esm7i How do you make the large retailers notice your brand if you have a great product and a great brand?
Some common tips include hiring a sales rep, attending tradeshows, and encouraging family and friends to ask for your product in the store. These are great tips, but there are also four other ways you can be resourceful to help get your product onto store shelves.
Create a business plan that explains how your product can drive sales at the retailer
A business case is an intricately woven story that demonstrates your product’s selling potential by showing its sales history. The business case should answer the following questions: What is the history of your product with other retailers? Have sales increased steadily over time in your business?
The most important metric for retailers is sales. This metric is often expressed in units sold per store per week. This format allows buyers to compare your deals across retailers and channels.
Your business case needs to be able to work with a retail strategy. Is your product more of a margin driver or a trip driver? Does it increase the size of customers’ baskets, or will it cannibalize other products on the shelves? Have you answered the question What is in it for retailers?
To get the attention of the buyer, you need to develop a business plan with data and align it with retailer goals and objectives. You will never get a buyer from Target or Wal-Mart’s attention without it.
Scale up your business slowly
Before you approach large retailers, you need to establish your track record of sales in smaller stores. They are not willing to take a risk on a new product until they have seen how well it performs at smaller retailers. They also want to know that your product’s sales have been steady over the years, usually 1-2 years.
You will benefit from scaling your business up slowly over time. It is not possible to have your product on Target shelves overnight. It would be best if you started with independent stores and boutiques, then gradually add more, adding bigger retailers every time.
Some people believe they can get into big stores overnight. To properly manage cash flow and risk (on both your side and the retailer’s), you shouldn’t want to enter Wal-Mart overnight.
Shopping and analyzing retail stores
Observe how retailers display your product category. Observe the price points, brands, and how they are organized. Make suggestions and opinions on what retailers could do to improve their business. By the way, those recommendations should also include your brand.
By adding value and building credibility, you will get 10 minutes more with a buyer compared to if you were calling them up to sell your product. Being a trustworthy and reliable vendor is half the battle.
Romy Taormina of PsiHealth Solutions implemented this strategy in a meeting held with a national retailer. She presented an analysis of anti-nausea products, their purchase drivers, and recommendations on how to increase the retailer’s total category.
Taormina gave ideas on how to grow not only the sales of her brand but also those of the whole category. This is what was most important to the buyer. Taormina demonstrated her objectivity, and she understood the buyer’s goals. The national retailer then added Psi Bands in over 300 stores throughout the US. (Taormina is also a contributor to the Both Sides Of The Retail Table Blog, as well as the author of this piece.)
Smartly manage your inventory
Selling the maximum number of units differs from selling just enough to satisfy consumer demand. The inventory of large retailers is managed precisely. Unnecessary inventory costs are incurred when a retailer has too many units. A retailer who sells one unit too little has just lost out on a sale. It’s important to deliver the correct amount of teams at the right time. If you fail to do this, it will damage your reputation as a manager.
If you try to sell as many products to a retailer as you can, but they end up on the shelf for an extended period, they will assume you have a poor outcome and won’t order again. You may be tempted to sell all the products in your warehouse. But, you should not… unless it is certain that they will sell within the given timeframe.
