Common knowledge to both consumers, manufacturers, factories, buyers, etc. is the concept of splitting up items by department. Products are categorized together based on function and familiarity and organized accordingly on both the physical sales floors and the digital web store. This is true for nearly all retail outlets. Costco’s regional offices are split up according to departments similarly to the national office.

For some items, you may find that Costco’s department breakdown differs from other retail avenues. Perhaps your item falls into the Lawn & Garden category within your retailer’s ecommerce department. You may be surprised to find that Costco’s department crossover could land you in Sporting Goods, or even Hardware. Additionally, some of the larger departments within Costco are split up between two buyers, so you may have to dig even deeper to identify your department.

Department identification is pretty black and white for some items – for instance, a couch will always be furniture. However, for some of the more niche, creative items that fill a unique consumer need, it could help to have an extra set of eyes review before identifying your department. This is important for correctly identifying the right buyer, so your first attempt at pitching your product is navigated correctly. VendorCo can help with this. Contact us today at [email protected]. We can help cut the guess work and get your item in front of the right person.