As an entrepreneur you have many options to get your product to market. The two that are most common are your own site with a shopping cart and approaching big box and large chains. Although there are many success stories with both of these options, a large opportunity is being ignored if you do not include a strategy to attract independent retail locations.
What most entrepreneurs do not realize is that only six percent (6%) of all retail sales in the United States happens online. Although great things can happen online, getting your product on the shelves in true brick and mortar stores will help you grow your business and create long term buyers for your product.
Let’s look at some retail numbers to help you decide what is the best course of action for your product:
· United States retail exceeds $4.345 Trillion dollars
o Online retail sales are 6% of the market at $254.9 billion
§ Amazon had a large part of this at $35 billion in sales
· Top 200 retailers sell 30% of worldwide revenue, top 30 retailers comprise of 27% of retail sales
· 90% of US retail sellers are single store locations making up $2.15 trillion in sales, almost half of the US retail market
· For every one big box retail location, there are nine independent locally owned retailers.
· There are over 2.8 million independent retail locations in the United States
When looking at these numbers it is hard to ignore the opportunity that small independent retailers can provide to new products. When devising your strategy for launching new products, make sure you keep in mind how you are going to pitch your product to the independent retailers, as it is the largest single segment of the retail economy.
No comments:
Post a Comment