The profits and perils of supplying to Wal-Mart
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When Taunya Painter worked as a senior corporate counsel for Wal-Mart (WMT), she noticed that many of the small suppliers that wanted contracts with the world's biggest retailer, known for pressuring suppliers to cut prices, hadn't done all their homework. Few fully understood what they would be signing and few took advantage of Wal-Mart's supplier development team, a free resource designed to help less-experienced suppliers forge enduring relationships with managers and buyers. (Other large retailers, including Home Depot, Best Buy, and Ace Hardware have in-house teams meant to serve similar purposes.) Painter, who worked for the mega-retailer from 2002 to 2007, says more of the entrepreneurs she dealt with might have managed to secure and renew contracts if they had familiarized themselves with these two pieces of the supplier-retailer puzzle.
While there are more pieces to the puzzle, by taking the time at first to understand what the contract entails, a potential supplier can determine whether or not it even makes sense to try to become one of Wal-Mart's 57,000 U.S. suppliers. The contract, commonly known as the vendor agreement, outlines the mechanics of how the supplier and retailer will work together. The agreement generally addresses sales and delivery timeframe, arbitration, and termination rights, and liability. As a rule, Wal-Mart uses a non-negotiable boilerplate. Charley Moore, CEO and founder of legal service RocketLawyer.com, says this means potential suppliers can study similar contracts online before meeting with the buyer. Read more where this article was originally posted at BusinessWeek.com. Opinions expressed on Painter Law Firm are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of Painter Law Firm. Opinions and comments do not establish an attorney-client relationship.
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