceSmart is a company started by PriceClub executives at the time PriceClub merged with Costco Wholesale to become PriceCostco during the merger, before returning to Costco Wholesale. Ultimately, the two companies Costco and PriceSmart follow many of the same product selection processes and packaging among other things made it easy for VendorCo to expand services to PriceSmart.
We also focus extensively on YOU, meaning that you get personalized, customized attention from your Executive Account Manager, so you will never feel like you are just a number when you work with us.
Customer Success Stories
A well branded fitness company was focused on sales to corporations and individuals, but was not focused on retail. Executive Account Manager Susan Walker noticed an opportunity within Costco, and came up the concept of a certificate program. Admittedly the fitness executives loved the idea but did not know how to accomplish this goal. With the help of VendorCo and Susan Walker, a new item was developed, processes were created and rolled out both within the fitness company and Costco, and sales took off. Today this item is the top selling ticket program item on Costco.com and at Costco Wholesale stores!
A resort chain was in jeopardy of losing their space on Costco.com due to low sales volume. The vendor had previously chosen to forego advertising due to budget restrictions; however, VendorCo was committed to raising sales and continuing the Costco relationship. On behalf of the resort, VendorCo researched the available advertising options and negotiated with Costco to secure a feasible advertising option that offered high visibility and preferred dates at an affordable cost. Through diligent effort on behalf of VendorCo account managers, the resort experienced a solid increase in sales and a prolonged presence on Costco.com
VendorCo began working with a well-established company that sold picture hanging devices with easy installation requiring no tools. Prior to working with VendorCo they made several attempts to secure a purchase order with no success. VendorCo was quickly able to recognize that the products packaging was designed well for hardware stores, but not for Costco’s pallet set-up. VendorCo provided expert consultation to the client regarding the package redesign and recommended changes. With the package changes in place, Costco approved the program and a Purchase Order was received.
An OEM manufacturer lost a huge portion of its manufacturing due to a key brand losing distribution to retail. VendorCo worked with the major OEM outdoor product manufacturer. The result was VendorCo taking and expanding the line of products to expand to multiple buyers’ and their program reviews. VendorCo additionally provided consulting to help develop key points, packaging design points and messaging for each product. This process has resulted in four items being sold to six countries with additional items being created for the next set of reviews.
A Costco product test is intended to filter out products that will not sell well in Costco. Costco buyers often provide a minimum sales requirement that must be met in order to approve a full roll-out program. When a test fails, there can both positive and negative consequences. Though a failed test is unfortunate, the monetary losses that your company experiences would be much less than those incurred through a full-roll out. However, you can still be left with excess inventory and a need to re-sell the remaining product. VendorCo can help ease the stress by assisting with your exit strategy. In one such instance, an office supply item was unable to meet the sales goals of their Costco test, and struggled with how to best handle the surplus inventory that was created specifically for Costco. Recognizing the unfortunate circumstances, VendorCo researched options and costs associated with each variable. Because of VendorCo’s assistance and due diligence, the company was able to sell the remaining inventory, preventing costly losses that could have been a consequence of the failed test.
What do our customers say about us?
“I just wanted to take a moment to let you know how thrilled we are to have you representing us for our Costco relationship. Your understanding of the internal workings of Costco, and your ability to effectively communicate that to our organizations has helped us ensure that we do business the “Costco way” out of the box. It’s helped us create a good impression with Costco, and no doubt has kept us from making what could have been expensive mistakes. We also appreciate your direct, effective communication with our organization. We know you are giving us a truthful,unvarnishedopinion on how to grow our business with Costco. Your follow through is exemplary. If you say you are going to do something, it’s as good as done, period. Most importantly your fantastic, positive outlook makes working with you the high point of my day. It is great to work with someone who is aware of what can go wrong, but chooses to focus on what can go right, and then makes that happen. Many thanks.”
—Tammy Boyd, CEO, TLB Holdings, Inc.
“I’m the President of EcoTrac Organics Inc., which manufactures an all organic vegan fertilizer. Like most startup companies we had a very tight budget to work with and nearly no funding for marketing. Like most startups we struggled to find the right buyers for our product, knowing that in order for our product to get noticed we’d have to find that large well known buyer. I actually “googled” looking for a manufacturer’s rep that could help us get our product into Costco. I found Susan Walker and Vendorco. Susan is a very capable rep with a long history in the industry and had worked at Costco for many years. She was able to obtain a face to face meeting very quickly with Costco and attended the meeting and convinced Costco to purchase our product right at the meeting. She had virtually lead us throughout the uncharted territory of retail sales all the way including forwarding sample invoices for Costco. We would still be treading water if we were not lucky enough to find her.”
—Jim Lodwig, President, EcoTrac Organics, Inc.
“COSTCONNECT (now VendorCo) knows the process and speaks the language spoken at Costco. Experience in the areas of communications, information flow and follow through is essential to meeting Costco’s vendor expectations. Knowing the processes for connecting with the buyers and management at Costco is also critical. So, if you’re making your first presentation, working through business implementation or monitoring an ongoing relationship at Costco, COSTCONNECT (now VendorCo) is a resource that makes sense.”
— David Farley, CEO, Anatomic Global, Inc.
“COSTCONNECT(now VendorCo) is fantastic. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. Their Costco product placement expertise is second-to-none and was a crucial asset throughout the entire process. In such unfamiliar territory, thank goodness I had a roadmap and guide named COSTCONNECT(now VendorCo)!”
— Steve Adler, CEO Summit Financial Services
“Susan is a delightful individual who brings her clients a vast knowledge of Costco’s needs, desires and expectations. She has deeply rooted relationships within the Costco organization which facilitates the domestic and international buying process. I recommend Susan if you are interested in exploring Costco as part of your distribution strategy.
—Jennifer Norman, Owner/Founder JNo Marketing LLC
“Susan has led many companies’ products to placement in COSTCO. She never deviates from her focus to put her clients’ best interests ahead of her own. Her tireless work benefits any company that retains her as she helps them capture additional revenue that they would not be able to add to their bottom line otherwise. What is unusual is that she handles an entrepreneur with a product launch with the same care as a fortune 500 company. She is who you are looking for to get the job done.”
— Missy Anderson, International Coffee and Health and Wellness Company
“Susan is a solid asset to any organization looking to develop programs for Big Box retailers. She has an enthusiasm for products and merchandising that is simply contagious. I continue to work with her and appreciate all she does for our organization.”
— David Bishop, Planet Import Inc. / HabitudesTM Brand Manager
