In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

Before you launch your brand in the United Kingdom, it’s important to know what’s going on in today’s U.K. retail market as it may differ from the markets your brand currently has a presence in. Whether the British market is familiar territory or completely new, here’s a deep dive into understanding the U.K.’s marketplace, retailers, and how your brand can understand a new set of consumers.

Understanding the U.K. retail market

Over half of the £456bn industry is dominated by supermarkets, presenting a lot of opportunity for food and beverage brands looking to expand into the U.K. market. For years, the “big four” retailers have been Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons, but discount supermarkets like Aldi are quickly expanding in the market. Now that Aldi is outperforming Morrisons in terms of the country’s grocery market share, the “big four” are no more.

As we’re seeing in many countries, rising costs due to inflation are changing consumer behavior and the U.K. market is no exception. Inflation of grocery prices is up 14.4%, causing consumers to gravitate even more towards private label or store-owned brands over name brands to cut down their weekly spending costs. It comes as no surprise that the …

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In: Dropshipping|Last Updated:
Food Photography: How to Capture the Best Photos of Your Food

There’s nothing like looking through a restaurant’s menu, website, or social media and finding shot after shot of mouth-watering goodness. Good food photography isn’t just pleasant to look at—it’s also critical for the livelihood of your food business.

Think about it: Have you ever seen food photography that looks unappetizing or boring, only to write off the brand? That’s what makes it so important to give some special attention to your photos.

But don’t worry—there’s no need to spend thousands hiring a professional food photographer or buying sophisticated equipment. In this article, we’ll go over some key food photography tips to help you take the best photos, no matter your budget.

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1. Arrange your food

Arranging your food, called “plating” in the restaurant industry, is a key part of what builds someone’s first impression of your food. It builds the baseline for the aesthetic you’re creating with your food pictures.

Here are some tips for great plating:

Make sure your food is the star of the photo. Generally speaking, the food you want to capture should be in the middle of your photo. You can accent this by putting it …
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In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

One of the most persistent trends of the last 30 years of CPG marketing has been SKU (Stock-Keeping Unit) proliferation – the addition of more products and a variety of products based on changes to the market, such as adding several new flavors of a top-selling beverage. However, this trend is coming to an end. 

Over the next five years, we will see a contraction in the number of SKUs in the typical food retail store, driven by several factors: retailers’ desire to free space for more service-intensive, higher-margin products; the need to use space more efficiently with faster turning, more popular items; and to reduce supply chain and store labor costs.

The reduction will be concentrated in the 20 or so large categories containing the most SKUs with duplicate attributes, such as those stocking 60 SKUs of vanilla ice cream or 30 SKUs of blueberry yogurt. A shopper seeking vanilla ice cream or blueberry yogurt simply does not need this many options.

As the person who literally wrote the initial efficient item assortment protocol for the CPG industry as part of the development of category management in 1994, I can assure you that retailers can provide adequate attribute choices …

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In: Dropshipping|Last Updated:

Do you have an idea that feels like “the next big thing?” Or maybe you’d like to build on an existing idea to tweak or enhance it. When it comes to the product development process, there are plenty of use cases where it can be applied. And for the entrepreneurs and businesses that apply it well, the outcomes can be incredible.

But there’s a big obstacle: for many, the product development cycle can be wildly intimidating and even mysterious. It can be hard to know what applies where and which steps to take at the right time.

In this article, we’ll go over the basics of the process, some examples, and six key steps to product development, including:

Idea generation Product and market research Product and business planning Prototyping Sourcing and manufacturing Product launch

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What is product development?

Product development refers to the overall process of taking a product from concept to market. This includes conceptualizing the item, identifying audience needs, collecting feedback, building the product roadmap, and launching the item. For some companies, product development covers revamping an existing product and introducing an old product in a new market. …

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In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:
Walmart Open Call Offers Three RangeMe Suppliers the Opportunity of a Lifetime

Walmart’s annual Open Call sourcing event is an initiative that supports Walmart’s investment in products made, grown, or assembled in the U.S. and gives thousands of American suppliers the opportunity to submit their products directly to their team of merchants. For the fourth year in a row, RangeMe and ECRM have streamlined Walmart’s Open Call submission process, making product discovery easier for Walmart’s team and the participating brands. 

During the application period, interested suppliers and manufacturers can submit their products directly through RangeMe’s limited-time sourcing campaign for Walmart Open Call for a chance to pitch their innovations live to Walmart merchants in one-on-one meetings. Selected participants will be able to choose between in-person meetings at Walmart headquarters or virtual meetings via ECRM Connect.

In 2022, more than 1,100 businesses were selected to pitch their products to Walmart and more than 330 products were chosen to be sold in stores or online. Each brand had a unique experience, so we’re sharing insights from three RangeMe suppliers who were selected by Walmart. Keep reading to hear about their experiences and tips to brands hoping to see the same success.

Walmart Open Call FAQ’s

Rancho Meladuco Date Farm 

Inspired by a lifetime of …

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In: Dropshipping|Last Updated:

Do you fantasize about bringing your writing to life? It might seem like a huge, complicated undertaking, but you might be surprised how viable it is. Many authors have found success with self-publishing using print-on-demand services. 

When you use this strategy, you’re able to avoid two of the biggest hassles of publishing: finding a publisher, and dealing with managing tons of inventory that may not ever be sold. 

So how can you tap into the self-publishing process and create your own print-on-demand books? In this article, we’ll cover the basics you need to start your journey. 

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Why choose print-on-demand book publishing?

One of the biggest challenges authors face is dealing with their own inventory. You may not have anywhere to store hundreds or even thousands of copies of your book. Shipping is another consideration: do you have the time and resources to ship books out once they’re ordered, without eating too far into your profit margins?

Some authors even face nightmarish scenarios, like encountering damage, poor print quality, or misprints that render your books unsellable after you’ve gone through all the time, energy, and costs of printing.

When you self-publish …

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