Getting Your Product Into Major Retailers with Karen Waksman - BGP 56

Karen Waksman of Retail MBA talks about getting your product into major retail stores like Wal-Mart, Costco, CVS or Walgreens. She explains how retail is not selling and is a well thought out formula. She also explains the #1 thing retail buyers care about when looking at new products and debunks the myth that you need social proof and sales to start. The retail world has some shocking upsides that may be the thing that unlocks higher valuations for Amazon sellers and E-Commerce owners. Show Notes: 00:05 Summary of this episode 01:49 Introducing Karen Waksman 02:49 How she got into the retail world 03:58 She figured out a way to sell to retail that was totally innovative 05:07 Why business owners should get their products in retail 06:50 Getting the insider's view on the retail industry 07:44 Selling to retail is 80% strategy and 20% reaching out to them 08:01 Why retail buyers change jobs every 6-12 months at big chain stores 09:38 The actual physical steps to getting into retail stores is simple 10:24 Selling on Amazon vs Retail 13:11 Can you have a brand new product with zero sales and still get into retail? 14:29 Why retail buys a smaller quantity at the beginning 15:24 Does your product have to be unique, or can it be a private label product? 16:56 Physical store buyers are different than online store buyers 18:03 Are there certain products or categories to stay away from? 19:52 The invisible roadblocks that stops most people 22:18 The #1 thing buyers care about when looking at new products 24:04 Why you can’t even send buyers unsolicited samples 24:29 Retail is not selling. It’s a formulaic understanding. 25:55 Say thanks to Karen at www.retailmba.com 27:22 You can have third party companies fund your manufacturing and orders without your own money or without credit   Resources: www.retailmba.com https://www.facebook.com/RetailMBA https://www.youtube.com/user/productforprofit