Selling to Wal-Mart and Target

Many inventors and new product entrepreneursbe worth seeing. Your job will be to provide short
want to sell to Target or Wal-Mart. And some do.bursts of information that will show your product
You won't have any easy time making the sale,is the right one.
and there are plenty of obstacles, but the fact isSome steps you can take to help the manager
that both Wal-Mart and Target are open to newsee your product is right:
vendors, both have an open submission policy and1. Have sales success, preferably in bigger stores.
you might be able to succeed if you set up a planBe sure to show pictures of your product on the
to that will show the retailers that your productshelves of those stores.
will sell. Wal-Mart goes a little bit further than2. Attend trade shows, show your booth display.
Target in being accessible to new retailers by3. Obtain testimonials from satisfied users.
having a local buying program where inventors4. Show PR you have generated in industry or
can actually have their product test market inconsumer magazines.
their local store, and if it succeeds it just might be5. Create effective packaging.
picked up across the country. The road to both6. Be prepared to show that you can deliver large
Wal-Mart and Target success is to build up somequantities, either with a D&B report, or with a
market momentum to show the product will sell,detailed explanation of how you can fund
and then simply work through the retailers'deliveries.
submission process until you can get in front of aTarget
buyer.Target wants new vendors to call their Sourcing
Many of you are probably skeptical about yourInformation Center at 612-696-7500. When you
prospects about getting your product intocall they will direct people who want to sell a
Wal-Mart or Target. So I'm going to start with aproduct to Target to send an email to You will
couple of success stories.only get a response if the Target people like your
Success Storiesproduct. So you need to be sure that you include
Kim Babjack launched her business at QVC, sellingall the information you can about your product,
her first 2,000 Zip-A-Ruffles, which is a ruffledyour sales success and also your ability to fund
bed skirt that zips on and off the bed pad forproduction. The email itself should show a picture
easy cleaning. The Zip-A-Ruffles ran successfullyof the product, in its package if you can. You only
on QVC for several years and created a historyhave a brief opportunity to make your point so
for Babjack when she came up with a newyou have to be direct. You can send in your item
product idea in 2005, the Animalid a toilet-lid covermultiple times, but space the submittals at least
with 3-D animal graphics designed to help toddlerssix weeks apart.
feel more comfortable during the potty-trainingI recommend you have in the email itself, not as
process.an attachment,
Babjack was sure her product would sell at1. Start with the category, for instance: New
Wal-Mart and she approach her local Wal-MartElectronic Product.
Store Manager to carry the Animalid. After2. Mention one or two items currently carried by
working for a year to get an appointment,Target that your product should be next to. For
Babjack made her presentation, the storeexample: place next to digital cameras and
manager loved it and after only a small mountaincamcorders.
of paperwork and approval of the district3. State where it has been sold. Just on one line,
manager Babjack's product was on the shelf.list only the biggest retailers, catalogs or Home
Animalids had a name upgrade to Animal Lidz, andShopping Network.
never dominated the market but it still had its4. List the suggested retail price.
spot on the Wal-Mart and a chance for5. Your contact information.
permanent glory.6. A picture of the product in its package. Don't
The husband and wife combination Vanessamake the picture too big, 2 x 2.5 inches is fine.
Troyer and Chris Farentinos came up with aThey can enlarge the picture if needed.
simple idea, a lockable mailbox. The mailman couldAlso include as attachments as many items as
put the mail in, but you could only get the mail outyou can from the list above on how to convince
with a key. Their two products', the Oasis and thethe store manager that he or she should meet
Oasis Jr., sales have Troyer and Farentinos'with you.
