The transition from selling your product online to selling it on the retail floor is a lot more complicated than it sounds, even when it’s the same retailer.
Many manufacturers have built healthy product demand through e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and coveted big box retailers like Costco, Walmart, or Target dot-com.
But what happens when there is an opportunity to move product from online to the retail floor?
It’s not an easy conversion, even when making a switch from online to floor for the same retailer.
From packaging and display requirements to shipping specifications, value minimums for pallets, and more, retail placement comes with a lot of extra details, and making the switch requires the ability to adapt – often on tight deadlines.
Take Advantage of Opportunity with Agile Support for Retail Campaigns
Sellers with the opportunity to make such a switch often have expectations of a seamless transition – but when it comes to big box retailer requirements, changes are rarely uncomplicated.
The transition is more than an address. Warehouse retailers like Costco have different buyers for online and store campaigns. That means you’ve got to reintroduce yourself and your brand, no matter how well you’ve done with online sales. “Each Costco department has a separate buyer group,” notes one product marketing director who made the switch with the help of TPH Global Solutions®. “It’s a completely new relationship.”
Pallet displays also typically require new packaging for your product. What worked for e-commerce boxing will not be sturdy enough for the high volume, stacked design of a big box pallet display. Retailers like Costco often require product to be repackaged in sturdy blister packs for easy stacking, better loss control, and to ensure a specific rate of sell-through.
If you’ve got product remaining in online warehouses, getting it repackaged for a floor display means having it picked up, unboxed and repackaged – a logistically challenging process that requires the coordination of warehouse space and labor, not to mention sourcing the materials. It’s a lot to manage even when the supply chain is working. Did we mention there will be a deadline?
A Winning Retail Campaign under Pandemic Demand
Recently, the TPH Global Solutions team assisted FLTR, a consumer products manufacturer, with transitioning a touchless thermometer product from online Costco to on-the-floor Costco. As pandemic-related demand for the product cycled from high to low, to can’t-get-enough-of-them, demand shifted rapidly from online to retail floor.
It was an opportunity no company could afford to squander, but getting the product collected from Costco warehouses across the country, repackaged, and redelivered was an exercise in logistics that required seamless coordination.
With little time to spare, TPH Global Solutions helped to reconfigure existing packaging for pallet floor displays that would meet Costco’s requirements and hold up under the rigors of transportation and the big box floor.
Your Partner for Screen-to-Shelf Retail Placement
Shifting a sales campaign from one platform to another can be a daunting experience, regardless of your product or preferred retail outlet. It’s also a tremendous opportunity for high volume sales and an ongoing relationship with some of the most successful retail venues on the planet.
TPH Global Solutions® has decades of experience managing big box retailer relationships, sourcing and designing of innovative packaging and displays, and troubleshooting global logistical challenges. Our diligent attention to detail and agility for last-minute changes has left our clients well-positioned to manage retail challenges of every variety for six decades.
If you’ve got an opportunity to pitch your brand to a big box retailer, reach out to one of our experts first.
