How small firms can be seen
For small businesses, pitching their wares to the big retailers can be a daunting prospect – but securing that big name stockist, with all of its transformative effects, is far from impossible. Turning your start-up business into a popular brand is of course no mean feat, particularly when you’re looking to break into highly competitive and often over-saturated markets.
The reality is that buyers are bombarded with new products every day, and few will really stand out, while small suppliers may toil for years to get noticed.
Many budding entrepreneurs carry on day jobs during in order to make ends meet, before throwing themselves into their passion during evenings and weekends, and it can be very draining. You may be one of the lucky ones quickly invited to pitch to a significant buyer, but there are certainly other ways to help facilitate success, and make that crucial connection. When finally securing an audience with a big name retailer, the importance of having all practical information at your fingertips cannot be underestimated. We’ve all seen great ideas fall flat on Dragons’ Den when the details just didn’t add up. Key information on brand USPS, best sellers, production and delivery capability, and marketing and audience insights must be innately known and capably outlined. Get it right and you’re beginning to build a vital, and hopefully enduring, relationship. However, while the customer experience has continued to evolve with the rise of mobile commerce, social commerce, and in-store innovation, the approach to building enduring relationships between retailers and suppliers has stood still, remaining frustratingly traditional and inefficient through the likes of cold calling and trade shows. A significant opportunity has thus arisen for them to find new ways to connect and engender the kind of relationships that can ultimately put great ideas on shelves and in baskets. Technology’s ability to allow suppliers to place indepth product information directly at buyer’s fingertips now represents an exciting growth area.
Tech is allowing retail buyers to hone in on products that meet their exact criteria. It’s throwing a spotlight on smaller suppliers who might normally have struggled to secure the attention of major national retailers, while ensuring that their products are easily located and ready to be considered. The leading innovators in this area will be those that specifically design their product discovery solutions for buyers with time constraints, making the process faster than ever before, while saving money and effort.
Suddenly, that vital pitch represents only the culmination of a strong relationship that has started long before, with tech providing the vital introduction. But the real winners? The businesses that are able to get their uniquely wonderful ideas under the noses of influential buyers like never before, and stay there. Simon Coyle, founder and director of Product Guru.