Many small businesses view getting their products onto the shelves of big box retailers such as Wal-Mart, as winning the lottery. Besides dramatically increasing a business’s profits and opening doors to other lucrative retail contracts, having your products on a big box retailer’s shelves gives consumers and other retailers the message that your company’s products are winners.
However, competition is fierce; in 2004, about 10,000 new suppliers applied to become Wal-Mart vendors. Of those, only about 200, or 2%, were ultimately accepted. So, how can your company be one of those few companies? The first thing you have to do is ensure that your product and your company will be attractive to a big box retailer. And for that there is a specific, designed process to be followed.
Big box retailers don’t want to bother with the untried and unproven. They are about volume and margins and what the consumer will buy. There are so many businesses competing to be suppliers that they don’t have to take whatever comes. According to Gwendolyn Bounds in her book The Long Road to Wal-Mart Shelves, “Wal-Mart doesn't like to account for more than 30% of a supplier's total business because if it suddenly had to change an order based on shifting trends, it could sink the supplier.” So, having other retail accounts increases your chances of getting the big box retail account.
Creating the kind of product that big box buyers are looking for is the top priority. With thousands of product categories and duplication, there’s absolutely no incentive for a big box buyer to commit to carrying a clone. The ideal product is something different, which will still fit with the retailer’s current product lines. Even if you can get the buyer interested in your product, having only one product to offer can be a deal killer. Setting up a new supplier takes time and effort, so the potential supplier who can offer a complete line rather than a single product will always have the edge. And although it can take six months to a year on average for a supplier to get a first purchase order, when that first order comes in, you’re expected to move fast.
If you want to be a Costco, Home Depot or Wal-Mart supplier, you’ve got to win over the buyer and show that you can overcome obstacles. Whether it's upgrading your packaging or changing your pricing you have to show that you’re willing to work with the retailer.
http://bigboxmg.com/ 918 625 4946, Big Box Stores require specific Marketing Strategies. Design your Marketing Plan with Big Box Marketing and get your idea onto Big Box Shelves.
