- Understand you client: Before you spend a lot of time and money creating a product, you should know if anyone will want to buy it. Learn more about Market Research
- Learn if it’s protectable: Know if you can defend your product against cheap copies if it gets knocked off. Learn more about Copyright and Patent your product
- Test your product: Make sure that there’s a demand for your product and the customer understands what you are selling when it’s on the shelf and nobody is there to explain it. Learn more about Product Testing
- Perfect your pitch: Before you speak to decision makers, know your numbers, know your retailer and know your logistics in and out. Learn more about Pitching Your Product
- Don’t do it alone: If you haven’t been successful in retail before, a secret of success is that you can’t do it alone. Having great sales staff, customer support and marketing partners can take you from zero to success faster than if you tried on your own. Learn more about Retail Partnerships
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Founded in 1901, Walgreen Company or simply Walgreens is an American company that operates as the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health.
As of August 31, 2019, the company operated 9,277 stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Company operates through three segments: Retail Pharmacy USA, Retail Pharmacy International and Pharmaceutical Wholesale. The Retail Pharmacy USA segment consists of the Walgreen Co. (Walgreens) business, which includes the operation of retail drugstores, care clinics, and providing specialty pharmacy services. The Retail Pharmacy International segment consists primarily of the Alliance Boots pharmacy-led health and beauty stores, optical practices and related contract manufacturing operations. The Pharmaceutical Wholesale segment consists of the Alliance Boots pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution businesses.
The pharmaceutical company distributes branded and generic pharmaceutical, over-counter healthcare, and consumer products to retailers which include chain and independent drug stores and pharmacy departments of supermarkets and mass merchandisers, hospitals, and other healthcare provider in the United States. It is also known to provide services to pharmaceutical manufacturers, including distribution, inventory management, data reporting, new product launch support and contact pricing, and chargeback administration.
As a supplier of pharmaceutical products, getting your products to these stores may require you distributing products with reputable brand names. In the pharmaceutical world, the brand matters as these products deal with the health and, ultimately, the lives of persons to whom they are administered. The company has an established brand and reputation and it has been able to establish connections with both sides of the market: the manufacturers of pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical products retailers.
On it supplier relation, the retailer notes that: “thank you for your interest in becoming a Walgreens supplier. We use RangeMe, a third party, to manage new product submissions.”
To get your products into this company, you need to get on the RangeMe platform as the buyers of the company use the platform to source new products. You can create a free profile to get started. The platform works by getting you connected to potential buyers who can get to view your product offerings and see if they can enter into business with you.
As a potential vendor, it can be important to understand the goals and mission of the retailer you are planning to enter into business with.
More information about supplier relations can be accessed via this link.
To effectively be in business with this retailer, you need a unique selling point. This means that your offers must be different from the commonplace. You must look for something that makes what you sell very different from several products that this retailer sells. Walgreens is a big retailer with a lot of suppliers, there must be something attractive about your products.
Contact Walgreens Buyer
Do not trust any “list” of buyers.
Typically retail buyers change either companies or positions every few years. This strategy helps retailers know that their buyers are not taking “kick-backs” and are selecting the very best product for the very best position each time.
Buyers are typically held to a very rigorous standard of sell-through volume that they must hit and because of this they are risk averse. Your job as a supplier or vendor is to convince them that the buyers going into the stores not only know about what you’re selling but are actively seeking the product in the store currently.
Step 1
Contact Walgreens Buyer
Sometimes easier said than done, however you must get on Walgreens radar.
Call the Walgreens corporate phone number and ask for the names of the buyer and assistant buyers in your category.
Always leave voicemail with whomever the dispatch will connect you.
Use that information to connect with them on LinkedIn, RangeMe and any other professional social platform.
Ask your representative at your trade bureau to connect you to the Walgreens buyers as they will potentially have a better history.
See AlsoPharmacy AcquisitionsStep 2
Get On Walgreens Radar
Use advertising, public relations and marketing to make your brand known to Walgreens buyer through 3rd party websites & industry media sources.
Be everywhere that they look, the key is to position your brand as the obvious choice when Walgreens is looking to either refill a slot or create a new category.
Latch on to the news of the day and any trend that will make your product fill that niche whether that be Non-GMO or Vegan Leather for example.
Investing in your brand can only benefit your opportunities in the future. As being “top of mind” will have a ripple effect when you physically present your product at a Walgreens buyers meeting or trade show in the future.
Step 2
Step 3
Use Hard Facts
Walgreens buyers typically got to their position by picking “winners” and know how to see through the fluff.
