How do I get my product developed?

If you have developed a new product and want to get it out there for the retail stores to carry it, how would you do it?

• Do you call up all the major supermarkets asking them to carry your products? Would you start a marketing campaign first so that consumers ask for your products at their local stores? Are there firms that act as an intermediary between you and all the retail sector?

• Answer:

  All your comments are legitimate options. The two product lines I have introduced to market are beverages and bicycles. For beverages, the target market comprise grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, hospitality outlets, etc. Bigger companies will have a purchasing department. For example, you can call up Grocery Chain A and ask who is in charge of X category. You are then introduced to the buyer and go through their purchasing process - or rather, your selling process. For smaller outlets, you can usually get in touch with the owner by dropping by or giving them a call. Introduce yourself and figure out the best foot forward - I don't know what product you have but if it can sell to their customers, then just have a constructive & real conversation about your product, its benefits, and how their customers will do better to have it. Regarding the marketing campaign - this will be expensive (especially if not online) and time consuming unless you get lucky, or are very very creative. You will actually need a mass amount of people asking for your product before upper management (in the case of bigger companies) notices the demand. I believe that this strategy can be done in parallel to trying to sell directly. About intermediaries, most industries have distributors. It can be tricky identifying distributors though an internet search, looking at other products & the labels, or asking around can do the trick. Most of the time, distributors will want to see previous experience or validate that you have ongoing sales. One of the questions that may come up is where is your product being sold currently. I think that selling yourself and getting in touch with potential clients is the best first step forward. If you have the money, you can also actually hire a sales person who already has experience in the industry. My partner and I hired experienced sales people in the bicycle industry to get those initial sales going. This strategy works well because the sales person would ideally already have relationships with the buyers. Nonetheless, before anything, setup something simple online. The cost to setup is now so low that you can't afford not to have a presence - not only is it one channel for sales, but you can also test market demand far more easily through the internet. Hope this helps.