How To Get Into Mac’s Market
I came across a quote one time by a Canadian social media expert, author and entrepreneur; Melonie Dodaro, she said: “People don’t care about your business. They care about their problems. Be the solution that they are looking for.” This is a very powerful position reason being that most businesses, especially at inception, seek solely the profiteering involved in whatever service or goods they provide. Most fail to realize that the moment people do not have a need for you, you start losing your relevance and essentially your customers. Needless to say that no business can survive without her customers. This is why Mac’s Market particularly stands out.
Mac’s Market is a local grocery store which is based in Vermont. Mac’s Market is a family owned and operated business that has been part of Central Vermont for more than thirty years. The company consists of a chain of grocery stores, convenience stores and a fuel division. Mac’s Market & Deli operates in New York, New Hampshire and in Vermont. The chain is primarily based in Vermont. The chain has over 12 convenience stores in Vermont and New Hampshire, and 9grocery stores, including two in New York. CITGO petroleum suppliers the fuel division of the chain. With Sherman V. Allen Inc. being the Parent company of the chain.
As earlier mentioned, Mac’s Market and Deli stores is all about identifying a need and meeting it. In the year 2010, the grocery store opened in the local community that has gone for long stretches of time without a market. The village had been left without a grocery for almost a year. The situation changed for the better when Mac’s Market opened early in May. According to some residents the store’s opening was god sent. In addition to service to local customers, the store provides about 25 jobs – another plus for the Keeseville area. Subsequently, after two years, the store opened a new location in New York. The location had been owned by Mac’s Market parent company, Sherman V. Allen Inc., for about 20 years. According to company officials, they have been some renovations to the Route 9 store. For Mac’s Market it is all about creating new opportunities and giving back to the community.
Although Mac’s Market has really done a lot to improve their society, they need to do much more to improve their visibility. It is extremely difficult if not impossible to get any tangible information about the store online. Apart from reports by other sites and other writers, Mac’s market doesn’t even have a functioning website. If they do it is for some reason not visible. This is extremely dangerous to sales, especially in a 21stcentury where the world basically lives online. The inability of a 21stCentury store to have an online presence can affect marketability and discourage investors. Anyone interested in doing business with them can visit their headquarters at 101 Pearl St, Essex Junction, VT 05452, USA.
How to get your product into Mac’s Market
- 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 Mac’s Market 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 Mac’s Market
There are several ways to get a product placed in Mac’s Market. 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 Mac’s Market, 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 Mac’s Market.
1. Start with the right questions.) Before you try distributing your product to Mac’s Market, 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 Mac’s Market would be interested in selling your product? If you can strike a deal with Mac’s Market, can you handle the production volume? Do you want to sell directly to Mac’s Market, 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 Mac’s Market? Can you sell your product at a reasonable enough profit to cover the packaging, shipping, commissions, marketing and wholesale distribution? Check Mac’s Market 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 Mac’s Market 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 Mac’s Market is the right store for your product.) The relationship between you and Mac’s Market starts with you browsing their store for competing products. If Mac’s Market already has a similar product, it is going to be very difficult to get your product picked up. Spend some time at your local Mac’s Market 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 Mac’s Market.
If your company is minority or women owned, check Mac’s Market website and see if they offer specific opportunities for those designations.
4. Pitch your product to Mac’s Market.) Decide whether it will be you or a representative to present your product to Mac’s Market. 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 Mac’s Market, 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 Mac’s Market. The percentage of commission verses, however generally a broker will take around 5% to represent your product to Mac’s Market.
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 Mac’s Market 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 Mac’s Market paperwork.) Often Mac’s Market will have you go through an application process. However, before submitting the paperwork required by Mac’s Market, you should contact a buyer at Mac’s Market 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 Mac’s Market 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, Mac’s Market 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 Mac’s Market, 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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