A company that makes or markets products often desires to sell their product(s) through retail stores. Even though many these days sell products online through e-commerce websites, retailing through retail stores remains a main goal of most companies.
It is not easy to get shelf space with retailers. Most of us have seen shows such as the Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den. This are shows where many entrepreneurs and companies that have created products try to get funding and partnerships with these successful entrepreneurs. Often, they are told the cold hard truth of the challenges with distributing a product and selling it through retail stores and chains.
Nevertheless, if the product is of quality with the proper branding and packaging and there is a demand by consumers, a company can reach massive success retailing their products through stores. Here are 5 retailing tips to sell more products through retail stores.
5 Retailing Tips To Sell More Products Through Retail Stores
1. Research proper retail opportunities.
Successful retailing starts with the proper research. The right retail opportunities need to be defined and found. The contact information can be found online through some research and time investment, or purchased from lead companies such as Chain Store Guide (chainstoreguide.com). Online a business can start by looking up their competitors websites and searching for “store locator” or where to find the products in retail spaces. This is a great method to get ideas for retail distribution opportunities.
2. Understand the requirements.
For landing shelve space with retailers buyers, a business must understand the requirements by the retailers. Not being prepared when speaking to buyers can be the cause of loosing valuable sales opportunities. Brands should make sure they can answer questions about minimum orders, return policies, payment terms, wholesale and retail pricing, including shipping time and all required information. In addition, why would consumers buy this product(s), what other retailers carry them and so on.
3. Look the best before contacting retail buyers.
No, this does not refer to physical appearance of an individual, but rather the business. As soon as a brand gets of the phone with a retail buyer, this buyer will look up the business and brand online. Looking best refers to the quality of the brand when it comes to things such as logo, packaging, website design, and search results saturation. A buyer wants to see lots of proper activity and quality before taking the risk and giving out precious retail shelve space to a brand.
4. Contact retail buyers patiently.
Retail buyers and owners are busy people and probably contacted throughout the day by multiple companies and brands that wish to have their products in these stores. As a brand and company that wishes the same, it is best to contact retail buyers patiently. Send an email, follow-up a week later with another and/or call. Don’t bombard them with attachments and too much information. Just provide the key details to gain their interest. These are very busy people. Be prepared and ready to provide all necessary information when requested.
5. Start the retail sales cycle.
Brands that wish to gain retail sales and distribution should create a target list of retail opportunities and start the retail sales cycle. It can take anywhere from 3 – 12 months to land a deal with a retailer. The larger the retailer is the longer usually the sales cycle. This is also true for distributors who sell to retailers. Some retailer do not buy directly from brands, but order from disturbers. When a brand starts the sales cycle, all this information will come out when communication is opened with retail buyers. A business just needs to start the sales cycle and do the follow-up work.
Companies that want to retail their products and don’t have the proper time or resources to do it themselves, can always work with experts. There are many sales brokers and organizations that specialize in being an independent sales force on behalf of their clients, can greatly help brands get retail space and sales. Sales brokers have established relationships with buyers and know requirements as well as the industry.
Consulting services can also help a business and brand with sales. Often consultants can assist a brand navigate options and help avoid costly mistakes and pitfalls. As certain retail stores become more popular, so will the demand for them by brands. This is why some brands open their own retail stores, but this takes much more capital.
