Process: How We Work
Gaining Market Placement
Creative Innovations is an industry professional who has relationships and experience working with all major chain accounts in natural foods, specialty foods, mass market, pharmacies, spa’s and other retailer. We can obtain both presentation and placement for your product. Below are some of topics related to gaining retail placement for your product.
Inside and Outside Sales Terminology:
- Broker
- A broker is the key person in a brokerage company. They manage their representatives as well as meet with and manage distributors. Most brokerage companies handle a regional area and sell many lines in addition to yours. Brokers meet with and manage distributors as well. They need to be informed by the manufacturers of upcoming discounts, promotions, ad schedules, etc.
- Broker Reps
- The outside salespeople who work for a particular broker company. These reps are commissioned to sell your products to retailers. They visit retail stores in their area of coverage to sell your products as well as products from other companies they represent. Outside reps are responsible for merchandising and shelf placement, removal of outdated or damaged products, and physically presenting new products.
- Inside Sales Reps
- These sales people are hired by your company to sell your product line exclusively within a specified territory or region. The benefit of using dedicated sales reps is that they focus exclusively on your line. They complement the brokers by enhancing sales to smaller retailers.
Benefits of a Broker Network
- A brokerage company already has established relationships with the distributors and the retailers.
- Broker reps are not employees; they are paid a minimal monthly retainer against their commission, which is the bulk of their compensation.
- Brokerage companies have multiple broker representatives for better coverage of geographic territories.
Creative Innovations has the expertise and relationships to obtain this nationwide network of brokers for optimum product placement and sales, and we will negotiate reasonable broker retainers and contract periods. We will guide you to the experts in setting up your inside sales department.
The result: You obtain top tier brokerages to represent your line and reduce the timeframe for nationwide outside sales coverage to 6 months – 1 year.
It is difficult, however, to gain broker placement.
- There are only a few top-notch brokerage companies for each category who have the relationships with the distributor buyers and retail buyers to effectively get market placement for your products.
- It can take 6 months to 3 years to get complete national coverage.
Hiring someone who has a long-term relationship with these top notch brokerage companies increases your chances of having them accept your product line.
National Nutritional Chain Accounts
National retail chains such as the following are large and are focused on by many manufacturers. Each one has a unique set of requirements for placement of your products, such as discount pricing, slotting fees, free product for initial placement, and a marketing plan (ie. advertising, in-store flyers and magazines, training for staff and management, product literature, samples, demos and testers). In addition, there are many smaller, independent, regional chains which can significantly increase your overall sales potential.
Other Markets
There are additional markets available for natural products. Some of these can be quite lucrative yet have a unique set of requirements. It is recommended that these be solicited after other markets have been penetrated. Some of the additional markets include:
- Canada – (approximately 1200 stores) – All products sold in Canada have to be bi-lingual (French and English - equal prominence) in order to be presented to Canadian distributors and placed at the retail level. There are also other considerations based on Canadian supplement laws.
- Puerto Rico – (approximately 120 stores) – Some bi-lingual (English/Spanish) literature and/or packaging is suggested but not required. Puerto Rico is a strong marketplace for natural products and can be serviced by the mainland distribution network.
- Independent Alternative Pharmacies – in addition to chain drugstores (ie. Long’s, Eckerd’s, Rite-Aid etc.) there are thousands of independent alternative pharmacies selling natural supplements and health and beauty aids. This marketplace requires substantial mainstream marketing commitment to create consumer pull.
- Practitioners (including Chiropractors, Acupuncturists and Naturopathic Doctors) and Spa & Fitness Centers - These purchase direct (COD, credit card or terms) as they do not typically purchase from natural products distributors. The most effective way of reaching these practitioners is to be solicited by a dedicated inside sales person.
