Big Lot's "big" action: set up Asian procurement warehouse to strengthen Asian procurement strategic order transactions

Big Lot's "big" action: set up Asian procurement warehouse to strengthen Asian procurement strategic order transactions

Without decoupling, Big Lots sets up Asian purchasing office in Shanghai

North American home furnishing chain retailer Big Lots has recently taken an important strategic move to enhance its competitiveness by strengthening its global sourcing model. This well-known discount retailer decided to open two purchasing offices in Shanghai, China and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, to layout two key supply locations in Asia and strengthen its advantages in the field of low-priced product procurement.

Company CEO Bruce Thorn emphasized the importance of global sourcing to the company's development. He said this strategy will allow the company to provide customers with more choice and freshness while maintaining a leading position in the global market.

The new purchasing office will be led by Kevin Kuehl, senior vice president and general manager of merchandise, who said: "86% of Big Lots' imported merchandise comes from Asia, especially China, Vietnam and Thailand. Among them, China and Vietnam are the largest importers. two countries, so the procurement offices are located in Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City." In addition, Big Lots deploys its procurement team close to major manufacturing plants and suppliers, which can improve procurement efficiency and speed of response to market demand.

Kuehl said that Big Lots has integrated its long-term exclusive third-party agent purchasing team into Big Lots’ Asian purchasing team. The new international sourcing office will also create a stronger platform for overseas sourcing and assortment optimization, fully integrating it with Big Lots’ strategy of reinventing its low-cost heritage. To this end, Kuehl spent two weeks in Asia working with two procurement teams to motivate the teams and ensure that they fit into the company culture.

"We will directly source hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of furniture and seasonal home textiles," Kuehl said. "We will continue to work with importers in the U.S. who create many of our fashionable and novel products. We have built a solid foundation of collaboration with importers and suppliers. A solid supply base is critical to the success of our business."

In addition, Big Lots also plans to incorporate its long-term third-party agency procurement team into the company through this move to build a more powerful overseas procurement and asset management platform. This will help the company reinvent its "cheap heritage" and seek to achieve significant operating cost savings in fiscal 2024.