How To Get Into Grocer’s Pride
Named the Chickasaw Journal 2018 Business of the year, Grocer’s Pride is a retailer that gives large varieties at steep prices to its customers. This retailer has been in the business for quite long and its customers can only give awesome testimonies of how well the retailer has served them.
Grocer’s Pride is owned by Kirk Dendy. One very unique feature about one of the stores of this retailer is a certain greeter. He has been working for the retailer for about 16 years. He’s a very elderly man but he is particularly warm. His warmth alone may be a factor in the ever-increasing foot traffic to the store.
The supermarket business in the United States is one that tries to connect with the individual customer. This means, the supermarkets try to address the needs and interests of individual customers. This is by offering local, international, and metropolitan products. You can get spices, meat, wine, food, and so many other food products from this type of store.
The customer is the best judge of a retailer. To be true to this, customers have aired their opinions about the store online. A customer noted on yelp.com that:“Absolutely best service in a grocery store hands down. Well trained workers who are respectful and friendly. Carry groceries out for you. Only downside is a somewhat limited variety of brands. Easily overlooked for the hometown atmosphere!”
Grocer’s Pride has been around for long and has been able to grow a loyal customer base. New customers are gaining interests in the retailer daily because of the awesome varieties stocked. There is hardly a product that is needed that won’t be on stock. The hands on ownership can only made things better as the award-winning store is well established with several brands under it and there are constant suppliers of products to the supermarkets.
For a distributor, this is an established store that can get your products to move as fast as possible. With the awesome varieties they offer and the established customer base, it can be easily deduced that there are customers already dedicated to what they sell. With a loyal customer base and new customers every day, it is highly profitable to get into business with this kind of store.
On the local sourcing of food products, Grocer’s Pride has been on the forefront of selling locally sourced food products and imported food items. Their wine, spice, and produce selection make them a leader in the retail and grocery business niche. This store has been in the business for years and has its established sourcing angles. Its constant support of local products has helped it cement its brand in the community as people can easily resonate with it.
How to get your product into Grocer’s Pride
- Understand you client: Before you spend a lot of time and money creating a product, you should know if anyone will want to buy it. Learn more about Market Research
- Learn if it’s protectable: Know if you can defend your product against cheap copies if it gets knocked off. Learn more about Copyright and Patent your product
- Test your product: Make sure that there’s a demand for your product and the customer understands what you are selling when it’s on the shelf and nobody is there to explain it. Learn more about Product Testing
- Perfect your pitch: Before you speak to decision makers, know your numbers, know your retailer and know your logistics in and out. Learn more about Pitching Your Product
- Don’t do it alone: If you haven’t been successful in retail before, a secret of success is that you can’t do it alone. Having great sales staff, customer support and marketing partners can take you from zero to success faster than if you tried on your own. Learn more about Retail Partnerships
Contact Grocer’s Pride Buyer
Do not trust any “list” of buyers.
Typically retail buyers change either companies or positions every few years. This strategy helps retailers know that their buyers are not taking “kick-backs” and are selecting the very best product for the very best position each time.
Buyers are typically held to a very rigorous standard of sell-through volume that they must hit and because of this they are risk averse. Your job as a supplier or vendor is to convince them that the buyers going into the stores not only know about what you’re selling but are actively seeking the product in the store currently.
How to Submit a Product to Grocer’s Pride
There are several ways to get a product placed in Grocer’s Pride. However, most entrepreneurs only dream about getting their product distributed to major retailers, few actually do it. We have experienced a significant rise in interest since the show Shark Tank started airing on NBC. Mr. Checkout has had the pleasure of working with a few Shark Tank success stories such as KISStixx and 180 Party Cups which are now currently being distributed around the country to stores like Walmart, Target, Kroger, 7-Eleven and more.
If you envision your product would be a good fit for Grocer’s Pride, we have a few steps to help you get your product on their shelves.
Here are the 6 steps you need to take to have your product placed in Grocer’s Pride.
1. Start with the right questions.) Before you try distributing your product to Grocer’s Pride, you need to ask yourself a few basic questions. Do you need to build demand for your product, or is there already a demand for it? Do you know that Grocer’s Pride would be interested in selling your product? If you can strike a deal with Grocer’s Pride, can you handle the production volume? Do you want to sell directly to Grocer’s Pride, or do you want to license your product to a manufacturer that will handle distribution?
2. Be prepared to profit.) Does your product offer enough of a profit margin for Grocer’s Pride? Can you sell your product at a reasonable enough profit to cover the packaging, shipping, commissions, marketing and wholesale distribution? Check Grocer’s Pride guidelines for other fees that you will have to build into the cost of your product in order for you to be able to turn enough of a profit to make the effort worth your while. If you work with a discount retailer, they will try to strip your profits down to zero in order to keep their prices as low as possible.
The typical breakdown of margins are: If a products costs $1 to produce, that product will retail for $4. That product that retails for $4 will wholesale for $2 to distributors and stores that purchase direct. Big box retailers like Grocer’s Pride may offer to pay $1.25 to the manufacturer if the product costs $1 to produce. That is the typical profit margin.
3. Determine if Grocer’s Pride is the right store for your product.) The relationship between you and Grocer’s Pride starts with you browsing their store for competing products. If Grocer’s Pride already has a similar product, it is going to be very difficult to get your product picked up. Spend some time at your local Grocer’s Pride to see what kind of products they are selling, speak to the manager and see if he thinks your product will sell well in their store. Picture in which zone your product would best fit on the shelf and keep in mind that the most precious asset that these big box stores value are their shelf space. Keep this information in mind when you are preparing your presentation to Grocer’s Pride.
If your company is minority or women owned, check Grocer’s Pride website and see if they offer specific opportunities for those designations.
4. Pitch your product to Grocer’s Pride.) Decide whether it will be you or a representative to present your product to Grocer’s Pride. Your presentation depends heavily on your strengths as a businessperson as they will most likely ask financial questions and logistics questions.
It’s common for companies to hire a broker to pitch their product to Grocer’s Pride, as it will be more likely that your product will make it to the next stage if the individual pitching your product has industry knowledge or a personal relationship with Grocer’s Pride. The percentage of commission verses, however generally a broker will take around 5% to represent your product to Grocer’s Pride.
We at Mr. Checkout have experience dealing with brokers and know that there are several retail brokers that have poor business practices that can potentially damage your brand. If you are seeking a legitimate Grocer’s Pride broker, please give us a call for a recommendation. It could save you a huge headache and a lot of money.
5. Complete the required Grocer’s Pride paperwork.) Often Grocer’s Pride will have you go through an application process. However, before submitting the paperwork required by Grocer’s Pride, you should contact a buyer at Grocer’s Pride and let them know your intentions. Having a contact inside of the company will potentially move your application more smoothly through the process.
6. Anticipate the need for increased volume.) Having Grocer’s Pride agree to stock your product will most likely mean a significant increase in volume. You should be prepared to ramp up your production and informing your manufacturer of this opportunity.
Having production, logistics and distribution to sync is not only difficult, it requires a significant amount of time invested in customer relations. Also, Grocer’s Pride may have stipulations in the contract that may penalize you for delays in shipping and production. Have an attorney explain all contracts to you if you don’t understand the terms.
If you’re looking to sell your product to Grocer’s Pride, be sure to thoroughly assess the marketplace, carefully prepare for production growth, and take full advantage of resources available to help you grow your business.
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