How to Get Your Products into Local Grocery Stores

Here is a how to get your product into grocery stores around your community.

Supply chains are critical to the smooth running of the retail industry. Grocery stores are a vital part of the distribution chain.

As shoppers visit to purchase, efforts at restocking empty shelves must be swift. Finding and working with reliable suppliers is necessary for that to be possible.

Getting Your Products into Local Stores

Are you in business and seeking effective ways to get your product into local stores?

The retail distribution stage is the stage where your products reach store shelves. In this guide, we seek to show you how to get your product into stores through the most effective distribution strategies.

Whatever products you produce, you aim to get them across to the consumer. Because people visit stores for groceries and other needs, such places are business targets.

The strategies listed below have proven to be effective in retail product distribution. Read on for details.

As a producer, you want your products gracing the shelves of local grocery stores. For this to be possible, you must deploy effective distribution techniques.

While this may sound vague to some readers, this article will provide detailed information on how to go about the process.

• What Grocery Items Do You Produce?

One of the first things you must have sorted out is the grocery store items you produce. There’s a long list of products that fall into different categories.

These include bread & baked goods, dairy, vegetables, fruits, meat & fish, cans & jars, meat alternatives, and sauces & condiments.

Other grocery categories include pasta, rice & cereals, frozen foods, herbs & spices, drinks, snacks, personal care, and household & cleaning.

Baby and pet care products are additional grocery categories you can produce for distribution to grocery stores.

For each of these product categories, different distribution techniques may apply. For example, perishable goods like fruits, veggies, and some baked goods have a limited shelf life.

These goods must be distributed faster to ensure people have them fresh.

Products with longer shelf life, like perishable goods, won’t require urgent distribution. Understanding the dynamics involved allows you to figure out how to distribute.

Whatever the case is, you need to get your products to grocery stores within a reasonable time frame.

Reasons for Having Your Products in Local Grocery Stores

If you wonder why getting your products to grocery stores is necessary, you only need to look at the benefits it adds to your business.

One of the most apparent benefits of having your products in grocery stores is increased sales. Here, you’re using the grocery store brand to draw attention to your goods.

Grocery stores are among the busiest locations as people come to shop for all types of necessities. Due to the high traffic, your products are likely to sell fast.

The retailer you partner with gives your goods a wider geographical reach. What more? You get to scale up your production due to high demand.

The cost of operation is significantly reduced when partnering with grocery stores.

Because customers shop directly from the store, the added expense that would have been incurred by delivering to their doorsteps is eliminated. What more? You won’t have to spend a lot on advertising.

Convenience is another key benefit of getting your products to local grocery stores. Also, the quick sale of products is another critical benefit you get by supplying products to a local grocery store.

With that said, how do you get your products into a local grocery store? Let’s find out.

Getting Your Products into Grocery Stores

Part of the processes involved in getting your products into local grocery stores includes assessing your production scale, choosing the right grocery store, creating a catchy brand image, pitching your business to distributors, and visiting local grocery stores.

i. Assessing your Scale of Production

Determining your production scale is one of the first considerations before launching your operation. This is important because it determines the type of grocery store you approach.

There are typically large retail stores as well as their well-established counterparts.

With small-scale production, you’ll do well to find small retail stores to supply to, as your level of production will match their demands.

As your business operations expand with more products being churned out, you’ll need increased demand, which well-established grocery stores being your significant targets.

ii. Choosing the Right Grocery Store

Not every grocery store will be suitable for the supply of products.

A great deal of research on these stores is needed. Examining purchasing cycles, degree of patronage, and product preferences is crucial to selection.

Also, you’ll need to be interested in details like promotion and reward programs and pricing strategies. What more? A detailed understanding of competing products needs to be had.

These are some steps needed to get your products into local grocery stores.

iii. Creating a Brand Image

Product appeal starts from the type of packaging created.

This is the brand image your business will be known by. Of course, to have the most impact, product development should seek to create professional-looking and attention-grabbing packaging.

This is part of the initial steps towards developing a great product that will be accepted by the market when displayed at local grocery stores.

You’ll need to work with a professional, experienced designer to ensure you create the right impression through your products.

iv. Pitching your Business to Distributors

Getting your products on local grocery store shelves starts with pitching your ideas to distributors. Distributors are a crucial part of the equation you cannot overlook.

By contacting distributors and setting up an appointment, you can convey your desire to have your products on grocery store shelves.

Compelling reasons must be given why your products must be stocked on grocery shelves. Of course, you’ll need to state the incentives to be enjoyed by these distributors.

The feedback from distributors can prove invaluable in helping your products get to grocery store shelves.

v. Paying a Visit to Local Grocery Stores

The final step to getting your products into local grocery stores involves visiting local grocery stores.