company Architectural Mailboxes off and runningOther Options
in the marketplace and right into Target's catalogWhile Wal-mart and Target both have a process
and website. To date they have sold more thanthat anyone can use to present their product,
150,000 of their locked letter drops, which retailthat doesn't mean that you will have an easy
for $97 to $258.time getting an appointment with a buyer where
Troyer and Farentinos developed their credentialsyou can pitch your product. You might be shut
by selling successfully through Amazon. Through aout and never get the chance to make your
persistent effort she located the home addressconvincing case. If that should happen, you still
of Jeff Bezos, president of Amazon and sent himhave two other options to explore: selling through
a presentation on how much money Amazon wasdistributors who might sell to the big retailers, or
losing because their packages were lost. The dayhaving a company that already sells to Wal-mart
after the presentation arrived Amazon called andor Target market your product for you. Always
today they carry over 50 of Architecturalfirst try to sell your product yourself, often
Mailboxes products. The Oasis locking mailbox isTarget or Wal-Mart prefer to buy from the
not just sold by Target, it is also sold by Homemanufacture first, and if you sell through other
Depot, Costco and Lowes.companies you will make far less money than if
The Submission Processyou sell directly. But if you can't get in the door at
Both Wal-Mart and Target have a submissionfirst you may need to take another approach.
process before you have a chance to meet aDistributors
buyer. Your chances of meeting a buyer willThere are many ways to find distributors that
increase as you have success in the market.would handle your product. Industry Trade
Wal-MartMagazines often have an annual directory where
National Programthey would list distributors. Larger libraries will have
1. Go to the Wal-Mart's web page and find theGale's Source of Magazines and Broadcast Media
supplier section.which lists almost all trade magazines, or you can
2. On the left side of the page and for Producttry an internet search. Trade Associations will also
Submission. There will be a link at the site forhave a directory of distributors. Gale's
Wal-Mart's online submission package.Encyclopedia of Associations at larger libraries can
3. You are allowed to upload only 512 KB of data.also help you, as can an internet search.
So you might need to cut down your brochureYou can also check search the internet for
image quality to keep under that limit.directory listings for distributors, for instance:
4. The online submission form doesn't ask for-Top Ten Wholesale
your sales success but if you keep your brochure-Wholesale Directory
down in size you can include a jpeg of a page-Wholesale Distributors Directory
with your current sales success.-Wholesale Central
5. Once you do this you need to wait for theContact the distributor and get the name of the
buyer to contact you to request a sample orperson in charge of what products they carry.
hopefully an appointment.Then send that person the same package you
You can only be so active in the National Program,sent to Target and Wal-mart about your product.
and you can't really control how the buyers willEven if the distributor doesn't sell to Target or
respond, so it can be discouraging as you don'tWal-mart they might still be willing to carry your
have control of the situation. Fortunately Wal-Martproduct and sell it to other customers. Expect the
also has the local buying program option thatdistributor to mark your price up from 20 to
offers you an opportunity for a one-on-one33%, so you suggested retail price will also need
meeting.to go up. Retailers will mark a product up from 50
Local Buying Programto 100%. Once you know what mark-ups are
If you want to sell your product only in a limitedstandard in your industry you can determine what
market, Wal-Mart requires you to use their localyour suggested retail price is.
buying program, where you need to convince oneOther Manufactures or Marketers
Wal-Mart manager to like your product, then youYour other choice is to go into the store and find
need to complete a local supplier questionnaire andproducts in the same area as yours. For example,
have the District Manager approve theif you have a kitchen product, you would be
questionnaire. You can do this even if you hope tointerested in all the other manufacturers of
eventually sell to all Wal-Marts, but you just needkitchen products. Try to find a mid-size company.
to start with the local store manager.You can then contact the marketing department,
Sounds easy enough. The problem is getting thatsay you have a product that has had strong sales
appointment with the store manager. This issuccess, and that would be a natural fit into their
where you need to supply lots of successproduct line. Have a package similar to Wal-mart's
information about your product, state exactly inready to send the marketing person if they have
the store where your product should go, andinterest. Expect the manufacture to mark-up your
explain how your product has outsold the otherprice to them a minimum of 33%.
products that Wal-Mart has on the shelf at otherGood Luck
locations. The store manager is busy, and won'tSelling to Wal-mart and Target is difficult, and
see you until you can be convincing that youreven if they like your product they will often try
product will sell. You need to expect to try toto negotiate such a low price that you might have
make an appointment for at least 90 days andtrouble making money. But while difficult, it is not
you need to keep furnishing information to getimpossible, and small vendors sell to Wal-mart and
the store manager interested. You also mightTarget all the time. Just remember if you are
want to try and get in to see several storerejected at first that you can go out and make
managers. The store manager's point of view isadditional sales and then go back and try to sell
going to be that only one out of 100 products willagain.