Picking A Winning C-Store Item

Picking A Winning C-Store Item

Picking A Winning C-Store Item

Every wholesale distributor servicing convenience stores knows how fickle the market can be - particularly now, with the added economic challenges.

The fact is, up until the last couple of years, picking new items to offer was pretty easy. Just make sure it was of decent quality, had some appeal to the masses and "presto" you had a item you could make money with. If the item was holiday related, even better.

Now, with so many people on hard times, it's much more difficult to find an item with which you can quickly move a mass quantity in order to turn a quick profit. So, because we guarantee every item we sell, I developed criteria which must be met when considering the purchase of new items in order to reduce our risk and more ensure profitability.

Remember, each area is different due to current economic conditions, population and the like. So this set of criteria may not work for you, but it has worked for us.

Our criteria are:

1. The item can not retail for more than $4.99. This is something I will only budge on if I have first-hand knowledge (from another distributor) that the item being considered has a proven track record. And even then I run an in-store test of only about 5 displays to start.2. If the product is novelty related, we must make a minimum of 30% profit per sale. This figure goes up depending on the overall risk of return I anticipate. Keep in mind the risk of returns and the shape and ability to resell the returned items when assessing risk.3. We can deliver the item pre-priced. Meaning either the display, or the items themselves are priced before they leave our warehouse. The only way we guarantee sales on new items now is if they are priced right. The only way to ensure that is to price them ourselves.4. I must be sold on the product. My experience has shown that if I'm not completely behind the product, our sales people sense it and then take on the same feelings of doubt. This leads to the product even it were a winner, not performing well and not leaving the warehouse with the velocity we like and need. You must trust your gut on this one.

I can't stress enough the fact that you must know your core customer base and feel good about the product. Keep in mind you're not necessarily looking for a product you yourself would use. For example, we've had Valentine's day items that have been hugely successful. But if I would have brought them home to my wife, I would have slept on the lawn for a week.

Good Luck.

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