You have two options really if you want to get it into retail.
- The direct approach, make contact with the proper category buyer from the store (this can be extremely hard to do without some type of inside contact)that your product would fit in. you will need to then get a presentation together to sell them on the ideal. Just because you think it is great means nothing if the buyer doesn’t feel that it is a fit. You will then need to negotiate the selling price and profit margins… and when i say negotiate I mean that many times they will dictate the financials to you.
The hard part with this is that most big box stores would require that you have a certain amount of inventor already to go before they even decide to purchase(and you would need to prove that you have it). The last thing they are going to risk is reserving a shelf spot for a manufacture that is new and risky. Sometimes they will even take a certain amount of product, guarantee you x amount of time on the self, and if it doesn’t sell then they return the product back to you and you are left holding the inventory.(this is common with Wal-Mart)
- The next option is for you to sell your product your self and through small distributors and to also promote the product in a variety of ways. Once you have a proven success it is easier to get in the door at a big box store. heck if the product takes off they may even contact you which is even better yet as then you hold all the cards.
Chevis W.