Wal-Mart, Target, K Mart – get your product or invention onto retail shelves!
“As you walk down the isle of a mass retail store and look at the thousands of products on the shelves you can rest assured that every one of those products started with a vision” -excerpt from The Caboodles Blueprint
When I first decided to take my ideal to retail. I had no idea where to start or what to do.
30 years later and many products, brands and companies later… I discovered that I had found a “blueprint” – a simple step by step formula for taking a product idea to retail.
Here are some basic steps –
- It all begins with being able to visualize your product sitting on the shelves of 30,000 retail stores… (If you don’t know where you are going – nowhere is where you will end up)
- Expand you product idea into multiple colors/sizes/styles to create a product line (The best selling item is often a hybrid of the original concept)
- Create a product name and brand name (A product’s life is limited – A product line gives credibility – A Brand is your biggest asset)
- Put your idea on paper – Choose the right tools to capture the vision.
- Run focus groups to obtain consumer input and credibility
- Defining your consumer market – Who is your consumer? Are you sure?
- Create your packaging – What are your Packaging options for Retail?
- Developing your product samples & prototypes
- Licensing or Manufacturing? Sourcing your options
- Hiring your reps - What you can expect from your retail rep.
- Researching your retail category and industry - Become an expert in your product's retail world
- Your POP (point of purchase) display options
- Everyday (planogram) vs Promotional
- Marketing and Promotions – Consumer & Trade
- Manufacturing, Distribution, Shipping
- Pricing your product
- Going on the Road Show – Sales materials
- Trade Shows
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