What Are The Factors That Should Influence Your Product Distribution Strategy?
Finding or choosing the right kind of convenience store to market and sell your products to essential to ensure a regular source of profitability for your products. If your products are of the right quality and right price, most major convenience stores are unlikely to turn down your products. But how do you ensure mass profitability of your products? The nature of your product(s) will determine the type of distributor you choose and the type of distribution plan you have. A sound, flexible distribution plan is essential if you want your offerings to do well in the market.
The right kind of distribution is even more important if you are advertising and selling a new product. For example, consider you have a new biscuit packet. The competition is already pretty huge, so marketing ad distribution takes a great degree of importance. How can you ensure that consumers are excited by your product? You will need to push any and all unique features in a manner that is most likely to resonate with your target audience.
There are numerous factors that need you consider when creating your product distribution strategy. You will need to conduct through research, both offline and online if possible, in order to best assess the potential for profitability. If you are an online retailer, it may be harder to accrue all the information you need. In order to efficiently gather information, you could use big data analytics to gain all the knowledge you require.
Location of the store
The location of a convenience store influences the amount of sales it makes and the type of customers it receives. The location affects the price, distribution, quality, quantity, and popularity of your products. Affordability and visibility are critical factors because if a store isn’t noticed, your products will not be successful. The population of the area matters as well. People like going to stores that are closer to home, and if you manage to land a store in a densely packed area, your products are likelier to sell. Is the store located on the main road? Is it located on a busy street? Is it located in a low-income area?
Consider you have a new range of high end handbags. Your ideal target range here would be wealthy women. You will ideally need to target stores in wealthier and posh neighborhoods. It would not make sense to market these product to a store in a low-income region as the sales are likely to be minimal even if the store or distributor accepts your products. The location of the store(s) you choose will have a huge impact on your level of profitability.
Who goes to the store?
Every product is targeted to a certain part of the population. Identifying the location of your target group is an essential aspect of your product distribution strategy. Look at population estimates based on the latest census surveys to identify where your target groups live.
Suppose you are selling a new brand of potato chips. What is your ideal target group? In this case, the group is most likely to be college students and young adults. Find out the regions in your city or state where these populations are most dominant and display your products to stores in those areas. You are less likely to experience success if you sell the same potato chips in an area mostly dominated by older people, who are likely to be more health conscious.
The location of the store and the type of population that visit it are intrinsically linked to the success of your products. Conducting thorough research about these factors is essential before you develop a distribution strategy. Placing a greater amount of your products in the presence of your targeted customers will allow you to ascertain the success of your product. It may even cause you to change your business goals if all does not go according to plan.
The nature of the store environment
The nature and aesthetics of your store environment affects the visibility and profitability of your products. Different convenience stores are designed and structured in different manners that affect the store’s profitability and popularity. Some stores place a great deal of emphasis on lighting, product placement, and segmentation of products, while other stores have seemingly random products strewn across the store.
The nature of your product will determine its ideal store environment. Your product may not have an ideal store environment, but stores with refined environments could be better placed to sell larger quantities of your products. Several stores shine tend to shine bright lights on their products in an effort to get more customers interested in their products. Some stores place check out lines at the very end or beginning of the store so customers unconsciously walk past all the products and may end up purchasing more than they intended to purchase.
The placement of your product in the store
Product placement is literally everything. Where a particular store places your product will determine the success of the product, especially if it is a new product. Consider it from the point of view of a customer. Are you going to buy the shiny, reputable product at the front of the display or the dusty, unknown product at the back of the line? You are unlikely to look at or even notice the presence of the products at the back.
This is why it is essential to convince convenience stores to place your products in a manner that positively affects its visibility. You will have to pay extra for this promotion. However, if the placement leads to a good number of sales, the store is likelier to consistently place your products in the best possible area to maximize profitability. If your products are successful, it increases the bargaining power at your disposal. You can charge the store more to stock your products and greatly increase your level of profits.
