How to Sell a Product to Drugstores

The neighborhood drugstore sells a wide variety of products that the average consumer needs on a daily basis. As a business owner or manufacturer, you may be wondering, "How did these manufacturers get their products into these drugstores?" and "How do I sell my product to drugstores?" The process is a little more complicated than you may think.

Things You'll Need

• Advertising/promotional budget
• Distributor
• Marketing plan
• Media kit

Instructions

1. Tweak and develop your product to perfection. Test and retest it before trying to sell it to drugstores.

2. Call distributors in your area and nationwide who sell your type of product to a wide variety of retailers, including drugstores, to find out what their process is for accepting your products into their distribution network.

3. Prepare a marketing kit and proposal for the distributors regarding your product. Your marketing plan should include detailed information about how you will advertise and promote your product so that potential customers will know it. Some distributors will want to know that you have the funding to place advertisements and conduct promotions.

4. Send your packets to as many distributors as possible via Fedex or U.S. Postal Service priority mail. Whichever method you choose, make sure that the contents are properly protected from being bent or damaged in transit.

5. Put on your salesman hat and go to your local drugstores (meaning those in your 25-mile radius). Speak to the inventory manager about your product and present him or her with a free sample. Tell the manager that you are awaiting a response from one of their distributors to have it placed in their store and ask if they might be interested in carrying the product. This may help get interest flowing regarding your product to the distributor.

6. Await responses from distributors. If a distributor wants to carry your products, pack and send your product to the distributor.

7. Place your ads as promised. Once customers ask for your product, drugstore retailers will usually get on the horn with their distributor pretty quickly for an order.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure your product is worthwhile, reliable, and of a high quality. Take the time to put together an airtight marketing plan and media kit for distributors to look over, including pictures and a full description about the benefits of your product. Include customer reviews and testimonials. If you have a really good rapport with the drugstore inventory manager, offer to give him or her free products to sell at the store. Let the store keep the profits if there are any. If the store sees that there is a demand for your product, they will request it from their distributor.

• Without a distributor, you are unlikely to get your product in major drugstores. Don't harass your local drugstore managers about carrying your product; this will scare them away and make them skeptical about your product.