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Home > Win@Retail Tools > Optimize Distribution
In developing relationships with Wal-Mart and other retailers over the years, we have learned what it takes to successfully prove your case for new or expanded distribution. Getting into Wal-Mart can be the greatest challenge your company will ever face, but you can also reap the greatest rewards if achieved.
The consumer must be the heart of your retail execution strategy. As the U.S. grows more diverse, Wal-Mart will continue to look for ways to appeal to different consumer behaviors, ethnicities, and lifestyles to maximize opportunity. You will want to establish distribution to show Wal-Mart that you can support the volume of sales that would result with a Wal-Mart relationship, while also proving that there are consumers that want to buy your product.
Keep the consumer in the middle of your decision-making by working with your retailers in all efforts, from product development to promotional strategies. Take a look at these three approaches to help you get started.
Approach One
Use the information you have.
If you have distribution at other retailers or even limited distribution at Wal-Mart, use any and all insights you have on your consumer to gain or grow distribution. If you're concerned that you won't be able to get into a "big box" retailer at the onset, take a more flanked approach by looking to smaller retailers or alternative channels to establish a consumer base.
Once in Wal-Mart, your philosophy should be to broaden your distribution based on the fit between the consumer of your product and the demographic profile of the retailer's shopper. You don't need to be in all Wal-Mart stores, but you should strive to be in all of the right stores for your product and consumer. Wal-Mart has validated this directive with its "Store of the Community" program created to offer products on a local level that appeal to the community at large. Store of the Community is guided by a unique set of traits fueled by Spectra demographics to identify different buying habits and tastes of Wal-Mart shoppers across geographies. Use RetailLink to your advantage by leveraging the Store of the Community traits to develop store-by-store retail strategies aimed at your consumer.
Interested in learning more about how to optimize RetailLink? > Contact a retail expert to learn more.
Approach Two
Leverage new data sources.
As distribution for your product grows, you will need to be more systematic in profiling and targeting your consumers. In this approach, you will leverage new data sources to create a comprehensive profile of the consumer of your product and the markets your consumer shops in.
While there are a number of data sources available at a minimal cost to you, you will want to use sources that are accepted by Wal-Mart. You will want to have the same view of the Wal-Mart shopper that your buyer has. With this, the chances of gaining and increasing distribution improve greatly.
The Wal-Mart buyer will leave it up to you to find the right the consumer and market your product will optimally perform in. Find the key consumers and markets for your product using proven data sources so you can make a case backed by data to gain distribution at Wal-Mart.
Approach Three
Hire experienced consultants.
While the first two approaches are effective, alone they may not be enough. You can increase the sophistication of your retail strategy by hiring consulting services so you can reduce the error and guesswork involved in doing your own analyses with disparate data sources. After you have established a client base and learned more about your market, let the experts leverage their knowledge and experience to develop a strategy to get into Wal-Mart and perform like a seasoned supplier. What should you look for in retail consulting services?
- Established success in helping suppliers improve performance at Wal-Mart
- Proven solutions for developing actionable retail execution strategies from insights
- Advanced modeling and analytics capabilities
ACNielsen Homescan & Spectra's retail experts have proven success consulting with manufacturers on optimizing their Wal-Mart relationships. > Click here to learn more about Spectra consulting solutions.
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