How to sell food. How to promote a grocery store: analysis of the market and competitors, strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise

Hello!

We continue to publish useful tips for those who are at the beginning of the journey of creating and developing a successful online store. In previous publications we talked about how to find “your” product (and), what are its features?, your business idea and .

Today we will talk about what you need to consider if you decide to sell your own products online

Own goods and services

The Internet has opened up a whole new world for manufacturers: selling products has become much easier and faster. But there are a number of nuances here.

There are undoubted advantages to selling your own product: you have full control over your brand and its development, you have a chance to occupy a free niche in the market, adjust the product taking into account customer requests, and so on. But in addition to organizing the trading process itself, you will have to invest time and effort in the production itself.

That’s why you definitely need to think ahead about how you will scale your business, how your product line will grow and change, what challenges you may encounter in the future, and what it will take to remain competitive and offer something new to your customers.

Handmade goods store Plushkin.club

What should be your first steps in selling online?

1. Evaluate the initial data. Where will you get the raw materials (depending on the type of your business, this could be wholesalers or retail, friends, or even a flea market). You need to clearly identify suppliers and calculate all costs.
2. Determine how you will deliver orders: will you choose transport companies or choose Russian Post? Will you send the packages yourself or spend money on couriers and delivery services? Shipping is one of the key aspects of selling products online.
3. Think about the packaging of the product: how reliable it is, how it will affect the overall cost, and whether it will withstand transportation.
4. Fully calculate the production process: how long it will take to produce one unit of goods, how much you can do in a day, in a week, in a month. Will you work to order or intend to keep a stock of goods in order to promptly send them to customers? Document absolutely everything, from production costs to the amount of time spent.
5. Before selling a product in an online store, think about where you will store the product. Even if you have spare space in your home, you'll probably have to look for something larger as you scale your business. Explore alternatives: how much does it cost to rent suitable premises, how much will logistics services cost from a 3PL (Third Party Logistics) provider.
6. Timing plays a big role in selling products online. Your website should clearly state how long it will take for the product to be manufactured and delivered to the buyer after payment for the order. You can place this information in the product description, as well as duplicate it in transaction confirmation emails. Be honest, make the process as transparent as possible, meet deadlines, and then customers will trust you.

Working with a manufacturer or wholesaler

This option involves you finding a partner to develop, produce and sell your product. This is a great option if you don't have the opportunity or don't want to do it yourself. Or you doubt that you can handle scaling your business on your own, and therefore are ready to work in collaboration with a larger manufacturer or wholesaler who will handle sales.

Online store of the Miratorg holding, which unites several manufacturers

However, the investment is likely to be more significant. And you will also have to be responsible for the brand and quality of the product to customers.

What points should you pay attention to before you start selling a new product?

1. You can establish partnerships with an already successfully operating company, or find an “unpromoted” manufacturer that meets all your requirements. In any case, finding a partner can take quite a long time, so prepare for this in advance.
2. Make sure that your partner is in compliance with the law and has all the necessary documents (licenses, permits). Seek recommendations from those who have already worked with this manufacturer or wholesaler. It's a good sign if the company you're researching also asks you for the same information to prove your business is legitimate.
3. Assess your capabilities and partnership prospects:
   - What will be the final cost of the product, taking into account outsourced production, delivery and potential hidden fees?
   - How quickly can the partner ship the goods?
   - How is delivery and inventory management organized in the company? Is this included in the price of the product or is it an additional service? Will you control the branding?
   - Study the contract: is there room for maneuver in it, is it possible to make adjustments that your business needs? Can the conditions be called strict? What exactly are you risking? -How is communication structured in the partner company? How often will you be provided with up-to-date information about changes, innovations, and discounts made to the product?
   - What are the minimum order quantities?
   

1. Be sure to study a sample of the product before signing the contract. Make sure it meets your expectations. Manufacturers typically charge a fee for sending the sample, but you can negotiate an option where payment will be made if the contract is signed.

