Whether you are a veteran or a newly promoted buyer, this list of questions will help you survey the vendor community supporting your product category. Mech/ Merchandise /Revenue/Gross Profit/Margin/Dollars/Data/Ecommerce/Omnichannel/Retail

1. QUESTIONS FOR SUPPLIERS
MERCHANT ON-BOARDING TO NEW CATEGORY

2. SUPPLIER
COMMUNITY
Why survey your supplier community?
• Use of standard questions establishes baseline
• Creates consistent foundation for evaluation
• Identifies level of supplier collaboration
• Uncovers unresolved issues that need attention
• Captures best practices in forecasting
• Measures long-range commitment to growth

3. WHEN TO SURVEY
SUPPLIERS
• New Category Assignment
• On-boarding New Company
• Promotion to New Job Function
• Selecting New Vendor Partners

4. SCHEDULE TIME
WITH SUPPLIERS
Introductory script example:
“As I am reviewing our merchandise data
reports, I can see what an important role
you and your brand play in the success of
{YOUR COMPANY NAME HERE}. In the
coming weeks, I want to learn more about
your product strategy and how we can
continue to optimize inventory productivity
to drive profitable growth.”

5. THE QUESTIONS

6. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
Tell me about your
company and product
expertise

7. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
What are the opportunities
we haven’t capitalized on?

8. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
What are the sales/profit
risks we have yet to address?

9. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
How do you measure success?
What KPI’s are tracked?

10. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
Which account is your
biggest volume customer?

11. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
What are the
success/opportunities at our
competitors?

12. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
What brand / product lines
are exclusive to our
company?

13. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
What is your product lead
time? Where is product
produced?

14. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
Tell me about your
production forecasting
process.

15. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
What is our long-range
strategy with your brand?

16. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
When is the next Quarterly
Business Review (QBR)?

17. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
When is your fiscal year
end?

18. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
What are the terms of
vendor contract? When is it
up for renewal?

19. QUESTIONS TO ASK:
What is the company
leadership structure?

20. CONCLUSION
By conducting a supplier survey, a merchant gains
insight into individual vendor relationships as that
brand relates to the product category.
Some partners may provide additional information
with little prompting. Others may struggle with
answering all questions completely.

21. JOAN BRAATZ, VP MERCHANDISING
braatzjoan@gmail.com
214-733-9677
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanbraatz/
https://joanbraatz.com/