While it might seem convenient to source your custom displays and packaging from your product factory or with a packaging and display manufacturer that serves as a large, “integrated” vendor, these options may leave your brand at risk of not meeting the retailer’s order timeline, guidelines or not being supported when the inevitable challenges of getting your product to market arise.
Value-Add vs. Order Taker vs. Cheap
Retail channel experts (RCEs) start to impact your odds of success with the buyer and order at the earliest stages of engagement. Best-in-class RCEs not only design the packaging and displays, but also prepare you for your buyer meetings with talking points, presentations and data that will convey maximum competence in getting your products to the store on time and within the retailer’s requirements.
Integrated vendors, on the other hand, are often large corporations that may promote themselves as “integrated” but operate in silos, with one hand not knowing what the other is doing. They often provide manufacturing expertise but will not actively stay engaged after they have completed their portion of the order.
Product factories offer lower costs for the packaging and displays but have limited knowledge of retailer requirements, rarely provide high quality materials or printing, and become non-responsive should an issue arise when the product arrives at the stores.
Flexible vs. Rigid
RCEs are more willing to work with you on smaller opening orders since they offer more expansive supply chains and locations. The best RCEs stay involved in your order from the manufacturing floor to store floor making sure every aspect of your program is successful. In the event support is needed, they can supply the necessary expertise and resources to address most issues.
Some integrated packaging and display suppliers can only work with one material type whether that’s the best fit for you and your retail buyer or not. Some may also outsource production. Others are struggling to staff their operations because of low wages. A partner will find the best fit suppliers for all of your needs, wherever they happen to be on the planet.
A Better Night’s Sleep
With myriad retailer and supply chain challenges, it’s easier to sleep at night when you can count on a supply chain expert to manage the hurdles and prevent problems so you can focus on bigger issues.
RCEs will coordinate multiple suppliers to get a shippable product, assembling and managing subcontractors into a single source.
Work with a Best-in-Class RCE
The more complex your program, the more value we offer at TPH Global Solutions®. Serving you as an RCE, we work with buyers from all types of retailers and subcontract with manufacturers, packaging and display suppliers, co-packers, and logistics providers all over the world – and we’ve been doing so since 1965.
TPH Global Solutions will make it easy for you to get your product to market by developing your custom display program so that it meets retail buyer requirements, is profitable, and gets to stores on-time without damage or chargebacks. We’ll even repackage dead inventory if you have any.
Contact us to learn more about retail packaging and displays
