There's a mantra in category management that you might have heard before…
“The shelves aren’t elastic”
Essentially, this means that there's only so much space on the shelf.
For every new product that a retailer wants to put on the shelves, they're going to have to take something out.
This is obvious for the physical shelf in store, but this is true of online retailers as well.
An online store can list a lot more products than a physical one can, but they still have limitations on how many lines their warehouses and supply chains can manage.
When it comes to making the decision of which products deserve a place on the shelf, it's really important that we step into our buyers’ shoes.
We should think about how many different suppliers they're speaking to and how many new products they're being shown ahead of their next range review.
How many products are they going to have to take out of their fixture in order to list everything that they want?
That's why having a really, really solid category led sell-in story is so important.
Your sell-in story needs to demonstrate that:
Your product will sell
Your product will add something different to the category.
So, ahead of your next retailer meeting, think about how you can really demonstrate that your product is going to sell and that it's going to add something different to the category.
If you’re keen to understand how you can do this, check out my online course, Create a category led sell-in story.
Sign up here and use the code BLOG10 at checkout to get 10% off.
Throughout the course, I'll show you a few different tips and techniques as well as a few examples of how you can show that your product will sell and that it will add something different to the category.
Don’t just take my word for it…
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“This is such a good training course, it's easy to follow and can fit into busy diaries. The documents and templates are super helpful! I wish I had these when I had started my career!!” - Alex from Ferrero
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“A very clear, and easy to follow course! Ella's videos were in bite size chunks, with supporting worksheets to really put what you've learnt to the test!” - Charlotte from Scrumbles
Oh, and once you’ve purchased the course, it’s there forever so you can refer back to it every time you want to build a sell-in story.
Find out more here or get in touch if you want to know more.
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