Event Recap: Omni-Channel and the Road to Bentonville with New Nexus
A recap of a webinar held on December 9, 2022
Long regarded as the epitome of big-box grocery retail, Walmart has made a major effort in recent years to broaden its product lines — to the benefit of Good Food and Natural Product brands. Placement with the nation’s biggest retailer can provide a rocket boost to any entrepreneur in this sector, while also providing more consumers access to healthier food.
New Nexus Group, a long-time supporter and national sponsor of Naturally Network, is a leading broker working with Walmart, and is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, also Walmart’s hometown.
Naturally Chicago and Naturally Network co-hosted this session with New Nexus leaders — Luke Briggs and Tim O’Brien — and brands that have had direct experience working with Walmart to share their insights and experience. These included: Rebecca Alvandi of Arber (plant wellness products); Nic Keneipp of Happi Foodi (healthy ready-to-heat meals), Silencia Cox of Motherlove Herbal Company (organic herbal body care & supplements) and Joe Zielinski of Roncadin Pizza.
Five notable insights from the session:
Mythbuster: Walmart customers are savvy, knowledgeable omni-channel shoppers
Timing: You don’t have to be 100% ready - it is better to get involved early and establish relationships with buyers given it can take 12-18 months. This includes getting involved online (list on Marketplace)
Getting the meeting: In addition to standard ways to get introduced, Walmart has an Open Call program for made in the U.S. products - applications open in April 2022 [Motherlove went through this program in 2019]
Buyer key questions/areas you will need to be prepared for:
Proven ways to broadly reach customers - can you drive people into Walmart?
Packaging needs to work on the shelf
Velocities to maintain distribution
Supply chain that can scale with volume
Solving for the white space your product fills for Walmart
Share what you know about your customer types and markets with buyers - they appreciate and need this information
Demonstrated supply guarantees
Negotiating: there are very few costs that cannot be negotiated
We encourage watching the replay and read through the presentation to gain more valuable insights and engaging in our membership community to provide connections and support.
Watch the full webinar here: