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NACDS promotes successful selling
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. — Dozens of small vendors with little or no distribution in chain drug stores got a crash course in the intricacies of working with the trade class last month at an event sponsored by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
The nearly 200 suppliers and 60 brokers huddled in a ballroom at the Lincolnshire Marriott for the second annual Successful Selling Conference learned that dealing with America’s largest drug chains requires a skillful blend of diligence and patience.
Vendors must meet retailers’ stringent requirements while waiting for an opportunity to crack into what is often a very crowded planogram.
The second day of this year’s event was devoted to how to work with Walgreen Co.
After a series of Walgreens marketing and merchandising executives laid out what the drug chain looks for in new items and what it expects from its vendors, potential suppliers had a series of short meetings with Walgreens category managers to pitch their products.
Attendees said they found the presentations and meetings invaluable.
“I’m doing this all on my own,” Cindy Kroiss, the creator of a product called the Sick Bear Bowl, said just before meeting with Walgreens category managers for health and wellness. “So what I learned here was very helpful.”
Promoting products that run the gamut from sparkling beverages to unique nutritional supplements, new vendors are the lifeblood of keeping a store’s mix fresh, Walgreens executives noted.
“Innovation sells,” corporate vice president of purchasing David Van Howe said. “It’s not about line extensions but about innovative products that provide something that no other products do.”
The Successful Selling Conference was brimming with such items — many of them from entrepreneurs who created their lines because of a necessity in their own lives.
Sick Bear’s Kroiss, for example, explained that the idea for her bowls, which are designed for small children to vomit into when they are ill, came to her because her 2-year-old daughter suffers from severe car sickness and was uncomfortable throwing up in any other type of container.
Donna Slade, the inventor of Crutch Critters, explained that her product — plush animals that attach to the top of children’s crutches or on the side of arm braces — were developed after her son broke his leg in and was forced to hobble around on crutches for several weeks.
Slade said the day and a half of presentations prior to the meetings with Walgreens buyers made her better prepared for her discussions with the category managers.
“Some of the presentations helped me in my meeting,” she noted. “There were a lot of things that I did not know that the speakers helped me understand.”
Most of the potential vendors at the meeting admitted that while they knew that they would have to face such things as promotional fees and the need to be able to provide a steady stream of products if Walgreens or another retailer opted to add their items to its mix, they were not aware of the extent of what was involved in selling to a major chain.
“It was interesting to find out more about Walgreens,” said Jeff Kletter, chief executive officer and founder of Kinesys Inc., a manufacturer of high-end sunscreens. “Walgreens is a monster, and it would be great if it wanted our line. But it will be tough to get our products in the stores.”
The major impediment, according to Kletter, is the payment terms. “Each retailer is different,” he explained. “This one is unique because it is so big. We will have to weigh what terms that would be difficult for us to meet versus the payback of being in Walgreens.”
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