Alex is what you should call an all American guy. He spent my youth in a tiny town in Oklahoma with a population of 22 people. He labored on his father's farm growing crops and selling them to the neighborhood market. Since Alex was a young boy he'd dreams of owning their own company. Never did he think his dreams will be ruined by one company.
When Alex was 19 he left his father's ranch and attended a college in South Texas. He graduated with a qualification in chemical engineering. The moment he graduated he landed employment with Procter and Gamble. He was responsible for developing their detergent category. Alex was always picking out new and inventive products. One of is own products he developed was a unique detergent that his company was not prepared to market. Alex decided to quit his job and Sell on Walmart marketplace the item on his own. He knew he'd a great product but didn't learn How to sell on Walmart to mass retailers.
When Alex quit his job he only had his 401(k) and several other money he saved up while in college. He cashed in his 401(k) and used that money to mass produce his detergent. Since Alex had experience in manufacturing he could rely on some of his industry contacts. He thought if he was going to put all he'd into this product he was going to sell it to the largest retailer.
Alex found the device and proceeded to call his local Walmart.
Wal-mart is the largest retailer in the world. The organization has significantly more than 4,200 stores in the United States with more than one store opening every month. Walmart's headquarters are located in a tiny town in Arkansas. When you yourself have ever been to their headquarters you'd not be amazed
Alex could talk with the store manager which directed him to their company website. He received all the data he needed become a Walmart seller. He completed all of the tedious paperwork they required and waited for a consumer to respond. Unlike most potential vendors he was excited to get an invitation to generally meet using their household buyer.
On a hot summer day in July Alex met with Jim family members buyer. Jim looked like he just graduated from senior school until he began to speak. Jim asked Alex a myriad of questions like what's your production capabilities and if he was financially able to produce a large retailer how big is Wal-mart. Alex could answer most of Jim's questions but he did not really understand the volume a large retailer like Wal-mart could demand.
Three weeks later Alex was approved becoming a Wal-Mart vendor and a week later received his first purchase order. Alex could not believe how big is his first order. The quantity of the purchase order was significantly more than Alex made working for Procter & Gamble's during his first year. The only thing that made Alex's heart stop was when the delivery would have to be made. Wal-Mart had given him a two-week window to deliver his first order.
During Alex's meeting he was sure he told the client he needed at the very least a month to deliver the initial order. Since this was Alex's first order he did not need to seem as if he could not handle the demands of being a Wal-mart vendor. Alex did all he could to make sure the order was delivered at the specified time and that meant even having a loss on the initial order. how to get approved to sell on Walmart
Now Alex finally has his product on Wal-mart's shelves. Alex could monitor the sales of his product via retail link. The sales of his product was not what Alex or the client had expected.
His weekly sales were below the categories average. Alex did all he could with the small budget he'd for marketing but to no avail. Alex was unable to compete with the name brand products on the shelf.
After five months of low sales the client made a decision to cancel the product. Alex was devastated because Wal-mart was his only account. Alex put all his time and profit developing his product but didn't consider the amount of time and money it would take to construct the awareness of his product. You could have the most effective product but if people are unaware of it your sales will suffer. Alex was stuck with the remaining inventory and no account to offer his product in. He never thought Wal-Mart would ruin his dreams.
No comments:
Post a Comment