Getting Your Product Ready for Mass Distribution

Getting into the mass retail channel gives your product and brand prime-time visibility to the consumer, and hence the potential for your small business to become big business. However, getting the mass retailer to notice, accept, and keep your product can present a real challenge to small business owners. Often you send your products and presentations to retailer only to never hear so much as a reply. Other times, the retailer may respond, meet with you, and even decide to stock your product. Even so, your joy of success may last only few months, as the retailer later decides to de-list your product.

1. Know Your Customer

Here we’re talking about the mass retailer. Jumping to this step, assumes of course, that you already know the finer details of your product and your target audience.

Here’s a list of the general types of mass retailers.

2. Know Your Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) help a mass retailer define and measure progress toward certain goals. To prove to the retailer that your product is hot, you need to prove that your new product will provide profitability on par or greater than that of other products of the same category sold by that retailer. There are two basic KPIs that mass retailers care about:

·      Dollar sales that your product can make on 1 square foot of shelf space per week

·      Dollar margin between the retail price the consumer pays and the list price the retailer pays you  

3. Create Buzz Before Going to the Mass Retailer

By creating momentum and building your “proof of concept”, you can significantly increase your chance the retailer will place your products on their limited and valuable shelf space. A great way to accomplish this is by proving your concept online. Not only can you start making revenue, you can collect good statistical data to demonstrate the strength of your concept.

·      Online search terms show what consumers care about

·      Search term frequency will show the demand level in the online channel

·      Click-rates for your website can show the appeal of your concept