You make a great product. Your brand is recognized throughout the retail landscape. Now you want to take a crack at a high-volume order selling through Costco, Sam’s, Walmart or BJ’s. Where do you begin?
Often, we see brand managers, licensees or business owners use the “path of least effort” method, by working through their offshore product manufacturer to design, build and pack the appropriate pallet display for their campaign. They think if something goes wrong they can hold one vendor responsible. With this approach, the outcome is predetermined to fail. Better to work with experts in club store and mass market displays to maximize your odds for a successful order.
Choosing the Right Pallet Display Partner
The product manufacturer’s expertise is focused on your product, not on the U.S. retail, warehousing and distribution channels. So much emphasis goes into making a great product, it is no wonder brands assume their manufacturing partners will take care of them on the back end. Unfortunately, this often leads to expensive missteps, costly delays and soured relationships. Brands are best served by a partner who specializes in, and has the know-how required to manage, a global supply chain to design, build, pack and transport their pallet display.
First, the right partner will have expertise in the retailer’s pallet display guidelines. Doing your homework is critical. Stores like Costco, Walmart, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s each have their own vendor compliance guidelines. You should look for partners who can design with these guidelines in mind, so you are not wasting time on revisions to get approvals from the category buyer.
Next, they will need to have expertise and resources near where your products are made and be able to provide options to overcome obstacles that pop up along the way. Having the financial wherewithal to evaluate different supply options is essential to making the best decision for your brand.
Last, you want a partner who will protect you and your brand from costly errors and quality issues and will manage your program to the store floor.
The Best Outcomes Begin with the Right Questions
It is important to understand the goals of the brand. Are they looking to maximize profit per unit or gain market share? What are the risks and rewards of each strategy? Guiding the brand through the decision-making process by asking a series of questions to identify the design and economic priorities is essential to achieving a successful pallet display program.
The best retail POP displays highlight the brand, maximize retail space and show off the product in a way that quickly informs and guides customers toward their buying decision.
Working together, the brand, product manufacturer and pallet display partner can devise the best structure, shopper marketing information and product flow to ensure a successful launch at retail. A good pallet display partner will guide the brand and product manufacturer to avoid risky choices and set the program on a healthy path.
What Can Go Wrong?
What, no one told you that the factory would be shut down in the middle of your order for yet another local holiday? Or you told your vendor “I won’t pay another penny” – so they cheapen the materials or omit parts to save costs? Did you assume that simply putting the displays on a container would protect the displays and product?
1. Poor Quality
Bad printing, faulty materials, missing parts, improper labeling and environmental issues like mold on the product are all indications of poor quality.
2. Missed Deadlines
If your display isn’t there on time, it doesn’t really matter how good it looks. Not only do you lose sales, but you damage your credibility with the retailer. Achieving on-time delivery requires expertise over every link in the supply chain.
3. Shipping Damage
Most commonly, display damage occurs because the rigors of overseas or over-the-road transit, handling and distribution were not taken into consideration. The old adage “Plan for the worst; hope for the best” is appropriate here.
4. Poor Sell-Through
The goal of a great pallet display is to sell your product. Your display not only has to look good, it has to look good after traveling halfway around the world. It must be designed with insight into how customers will interact with it. Having a pallet display expert who can oversee the process from start to finish will improve your chances of a high sell-through rate.
Contact the Pallet Display Experts
Want to know more about what it takes to create a successful pallet display? Download our free checklist to learn more about the essential elements of a profitable pallet display program. With more than 50 years of experience, TPH Global Solutions® has produced and packed more than 250,000 pallet displays for all of the major big box retailers, consistently generating sell-through rates of 90% or higher.
Contact us to learn more about how to create successful pallet displays
