Retail is an extremely difficult environment for a new product. There are literally hundreds of products vying for consumers’ attention. Every product category (except truly new categories which are rare) is crowded. Take the category of Dog Toys in an average Petco or Petsmart for example. There must be at least 50 different toys from Kong and Nylabone to Petmate and JW Pet (Cuz Ball) – not to mention the store brands. The big companies are smart. You will notice that they each have multiple items on the shelf creating a “brand block”. This is important. Without a brand block it will be extremely difficult for anyone to notice your product on the shelf. Multiple SKUs can be created by simply offering different sizes, flavors, colors or scents. A good rule of thumb is take your line and divide by 2. For example, if you have 12 dog toys you are presenting to Petco, shoot for them to authorize (carry) 6 or 3. The more you present the better chance you have of getting multiple facings. Multiple facings = a better chance of success.h
