When should you present your new products to Retailers?

Knowing WHEN to pitch your brand to Retailers is critical when dealing with large retailers like supermarkets, as you need align with THEIR ‘category review’ timings for major activity.

This is the time when they review the total performance of a segment, delete poor selling SKU’s and launch new products. Working through planograms (maps of product on the shelf) and allll the detail can take months, and if you miss the date then that’s it for at least 6 - 18 months.

Timing is everything in Retail. Its more than making sure you turn up to a meeting on time; it can be the difference between success and at worst, being deleted when it comes to dealing with Retailers.

So why the focus on timing so much? Well, when you’ve got up to 20,000 different items on the shelf in a supermarket, and more in the central distribution centres, you need ALL parts to work in harmony. Profitability is based on having the right products, at the right price, in the right place, at the right time.

Taking the time to understand your retailers timeline for promotional activity, new product ranging (which is often linked to Category Review timing for most big Retailers) and changes to planograms (shelf layouts) is vital for new Suppliers wanting to break into the channel. There’s nothing worse for an ambitious new Supplier than finding out that they’ve have missed the category review deadline… by ONE day. This can mean waiting anywhere from 6 months to a whole year until the next review timing comes around when Category Buyers / Managers will consider new products. No amount of begging, pleading or telling them how super amazing your new product is will shortcut this with Retailers that work to strict timelines. While some have flexibility, this comes with compromise of slow roll outs if you’re lucky enough to sneak through.

But why such a long delays and lead-times for launching new products in supermarkets?

Most large Retailers work to a fairly predictable retail calendar that works a long way out in time. Easter planning is generally all done by January, Christmas is done & dusted by August and forget about trying to launch ANYTHING between late November & January when everyone is struggling to keep up with Christmas and restocking shelves. With literally thousands of products to coordinate through warehouses & complicated supply chains, it takes a mammoth amount of effort to organise products, pricing, promotional activity, demand, orders and more. Some large grocery retailers like Countdown have set ‘category review’ timelines that they work to every year, and a clear process that all new suppliers need to work through. Finding this information and planning well ahead will get you past this first barrier.

Established manufacturers work in 6-12 month planning horizons at a minimum when launching new products and have an extensive checklist to work through to make sure they’re all good to go. These lists are built from years of experience, learning the mistakes along the way and what Retailers want so they are ready to hit the ground running.

Large retailers have promotional programs with fixed dates, and retail category & promotional teams are in perpetual motion between submissions, approval, artwork development, printing and rolling out instore. At Z Energy we worked to the conventional Petrol channel timeline of 13 x four week promotional periods every year. EVERYTHING instore lined up with the start of a promotion period - new launches, deletions, instore activations, price changes and more. Working at such a pace means planning is key to get everything ready and follow the strict timelines. From the biggest suppliers to the smallest, this is the timeline that matters. While things like supply chain delays happen, there are still key dates for communicating and managing change in large retail networks. With over 170 sites all over the country, coordination is key - and for new Suppliers can be both a blessing and a curse. Speed to market is quick - but running activity that does NOT align with the promo calendar is a BIG deal and done by major exception only.

HELPFUL TIPS:

• If you’re launching new products, start talking to the Category Manager for your ideal category as soon as you can. Whether you’re new to the Retailer or more established, by engaging with your Category Manager early, you can get their involvement and understand where any potential issues may be. This could mean adjusting pricing, pack size or even packaging design for maximum appeal. Your Category Manager should know their

• Look at your launch plan, find out as much as you can on Retailer key dates & deadlines and start planning ahead a long time BEFORE you think you need to. Collecting documentation, compliance information and getting your products all set up to go can take a lot longer than you think. Failure to have everything ready to go can have a massive impact on your growth plans, let alone on your confidence and bank balance.

• Check out your Retailers websites to see if they publish important dates, or can give you guidelines on how to become a new Supplier. Countdown, Foodstuffs North Island, Foodstuffs South Island, Huckleberry and Farro all have information on their websites for new suppliers so you can find out the timelines, contacts and often dates for category reviews.

• Get on top of your calendar and planner. Double check dates for pricing and promotional submissions, make sure you know what is needed when, and set reminders in your diary.

• Let your Retailer / Category Manager know as soon as possible if there are any delays. This can feel embarrassing to have to tell them something has gone wrong, but its MUCH better to front foot the conversation then wait until they find out with empty shelves, missed deliveries or incorrect pricing & promo activity. A good category manager will help find solutions or alternatives, and deal with any issues instore.

Get in touch if you want to find out more on checklists for Category Reviews and making sure your timeline is retail ready.