Focus on the numbers, know your bottom dollar during a negotiation and how fees and chargebacks may cut into your position.
Know that long term success may outweigh short term sales, however financing large purchase orders from Walgreens when the net result is negative is not sustainable.
Understand the playing field and the other brands that are in your space, what they are offering as promotion and pricing and how you can stand out against them.
By knowing that each buyer at Walgreens probably knows more than you do, take an active listening approach to sales and understand that no is a perfectly acceptable answer that may have saved you millions of dollars on the backend.
How to Submit a Product to Walgreens
There are several ways to get a product placed in Walgreens. However, most entrepreneurs only dream about getting their product distributed to major retailers, few actually do it. We have experienced a significant rise in interest since the show Shark Tank started airing on NBC. Mr. Checkout has had the pleasure of working with a few Shark Tank success stories such as KISStixx and 180 Party Cups which are now currently being distributed around the country to stores like Walmart, Target, Kroger, 7-Eleven and more.
If you envision your product would be a good fit for Walgreens, we have a few steps to help you get your product on their shelves.
Let Us Know About Your Product
Here are the 6 steps you need to taketo have your product placed in Walgreens.
1. Start with the right questions.) Before you try distributing your product to Walgreens, you need to ask yourself a few basic questions. Do you need to build demand for your product, or is there already a demand for it? Do you know that Walgreens would be interested in selling your product? If you can strike a deal with Walgreens, can you handle the production volume? Do you want to sell directly to Walgreens, or do you want to license your product to a manufacturer that will handle distribution?
2. Be prepared to profit.) Does your product offer enough of a profit margin for Walgreens? Can you sell your product at a reasonable enough profit to cover the packaging, shipping, commissions, marketing and wholesale distribution? Check Walgreens guidelines for other fees that you will have to build into the cost of your product in order for you to be able to turn enough of a profit to make the effort worth your while. If you work with a discount retailer, they will try to strip your profits down to zero in order to keep their prices as low as possible.
The typical breakdown of margins are: If a products costs $1 to produce, that product will retail for $4. That product that retails for $4 will wholesale for $2 to distributors and stores that purchase direct. Big box retailers like Walgreens may offer to pay $1.25 to the manufacturer if the product costs $1 to produce. That is the typical profit margin.
3. Determine if Walgreens is the right store for your product.) The relationship between you and Walgreens starts with you browsing their store for competing products. If Walgreens already has a similar product, it is going to be very difficult to get your product picked up. Spend some time at your local Walgreens to see what kind of products they are selling, speak to the manager and see if he thinks your product will sell well in their store. Picture in which zone your product would best fit on the shelf and keep in mind that the most precious asset that these big box stores value are their shelf space. Keep this information in mind when you are preparing your presentation to Walgreens.
If your company is minority or women owned, check Walgreens website and see if they offer specific opportunities for those designations.
4. Pitch your product to Walgreens.) Decide whether it will be you or a representative to present your product to Walgreens. Your presentation depends heavily on your strengths as a businessperson as they will most likely ask financial questions and logistics questions.
It’s common for companies to hire a broker to pitch their product to Walgreens, as it will be more likely that your product will make it to the next stage if the individual pitching your product has industry knowledge or a personal relationship with Walgreens. The percentage of commission verses, however generally a broker will take around 5% to represent your product to Walgreens.
We at Mr. Checkout have experience dealing with brokers and know that there are several retail brokers that have poor business practices that can potentially damage your brand. If you are seeking a legitimate Walgreens broker, please give us a call for a recommendation. It could save you a huge headache and a lot of money.
5. Complete the required Walgreens paperwork.) Often Walgreens will have you go through an application process. However, before submitting the paperwork required by Walgreens, you should contact a buyer at Walgreens and let them know your intentions. Having a contact inside of the company will potentially move your application more smoothly through the process.
6. Anticipate the need for increased volume.) Having Walgreens agree to stock your product will most likely mean a significant increase in volume. You should be prepared to ramp up your production and informing your manufacturer of this opportunity.
Having production, logistics and distribution to sync is not only difficult, it requires a significant amount of time invested in customer relations. Also, Walgreens may have stipulations in the contract that may penalize you for delays in shipping and production. Have an attorney explain all contracts to you if you don’t understand the terms.
If you’re looking to sell your product to Walgreens, be sure to thoroughly assess the marketplace, carefully prepare for production growth, and take full advantage of resources available to help you grow your business.
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