So, weigh all your options and get started! Remember: in the worst case scenario, if nothing works out, you can choose a different direction and move on. Selling in an online store is not as difficult as it seems!

Share your experience in the comments!
Prepared by Victoria Chernysheva

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Alexander Kaptsov

Reading time: 6 minutes

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Organizing efficient production of goods is far from the central problem of a modern entrepreneur. The created products must also be sold profitably and quickly. For these purposes, the scheme for attracting partners and dealers seems to be very effective. Where and how to quickly find business intermediaries?

Main types of product sales: development of a sales scheme

Creating an effective sales network structure is a guarantee of prompt and effective sales of products.

To achieve this goal, a chain of movement of goods must be formed: “manufacturer-intermediary-buyer”.

At the same time, we can now talk about the existence of several options for types of sales, including:

1. Direct channels – selling goods using our own resources.
2. Indirect channels – use of intermediaries (one or more).

Important point: Only large companies with a well-known brand among consumers can afford to use direct channels. It is better for new manufacturers, as well as small and medium-sized companies, to focus on the services of intermediaries.

Indirect (intermediary) sales channels include many varieties, including:

• Single-level channel provides for the presence of one intermediary (broker or dealer).
• Two-level channel includes two intermediaries (wholesaler and retailer).
• Three-level channel consists of three intermediaries (seller of large wholesale quantities, seller of small wholesale quantities, retailer).

In addition to the above classification, we can talk about the existence of several types of intermediaries:

1. - These are wholesale sellers who carry out all trading operations on their own behalf and at their own expense (in fact, they acquire goods as property).
2. Distributors – can participate in wholesale and retail sales of goods; Although they purchase at their own expense, they trade on behalf of the manufacturer.
3. Commission agents – intermediaries whose operating pattern is the opposite of that of distributors: they receive goods at the expense of the manufacturer, but act on their own behalf.
4. Agents – act at the expense and on behalf of the manufacturer, providing him with access to retail buyers for a small fee.
5. Brokers – a special type of intermediaries whose function is to establish connections between legal entities. Who are interested in supplying products.

In order to develop an optimal sales scheme for a company’s products, you can use one of three approaches to creating distribution channels:

• Exclusive distribution involves identifying specific markets between which goods need to be distributed. Depending on their number, the number of intermediaries is selected.
• Intensive distribution involves the involvement of the maximum possible number of intermediaries to cover a significant number of territories.
• Selective distribution assumes that in some cases the manufacturer uses exclusive, and in other cases intensive distribution.

Thus, the choice of a specific type of product sales depends on the goals and objectives of the enterprise’s sales policy.

Where to look for a dealer to sell your products: available options

One of the key questions for manufacturers is: where to find professional, conscientious and efficient dealers:

• Firstly , it is necessary to study all the advertisements available in print publications, as well as information from specialized Internet resources.
• Secondly , it makes sense to visit product exhibitions, in which qualified dealers always take part, including by industry.

Important point: Regardless of the method of searching for dealers, you should pay attention to the professionalism and experience of these specialists.

If we talk about the process of searching for dealers on the Internet, then it makes sense to pay attention not to publicly available resources - forums and message boards, where all citizens who want to be dealers offer their services (mainly without experience and appropriate qualifications), but to special paid portals that search for dealers for companies.

What are the advantages of using the services of such services:

1. As a rule, only professional dealers who already have experience in the trading field register on such resources.
2. In this case, the search for partners for manufacturers is carried out by the administration of the corresponding portal.
3. Through this kind of sites you can reach dealers working not only in domestic but also in foreign markets.
4. The need to register on the resource eliminates potentially uninteresting applicants to the company.

When it comes to finding dealers through specialized exhibitions, the likelihood of finding professional resellers with extensive experience is higher, but such events are held infrequently.

