High street discounter Home Bargains is opening what it says is a ‘world first drive-through’ for sales representatives pitching new products.
From 5 March, sales reps will be able to arrive without an appointment at the company’s head office in Liverpool and present a prospective new product at a window.
If Home Bargains decides to buy, the rep will be handed an order through the window. They will then be able to drive away again, having completed the whole process without getting out of their car.
Daniel Sowden, buying director for Home Bargains owner TJ Morris, said the 41-year-old company was pitched around 50 new products a day, sometimes resulting in queues at reception.
He said the drive-through, at a new office adjacent to the company’s existing headquarters at Axis Business Park in Liverpool, would streamline the process. The aim was to encourage reps to pitch products to Home Bargains first, he added. Sowden said: “We’re doing it because we keep it simple in the buying office. We just have an open buying policy so anyone can turn up at any time. You don’t have to make an appointment if you’re a rep.
“We sometimes have queues into reception of people coming in and this is just an easy way for them to drive around and show a product through the window. If we like it, we’ll give them an order and they can drive off.
“So it makes it easier for the reps. We try to do everything to make it easier so they want to show us the product first.”
Around 25% of pitches resulted in orders, Sowden said. “We’re very quick. We give a straight answer there and then and make it very quick and efficient. We just make it as simple as we can for sales people to come and see us, so they do come and see us.”
Sowden said reps would first press a button and speak into an intercom, as they would at a restaurant drive-through. They would then show the product at an open window, where it would be assessed by a TJ Morris buyer.
Products presented were frequently clearance stock including toys, he said. “We buy a lot of clearance and one-off. Obviously if Procter & Gamble come and see us, they’ll come into the office still, but we buy a lot of toys on clearance so we’ll have a toy guy come up with two toys to show us and he’ll just show them through the window.”
Recently added new products on the retailer’s website include a children’s Batman v Superman costume for £6.99 and Disney dolls at £8.99.
Home Bargains currently has about 500 stores and plans to open another 50 this year, according to Sowden. In the past two years the company had added to its ranges, which include homeware and ambient, with fresh food, he said.
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