Astonish Your Customer(s)

How do Walmart buyers get recognized

Many small or niche brands think that giant retailers like Walmart would never be interested in their brand. If the product is me-too, with a me-too story and a me-too consumer value proposition, they'd be correct. 

But being small or niche, in and of itself is not a knockout factor.  

A friend of mine was a Walmart buyer. He told me that Walmart buyers get the most recognition when they find a hidden gem and make it something. According to this former buyer, the view inside Walmart says that any idiot can make the latest launch by Coke or P&G or Unilever a success, given the brand's spending level. It takes a real merchant to spot an item with unique value and then drive within the Walmart system.

I have seen this phenomenon play out in numerous Walmart vendor meetings where the retailer touts the success of beer-coozie, beef jerky, $1.00 DVDs and scads of other "little trains that could". 

Sometimes the sheer expense of building inventory and the risk of absorbing a potential huge return is too daunting a task for a small brand, and rightfully so. Just don't count yourself out just because you're small or niche.   

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

One-Bettering or One-Differentiating IKEA

I visited one of the eight CB2 Stores - as in, Crate & Barrel Version 2.0. 

I loved the store experience and the mostly the products. Cool, stylish, practical, comfortable and, from the looks of it, sturdy and inexpensive (but not cheap). I am not kidding - the prices are super-reasonable (and I was in a Soho store).  

I have no idea how this product line was conceived, launched and refined but I couldn't help but feel that someone at Crate & Barrel looked at the Ikea product offering and business model (and maybe even Target) and said - We can do that, only different and better. And they have. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Pop-Up Retail, as test market

Pop-Up Retail is most commonly seen when vacant stores turn into Halloween Shops each year. 

The July issue of INC. magazine has several great case studies of pop-up retail successes and lessons learned. 

One of my take-aways was that the pop-up retail approach can be used as a means to test market your product - to "see if the dogs will eat it", as the saying goes.

Just when it seems like the best way to test your idea in a low cost format is the web, the old-world pops-up to prove that it is still an immensely relevant, helpful and even low cost medium. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.