Getting Into Brick & Mortar Stores

Special Buys

All major retailers have a promotional planning calendar for the coming year.  Understanding the submission timelines, format, pricing strategy, category margin and merchandising requirements for submissions can make or break your initiative.  Once the promotion hits the stores, big-box retailers in many cases successfully execute your promotion at just 67%! Focusing on retail execution, (third party labor), point of sale by store (retail analytics), inventory replenishment during the promotional period and then executing an exit strategy is critical to your product’s future chances of being a stocked unit.  (Shipping and forgetting is a thing of the past – taking ownership of your success means managing all steps through the register). A successful promotion can open the door to an invitation to participate in the next category line review.

In-Store Tests

Securing an in-store test and then performing successfully is every manufacturer’s goal.  Reasons why a retailer would want to test your product or category can be innovation, superior performance, (including data to support your claim), gap opportunity, or retail margin expansion.  Other reasons a Retailer would test a new product could be the incumbent requested a price increase, product performance issues (Customer online comments is a great resource) or product availability issues.

Prior to presenting your test, we work with Clients to evaluate the current shelf space, incumbent’s product (performance or efficacy) and estimated retail margin requirements, proposed markets (or a number of stores), performance metrics and test timeline.  The retailer’s store isn’t getting any larger, so something needs to go away to make room for your test. A reset could be required which may include paying for a buyback or markdown dollars for existing inventory and the labor/fixtures/visual signage to implement your test.  For DI Suppliers, keep in mind nearly all retail tests require domestic US inventory as back up. We work with our Clients to think through and plan for all scenarios prior to a Buyer presentation. If we cannot get a test through the “front door” by approaching the buyer directly, often we can work with the field to get a test.  Most retailers have a field merchandising organization that can influence the home office to execute a test. We have deep relationships with several of these field organizations and can pursue tests through these avenues if necessary.