Response Magazine - September 2010

GUY MAROM, AVC CORP.

“Sometimes marketers don’t know the
specifications of the retail partners. It’s not
just one retail partner. Costco might have
one specification, while CVS has another
— from environmental packing specifica-
tions, to shelf items, PPQ items, hanging
items and floor display items.”
“The fact that a lot of DR companies don’t
go to retail is because they’re not equipped
with the proper tools. When they approach
retail, they get overwhelmed and they may
tend to go to a certain avenue — and if
it’s successful they’ll continue. Some of the
companies reach a dead end and bail out.
They’ll dip their toes without fully commit-
ting or investing in the retail route, which
doesn’t garner accurate results.”
“You need full supply-chain management.
Some items, like electronic items, will need
different approvals for retail. They’ll need
certain boxing or different instructions
because of the specifications of the store.”
“If you prepare ahead of time, you will put
MSRP and bar codes on packaging, which most
people do these days. There was a time when
people would have to come back and re-do art
work because they didn’t have bar codes. It’s
a forward moving process, and you need to be
sure you’re updated on everything that changes
and all the requirements.”

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ANDY ARVIDSON, IMAGINE FULFILLMENT SERVICES

“It is critical to team with a good fulfill-
ment company to handle operational issues
such as compliance, routing and shipping
— and even some of the processes such
as electronic data interchange (EDI) and
PO processing. The marketer will then not
have to hire additional staff and get hit
with potential learning curve penalties
such as vendor violations, chargebacks
and reships.”
“Marketers need to monitor retailer pay-
ment terms very carefully to ensure proper
cash flow. This is especially critical during
a recession as some retailers could go
bankrupt or out of business.”
“Focus on a return allowance, advertising
allowance and get shipping terms. The
difference between prepaid and collect can
be the difference between being profitable
or not.”
“Incorporate your fulfillment provider at the
planning stage, ask intelligent questions
of the fulfillment provider to consider all
aspects of the new sales vertical.”

AYAL LATZ, A2B FULFILLMENT

“A marketer with retail aspirations should be thinking ahead on many issues. For instance, packaging and bar coding — find out what your prospective retailers require with respect to master carton size, quantity and labeling. Try to incorporate these specifications in your packaging early so that you avoid delays and, worse yet, have to pay your fulfillment house to repackage everything.” “Retailers hopefully will increase your unit sales. Be prepared by having a plan to finance, produce, ship and distribute these higher volumes. Talk with your sup-

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pliers and distribution partners to be sure that everyone has the time and capacity to gear-up to accommodate the growth. If they can’t, develop a Plan B.” “Timing is key. You can’t tell a retailer that you will ship in 4-6 weeks like you can a consumer. Be ready. Produce early. Allow ample time for shipping, port delays and customs clearance. If you start off on the wrong foot with a retailer, you may not get a second chance.”

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KRISTOFER JOHNSON, GSI COMMERCE

“Many fulfillment companies have various fees for each retail order (BOL, EDI documentation, labeling, picking, etc.). Make sure that you understand what costs are associated for each retail order so you can properly calculate your profit when pricing goods to the retailers.” “All retailers have routing guides that fulfillment must follow. These guides are extremely specific regarding carrier, label placement, timing. If your fulfillment partner is not familiar with how to implement routing guide requirements, there will be chargebacks and potentially cancelled orders.” “Retailers often see chargebacks as a profit center, and no matter how good your fulfillment partner is, you are going to get some. The key is having the fulfillment company keep the proper documentation to refute the chargeback. Detailed records allow you to push back on the retail because you can prove that the infraction did not happen.”