When choosing a dealer for a company, you need to pay attention to such information about this specialist as:

• The presence of a significant number of successfully concluded transactions.
• Work experience, including in the industry of interest to the manufacturer.
• Favorable reviews from other manufacturers.
• Knowledge of this market: its features and structure.
• Availability of the necessary material resources for purchasing products.

The main tasks that the dealer will need to solve are pursuing an active trade policy and promoting the company’s name and products in specific markets.

How to interest a potential dealer in selling a product: secrets of negotiations

To ensure favorable conditions for selling products, it is important not only to find a dealer, but also to interest him in cooperation with a specific manufacturer.

First of all, the company guarantees to the intermediary:

1. Delivery of high-quality products with the documents necessary for successful sale and a full set of necessary information about each type of product.
2. Notification of a change in details, work procedure or owner of the company.
3. Compensation for part of the costs of advertising events.
4. Providing information about new types of goods.

Important point: Discounts and bonuses for experienced, qualified dealers are always significantly higher than for beginners.

Particular attention must be paid to negotiations with dealers, which should result in the conclusion of an agreement. In this regard, the manufacturer must already at the first stage demonstrate goodwill, openness to long-term cooperation, and friendliness.

In addition, you can use one of the well-known methods of attracting dealers, including:

• Pre-order system . The manufacturer sends product samples and catalogs to dealers. They prepare a batch of orders, which, upon their request, the manufacturer delivers to them within the time period established by the contract. Such a system is the basis of multi-level sales channels. At the same time, dealers at the upper levels can expect to receive more significant benefits from sales than intermediaries at the lower levels.
• Large-scale promotional events with coupons . The manufacturer distributes coupons to potential buyers and notifies dealers. The last thing that is extremely profitable is servicing customers who present these types of coupons.
• First free package . An effective but expensive way to attract the attention of dealers. The manufacturer sends a free consignment of goods to its intermediary, subject to further purchase of a certain volume of products.
• Consignment . The manufacturer sends one or more lots of goods to the dealer with full retention of all ownership rights to it. The unsold part of the products is returned back to the manufacturer.

When applying certain methods of attracting dealers, the manufacturer should not forget about

With the popularization of online business, most ideas have significantly reduced the requirements for organization and investment in entrepreneurial activity.

An example of this is the organization of online sales of homemade food products. There are quite a large number of similar enterprises in the West. Selling homemade food online has long been considered a promising business idea there. In Russia, such a niche in the restaurant food market is virtually unfilled. This speaks of great potential and the opportunity to earn money for those who decide to implement the idea of ​​​​an online homemade food store on the RuNet.

Who can start a homemade food business?

Any housewife can start selling her own culinary delights. To do this, it is enough to know how to cook deliciously, register an individual entrepreneur, obtain permission from Rospotrebnadzor and the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station to sell food, and also create your own page on RuNet. This can be either an open group on one or more social networks, or a website. But you can implement the business idea of ​​​​online trading of home-cooked products in another way - by creating an online home-cooking service that involves the publication of advertisements by those same culinary specialists who want to sell the results of their cooking activities. Therefore, a business selling homemade food can be created by both a chef and a webmaster.

Organization of an online store/homemade food service

You can create a portal either independently or with the help of experienced specialists. This event will definitely require capital investment. Also, money will need to be invested in promoting the site - its popularization. To avoid worrying about food delivery, you can shift this responsibility directly to the sellers themselves. This way they can compete with each other. In the future, it is quite possible to introduce customer service on the portal. This will allow you to earn additional income. The main profit of such an Internet portal will be made through payment for the right to publish advertisements and a percentage of products sold. To avoid problems with current legislation, you can come up with requirements for chefs and their products - for example, the mandatory presence of licenses or permits from Rospotrebnadzor, or other departments regulating this field of activity.

conclusions

Organizing an online store selling homemade food is a relatively low-cost and very promising business. All Russians, without exception, will be able to use the services of such a company, since it is not tied to individual territorial spaces. Chefs from different cities and regions will be able to publish their proposals on the portal.