How do I get Walmart and other big stores to carry a product?

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A

Arkitech

Diamond Member
Apr 13, 2000
8,356
3
76
So there's a snack product I came across while out of state that I thought would sell well in my area. I did a little research and discovered that this product has no distribution in my state. I would like to introduce it to the stores in my area (small and big ones) but since I've never done this before I want to learn a few of the basics.

First off, I assume that I would need to negotiate a price with the snack company. Maybe determine what kind of wholesale prices I could the product for based on the number of units ordered.

Secondly I'm thinking I need to get a sample order to present to the store managers. As I said before I've never done this, so I don't know if they would want 10-20 units to put on the shelf or maybe less than 5 units to sample for themselves.

Thirdly (is that a word?) if all goes well and I can find a couple of stores who want to carry the product, I need to find out if I can place orders on credit. I'm guessing the stores won't pay until the product has arrived.


Can anyone enlighten me on this type of thing?
 
waggy

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
81
lol good luck. walmart and other huge stores only carry the top selling stuff. they aren't going to waste shelf space.

best luck is to talk a smaller store into it.
 
ProfJohn

ProfJohn

Lifer
Jul 28, 2006
18,161
7
0
You'll never get into the big store because they are so centralized.

Best bet would be smaller gas stations and the like and maybe you get lucky.

If you are serious about this contact the people who make the snack and talk to them about being a distributor for them.
 
S

Skillet49

Senior member
Aug 3, 2007
538
1
0
I worked at a small, locally owned grocery store for a while and when we would get new products what would happen (to my knowledge) was that the distributor would bring samples, free of charge, to the store. The manager/owners would then ask a few employees to try to products to see how they liked it. If the employees really liked it, then they would order it from the distributor. I believe the distributor would bring it in with all of the other products that the store bought from them and then the store would pay them for all the products.

Are you a food distributor or do you just really like the product? Because if you're not, I would suggest contacting the company that makes the snacks and buy direct from them if you can. It'll probably save you money (because then you don't have retail markup) and time.
 
D

darkswordsman17

Lifer
Mar 11, 2004
23,341
5,772
146
You're best bet is to contact the company that makes the product and see what their distribution setup is. Who knows, there might actually be a store nearby that carries it. Some companies might would be willing to send some directly to you (they send you a free box, you give them out to friends, and spread the brand some).
 
A

Arkitech

Diamond Member
Apr 13, 2000
8,356
3
76
Thanks for the advice guys. I just went out to the company's website and read over their 2009 yearly earning report. I also found out that there is no distribution for their products in my area. So I'm sending out an email to ask if they have local distribution here and if not what I would need to do to start.

I hope this works out.
 
Nik

Nik

Lifer
Jun 5, 2006
16,101
2
56
I've been directly involved with new product development, carrying it all the way to big box stores (Costco).

I can tell you right now, don't bother. The big box stores won't even bother talking to some nobody who doesn't even own the product and isn't a licensed distributor already.

It's fun to think about, but there's sooooooo much more involved that your head will spin. Save yourself the trouble and just stick to the day job.
 
0roo0roo

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
it doesn't work that way, walmart corporate makes the deals and when they bite, they order tens..hundreds of thousands of units at a time. there were a buncha documentary/books on the walmart business dealings... they research like crazy on how much your cost should be for making the product so they can bargain you down..then buy in massive bulk if they want it. they are good at buying mass quantities but if the product stops selling, you are outa luck lol
 
R

Rastus

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
4,704
3
0
You can go in and request a special order. If they have a distributer that has it, they will order a case and stock the rest.

My father used to do that all the time and some stores are more accomodating than others.
 
dullard

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,554
4,050
126
From what I've heard you have to PAY the store for the shelf space. Think $10k per store. Do you still want to go ahead and do it?

That snack company probably wants to sell in your state too, but just can't afford the up-front costs.

Edit: Looks like it is $25,000 per store now. Plus, you have to pay them for warehousing costs, advertisements of your product, and tens of thousands of dollars of free samples to supply all the stores in the area. Oh, here it says $250,000 for the slotting fee in high demand areas. Those fees are PER item and PER store (Walmart fees, Kmart fees, etc).
 
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Capt Caveman

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,543
651
126
Sounds like you want to be a distributer for a single product. Why not contact the company about it? You'll probably have to incorporate yourself, etc...
 
Modelworks

Modelworks

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
7
76
0roo0roo said:
they research like crazy on how much your cost should be for making the product so they can bargain you down..then buy in massive bulk if they want it. they are good at buying mass quantities but if the product stops selling, you are outa luck lol
Click to expand...


And if you are not selling the product cheap enough they will threaten you to make you lower the quality of your good, get it made cheaper or they will drop your product line.
 
Modelworks

Modelworks

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
7
76
dullard said:
From what I've heard you have to PAY the store for the shelf space. Think $10k per store. Do you still want to go ahead and do it?
Click to expand...

My dad was a regional manager for some of the big grocery chains and they rent the space at the end of every aisle based on sq. ft and where in the store it is located. A space might only contain $500 worth of merchandise for that weeks sale but rent for $2400 for that week. Regular products on the very top shelf and very bottom shelf are cheapest while the shelf at eye level cost the most. Exceptions are the cereal and sweet products related aisles where bottom shelf is the most expensive, think height of a child, so they can grab the product and run to mommy.
 
LtPage1

LtPage1

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2004
6,311
2
0
Decisions for stuff like that are made at a much, much higher level than anyone actually in the store.
 
TehMac

TehMac

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2006
9,976
3
71
LtPage1 said:
Decisions for stuff like that are made at a much, much higher level than anyone actually in the store.
Click to expand...

Actually it depends on how the store is organized I do know my branch had a certain amount of control of what it ordered or not, but if the manager dropped the ball, he or she was quickly replaced.
 
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