line reviews

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How This Little Brand Made A BIG Impression With Target Senior Executives (Plus, 3 Actions That Earned Us A Future Commitment)

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Last week, I attended meetings at Target for an organic skin care brand (different client from my Walmart trip).

This brand began selling to Target in April 2015. And they first brought me on with the request:

“Can you work with our sales rep to make sure we perform well at Target? And help us grow our shelf space?”

Their request stemmed from concerns that sales were too slow and they were afraid they would not be renewed for 2016. We immediately began digging into sales and coming up with a plan of action.

Simultaneously, Target invited this brand to submit for their big 2016 merchandising and marketing initiative, Made to Matter. This lengthy process included multiple rounds of consideration. Approximately 100 brands would be whittled down to just over 30 brands over several months.

Flash forward to mid-July. This brand scheduled two meetings at Target HQ:

  1. A line review with the category buyer and,
  2. Made to Matter final round pitch presentation to a cross-functional committee of 15+ executives.

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How I Got An Order From Walmart in 20 Minutes (True Story!)

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Last week, I was in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Have you ever been there? I haven't. And I was excited to go. Walmart and Sam's Club are headquartered in Bentonville and give the town its storied history.

I was there to lead the pitch to Walmart and Sam's Club for a client. It was such an interesting and positive experience that I knew I had to share it with you! Whether or not you intend to sell to Walmart or Sam's Club, this experience is still worth reading about. 

I'll start with the meetings. We had 3 Walmart meetings and 2 Sam's Club meetings. We met with both the Senior Buyers and Buyers for our categories. Within 20 minutes of our first meeting with a Walmart Sr. Buyer, we received a commitment for Feb 2016. My client laughs when she tells this story, but the commitment came so fast I didn't believe it. I actually asked the Sr. Buyer to clarify, "So when did you say you will be making decisions for the February assortment?". His response, "I just did. Your brand is in our assortment." OH!