While most local retailers will agree to the deal, the mode of payment may not be immediate. In other words, your products get supplied on a consignment basis.

This refers to a situation where you only get paid after your product(s) have been sold. It’s a way of testing the market’s reaction to your product until steady demand increases.

Use These Retail Distribution Strategies

You’ll need to make the right effort to get your products across to the buyer. First, you must find the right partner and offer favorable terms.

Flexible pricing is an effective strategy. Also, trade shows, online wholesale marketplaces, and showing evidence of customer enthusiasm are ways to get your products into stores.

You can also get local stores to stock up on your products by offering a risk-free or money-back guarantee. Demonstrate your capacity to fulfill or handle large order volumes and show easy-to-understand and verifiable proof of such ability.

Prepare a great pitch and trust the process. Patience is a crucial requirement to have. You must also work independently to create demand for products.

This can be achieved by creating press buzz or hype about your products. Now, let’s look further at each of these retail distribution strategies.

i. Find the Right Partner & Offer Favorable Terms

One of the first steps to get your products into stores is finding the right partner and offering favorable terms.

Retailers are critical partners in the distribution chain. This means you can leverage many opportunities to get your products on their shelves.

While true, not every retailer is enthusiastic about working with your business.

You’ll need to offer them favorable terms. In other words, there must be a clear path to making good profits. With good marketing strategies and an attractive profit margin, finding the right business is only a matter of time.

ii. Contact the Purchasing Manager

When contacting the retailer, the purchasing manager is critical in getting you the business.

Here, you’ll need to make all the inquiries about getting your products onto the store shelves. All retailers have their unique product pitching requirements. It might be immediate, or you may be given a timeline.

iii. Adopt Flexible Pricing

One thing is crucial to success in trying to get your products into stores: flexible pricing.

With flexible pricing, you provide more leeway for the retailer to make a profit. This involves planning your pricing so that there’s an attractive profit margin to get the retailer interested.

To offer flexible pricing, you must determine what your competitors are doing.

In other words, you need to know how far your competitors will go to sell their products. Of course, you also need to consider your production costs. Striking a balance is essential when adopting flexible pricing.

iv. Attend Trade Shows

Have you tried attending trade shows? If you have, how does this activity get your products into stores? Trade shows are important events where businesses get to network.

Here, you get to meet with distributors to sell your business. These distributors work with dozens of stores which makes them stakeholders.

v. Visit Online Wholesale Marketplaces

Beyond establishing personal connections with local storeowners, you must expand your business to reach more business partners.

This is where online marketplaces come into the picture. On such platforms are lots of potential distributors to sell your business to. You must have the capacity to meet demands when required.

vi. Show Evidence of Customer Enthusiasm

To make your business more enticing to stores, you have to show them evidence of customer enthusiasm.

Most retailers don’t like products sitting on shelves for extended periods with little to no patronage. You can quickly get your products into stores with a demonstration or proof of customer enthusiasm.

vii. Offer Risk-Free or Money-Back Guarantees

Retailers will find your business interesting if you have a money-back guarantee for goods sold.

This eliminates the worry of having to bear the risks due to dissatisfaction. Retailers will likely take your business by displaying your products on their shelves.

There’s added confidence for the retailer when doing business with you. It’s essential to sustain such trust by being attentive to other aspects of the partnership.

viii. Demonstrate your Capacity to Fulfill Large Orders

Does your business have the capacity to fulfilling large orders? This is a crucial part of doing business, as you’ll need to reassure the retailer of your ability to deliver.

However, it’s not enough to give reassurances. You’ll need to demonstrate how capable you are by showing proof.

This will be a lot easier if you’ve done similar business in the past. Are you able to provide or find alternatives when necessary? A comprehensive description of such will enable you to get your products into stores.

ix. Prepare a Great Pitch & Trust the Process

Putting time and effort into developing an excellent product pitch is essential. Remember, there are lots of competing businesses, each trying to sell to the retailers.

If you’ve failed while trying to pitch your business in the past, consider such an opportunity to learn from your failure.

x. Have Patience

Patience is critical to getting your products into stores. Sometimes, you may succeed at one try to get a retailer’s or distributor’s attention.

Other times, this might require repeated efforts. You shouldn’t give up while trying to sell your business, as you might be at the threshold of success.

xi. Work Independently to Create Demand for Products

You can adopt a two-pronged approach while selling your business to distributors or retailers. Creating demand through effective marketing is another strategy to adopt.

With effective and sustained marketing campaigns, retail stores will likely experience demand. This makes it a lot easier to sell your business to them.

Conclusion

These are ways to get your products into stores. It doesn’t matter if you sell groceries or hardware items; the goal is to get them across to the seller through partnerships with retailers and distributors.

Take your business to as many stores as possible.

We started this discussion from the planning to the execution phase. There may be slight variations depending on the type of products you make.