If you run a small business selling outdoor products, then Home Depot could be an excellent way to increase your sales and boost your brand's exposure. Home Depot has long been a leader in the home improvement industry, and its e-commerce site has been growing by leaps and bounds. By 2015, Home Depot's online sales grew by over $1 billion - an increase of 36 percent from the previous year. These sales accounted for 4.5 percent of Home Depot's total sales over that year.

Home Depot is known for its outdoor product section and they are always on the look out for the next best product. Do you have a product that fits their needs?

Home Depot's Standards and Requirements

Home Depot expects the most out of its suppliers - no surprise considering the fact that who they work with will reflect on Home Depot's reputation. This means that your application as a supplier will be rejected if you do not meet their basic standards and requirements - even if Home Depot is interested in selling your products. Before you even begin the application process, familiarize yourself with their standards and requirements and make sure that your company will meet all of them. Otherwise, you are just wasting your time and their time.

Home Depot's Corporate Compliance and Ethical Standards

Ethics and integrity are hugely important to Home Depot. They are the foundation of their supplier relationships. You will be expected to abide to all applicable laws as well as rules and regulations concerning the manufacturing and distribution of products. The following are some of the essential components of Home Depot's Corporate Compliance and Ethical Standards that you must follow:

• You cannot receive or provide gifts or entertainment if you are attempting to influence a third party, violate Home Depot's policies or violate the law. If you plan to provide gifts or entertainment, you must discuss these plans with a senior level contact beforehand.
• Any sort of bribery is absolutely forbidden and is a criminal act outlawed by the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
• Your private interest cannot interfere with the interests of Home Depot. Conflicts of interest may result in unfair advantages or preferential treatments that Home Depot looks down upon.
• You must keep accurate books and records of all business activities.

Social and Environmental Responsibility

Home Depot conducts its business in a socially and environmentally responsible manner and expects all of its affiliates, divisions and subsidiaries to do so as well. They expect you to abide to all applicable local and international laws in addition to the rules and regulations established by Home Depot.

• Social Responsibility - Home Depot absolutely refuses to work with any suppliers that use child labor or forced labor. This includes suppliers that use subcontractors who use child labor or forced labor. They demand that all of your workers are treated with respect and dignity. Your workers cannot work more than 60 hours a week and you must provide a safe working environment. You cannot use subcontractors without disclosing their use to Home Depot - and only if the subcontractors are able to demonstrate that they also comply with their social and environmental responsibility standards.
• Environmental Responsibility - Your business is required to comply with all local environmental laws and regulations. Any factories used to manufacture or produce your products must operate in a way that minimizes their impact on the environment.

You will be required to demonstrate your compliance to these requirements to Home Depot.

Insurance Requirements

Home Depot has specific insurance requirements in place due to the nature of their business. These requirements not only protect Home Depot financially, but also limits their liability and protects their reputation. Your business is required to have and maintain commercial general liability insurance as well as worker's compensation insurance. Be sure to check Home Depot's insurance requirements chart, which details their occurrence and aggregate limit requirement for every department and product type. To ensure that you not only have the required insurance but also the proper amount, Home Depot requires a Certificate of Insurance from your insurer.

These are some of the major standards and requirements that you will need to meet. For a more detailed outline of Home Depot's standards, view their terms and conditions available on their new product submission page.

Small Business Supplier Registration

Once you've made sure that you meet all standards, you will be required to fill out an online registration questionnaire and provide a federal tax identification number along with basic company information, such as ownership and facility information, company financial information, the number of employees and more. Once you have registered, you will be provided with a login ID, a password and an authentication key, which you will need to to complete the application process.

Home Depot performs their entire vendor application process online by way of their supplier application portal. Because of this, you won't be able to make a presentation to Home Depot in person. However, you are allowed to submit images of your products, copies of your service licenses, links to your catalog and even slide-show presentations, along with your application. Once you have submitted your application, it will take around 60 days to be accepted as a supplier. During this period, you may be asked additional questions or even be asked to send in sample products for closer inspection. If you have been approved by the end of this period, then you'll be assigned a buyer representative. If your application was rejected, then you will have the chance to re-apply after six months.

Selling your outdoor products on HomeDepot.com can help boost your sales and exposure, so make sure to get the advice of eCommerce Trade to ensure that you meet Home Depot's  standards and requirements before applying.