How To Become A Retail Vendor For JCPenney

How To Sell On JCPenney

Becoming a vendor for big box stores is something most brand owners dream of. However, while it may be the goal for brand owners, it is not an easy thing to achieve. There are now several companies vendors can partner with to sell their products online. One of the biggest companies for womenswear vendors to partner with is JCPenney. JCPenney is a well-known department store with a robust online presence and, most importantly, an existing customer base. In this article, we have put together everything you need to know about becoming a JCPenney Vendor, including the process, how to get started, and what to expect.

Contacting JCPenney

To start the process of becoming a JCPenney vendor, the first step you have to take as a vendor is to get in contact with their buying department. There are a few ways to get in contact with their buying department, and you may need to try a few different methods before being successful.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great way to get in contact with individuals at any company, and JCPenney is no different. Use LinkedIn to search for the buyers you need to reach for your category of products and then send them a message regarding your interest in becoming a vendor.

Traditional Mail

While mail may seem like a thing of the past, it is still a great way to get the attention of companies like JCPenney. Take the time to put together a catalog and letter for their buying department and send it to their headquarters by mail. The JCPenney headquarter office is located in Plano, Tx. 

6501 Legacy Drive, 

Plano, Texas 75024

  • Production capabilities
  • Inventory management
  • Existing partners
  • Manufacturing information
  • Target demographic
  • Size of product selection
  • Catalog with images of your products

Supplier Diversity

There is one other way to get the attention of JCPenney buyers, and that is the Supplier Diversity program they have in place. According to their website, “Program participants must be U.S.-based and diverse-owned (minority-owned, woman-owned, disabled-owned, veteran-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, or LGBT-owned).” If you qualify for the supplier diversity program, you can contact the JCPenney Supplier Diversity Office for more information.

Email: [email protected]

Mail: Supplier Diversity, 6501 Legacy Drive, 

Plano, Texas 75024

The Start Of The Process

Once you have successfully made contact with a JCPenney buyer, they will likely want to know more about your company and your capabilities. After you have spoken with a buyer and a decision has been made to approve you as a vendor, you will be issued a supplier number as part of your registration.

After receiving a supplier number, vendors are given detailed information about how to move forward. This new vendor information will include an introduction to Supplier Support and testing Guidelines for EDI and GS1-128 labels.

New Supplier Process

The next step once a vendor has been approved is to set up the EDI connection between the two companies. If you are new to this and are wondering what EDI is EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is the computer-to-computer exchange of business documents between companies using a public standard format. Business documents are translated into a standardized EDI (ANSI X12) format for ease of communication and elimination of hard copies. Next, vendors have to review EDI procedures and determine how the EDI should be integrated into existing systems. Vendors then have to Decide on translation software configuration and a network provider. And conduct the necessary steps detailed in the EDI Guidelines until you reach the point of conducting a systems test. The purpose of a systems test is to ensure that vendors can both send and receive documents. After this test has been run successfully, the EDI integration process can be completed.

Finally, vendors have to ensure they have met all requirements for the JCPenney Ticketing Guidelines. Questions regarding the ticketing processes can be directed

to [email protected].

Once you have finally finished with the integration process, your products will go live on the JCPenney website, and you can begin to receive orders. Orders will be sent to the vendor for them to fulfill. Vendors are responsible for packing and shipping the orders directly to the customers. After shipping out, the orders vendors have to confirm the shipped orders with JCPenney by providing tracking numbers for each order.

To make the most of your new vendor relationship with JCPenney, be sure to provide as much information on your products as you can on the product listing. Create titles that are interesting and descriptive while still following the JCPenney guidelines for product titles. Invest in high-quality professional images for your items, remember that the customer doesn’t get to handle the items and can only make their buying decision off on the pictures you provide.

Right On Tech

Right On Tech is here to help vendors to stay ahead of the competition on JCPenney and other platforms with our e-commerce solutions created especially for vendors. Contact Us for more information.