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Many of us walk into stores every day, never knowing the process that happens to get items onto the shelf. There’s a magic that happens almost instantly that brings us products, and usually products we want and use often. If you want a snack, you know where to go to get it—and this is especially true when you’re on the road and you stop into a store that has every item you could have ever asked for in that moment. Every one of us has been in that situation, and not one of us has ever questioned how items get from a creator into our hands.
If you’ve ever been plagued with a great idea, though, you know all too well the long and hard process to get your idea from your head to the point where it is on the shelves. For most, this process is so hard that they never get through it, but for those with the drive to continue and those who know where to find the resources that will help them the most, they’re future is lined in success. So how exactly does the process work? First you need to have an idea that is original and will make money when brought to convenience store wholesale distributors. The best way to make sure that your idea is original and strong enough to withstand the competition, you can create a spreadsheet of information on your product. After that, it’s time for you to market to convenience store wholesale distributors.
Many aren’t sure what the difference is between many of the people who are around to help you market your product. There are convenience store brokers and convenience store wholesale distributors, which while they might sound the same, work in two very different ways. Convenience store brokers are paid by the sales they bring in from the manufacturer (you) and work by scouting for products that would best benefit the stores, while convenience store wholesale distributors work for themselves by purchasing your product and bringing your product to market. This difference in who they are working for is important to understanding how to best interact with each in order to get the most for your product. In this case, when it comes to your product, a convenience store broker will be actively looking for a very specific products, where as you can approach any wholesale distributor and market your product to them—they will them do their best to place your idea onto the appropriate shelves.
A convenience store wholesale distributor will more than likely require you to market your product to them before they take it on as something they advertise and place on shelves across the country. This means that you will have to explain to them what makes your product special and why they should work to get it sold. Here is where having a strong argument in favor of your idea will come in handy. Once you have successfully caught the attention of a distributor, then they will work to get your product out there, and once that results in securing shelf space, you will finally start to see the revenue you were hoping for when you started this journey.
Now the question becomes: How do you get yourself to a distributor? There are a few ways. The first is to purchase a directory of convenience store wholesale distributors www.cstoredistributors.com. This usually works by paying a once-a-year fee in exchange for a directory of names and contact information. With that in your arsenal, you can then contact whoever you’d like to make an appointment with them. This is a great option because it means you can go at your own pace and find distributors that are realistic to get to and cost little money in terms of travel and supplies.
The other way of reaching out to convenience store wholesale distributors is to go to convenience store tradeshows and market yourself directly to any wholesale distributors there. This is the best option for those who are both new to marketing themselves and those who don’t have the funds or ability to travel far. By going to convenience store tradeshows, you guarantee that you are going to be near a great deal of people who are directly related to your business without the time and effort of contacting each one of them separately. The drawback of going this route is that it costs money to go to these tradeshows, and sometimes the big shows are no where your home base, meaning you’ll need to travel a great distance to attend a show that may not yield any success for you.
Going through a wholesale distributor is extremely helpful for those who aren’t already established in the convenience store field because it allows you to form a partnership with someone who is both more experienced with selling products to convenience stores and getting ideas to the shelves. It also allows you to access resources that you would otherwise not have access to—especially in terms of networking and knowledge of how things get done. As time passes and you experience more success in marketing your products, you can take more control over how your products are placed in stores. In the beginning though, it’s in your best interest to connect with as many people as possible, especially those who have more connections than you do. The important thing to remember when starting out is that it is important to create a strong product and equally important to network well and connect with a strong alliance of knowledgeable veterans.