For manufacturers/service providers, the retail world offers a myriad of options to house your product or service. The goal of the particular retailer of choice is not always the same. Some retailers provide excellent visibility and advertising, some retailers allow you to increase your margin, some retailers provide opportunities for long term relationships and company growth, and some retailers allow you to sell your product in mass quantities.
Every decision you make in retail should be calculated. So, before pitching your product/service to a particular retail venue, keep the many options that you have in mind:
- E-Commerce
- Popular online stores can be an option for manufacturers with the ability to drop ship single product purchases to any address in the United States (including Alaska and Puerto Rico)
- Street Marketing
- Street marketing may include Farmers Markets, fairs, co-op shops, etc.
- Boutique
- Single location store fronts, often on main streets, boulevards, shopping malls, etc.
- Small Brick & Mortar
- Small chain locations that may be regionally based
- Mid-Sized Brick & Mortar
- Mid-sized retailers can be a gray area. As a rule, we refer to mid-sized retailers as those chains that cover at least 25% of the continental United States.
- Large Brick & Mortar
- Large retailers that are highly recognized by most US shoppers
- Wholesale
- Wholesale is often referred to the sale of goods/services to other businesses/retailers. This avenue of consumer retail is one exception. See our next post for more information about Wholesale.
Keep in mind, within each category there may be additional options (department stores, convenience stores, etc.). This list is categorized by distribution and relative size.
