I always have a direct-to-consumer online channel, and I always start that way and may or may not get to retail later. Here's why: Direct-to-consumer online is much more profitable than through retail. I always try to develop pricing so that I have at least a 30% net profit when selling D2C. Whereas with retail, [...]
This is a Quora question and here is my answer. Buyers are very busy and have tough jobs. Obvious ways in which suppliers can be helpful are strong product sales, marketing and tradespend support, and limiting out-of-stocks. Category management by the supplier also helps the buyer and can position the supplier as a strong category [...]
This is a Quora question and here is my answer. Here is a general list of requirements before approaching retail: Have a unique and differentiated product, enough to capture consumer attention. Have prior sales history, either online or in smaller retailers to prove your product(s) and brand will sell. Have marketing support to help build [...]
This is a Quora question I was asked and here is my answer. I've never sold lighting products, so can't tell you for sure. But I have sold home improvement and margin in that channel to the mainline (Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, Menards, etc) averages 30-35%. If you are talking a lighting retailer, which I [...]
In the last week alone, I got asked multiple times about how to find consumer product distributors, so it merits a quick post. My answer is to contact the retailers that you want to sell to and ask them who the distributors are that they work with. Some retailers prefer that you go through a [...]
I was asked this question on Quora and here is my answer. If I am not using a broker - and I prefer to use brokers - I check their website to find out the retailer's process for reviewing new products. If that info is not available, then a cold call works as well. If [...]
Everyone wants to sell to Whole Foods Market. At least in my world of consumer products, most companies I come across who sell food and are not selling to Whole Foods Market, want to. I admit that Whole Foods Market has a great reputation and associating with them as vendors can elevate their brand to [...]
This is a question I received and here is my answer. In terms of retail legal requirements, here's what comes to mind: Do you need to or should you file any relevant trademark/wordmark/copyright filings with USPTO to protect your works? Check with an attorney about this. Retailer's won't care, but should you be trying to [...]
This is a Quora question I was asked about setting up a relationship between a CPG manufacturer and distributor. My answer is below. I know and work in food, so I can only respond from that context. Does the distributor serve the market you want to directly target? Obvious question but needs to be asked. [...]
This is a question I received via a discussion thread and I am reposting my contributions to the thread here. As a rule of thumb, natural.organic is always a 50% margin. If selling through UNFI, Tree, etc. there might need to be another 15% added in for them, for a total margin of 65% to WFM, [...]
