With the rise of the health conscious consumer comes the evolution of the retailer. Innovative retailers are evolving their business strategy to focus on providing their customers with high-quality, natural products. A number of RangeMe’s retail partners, like Sprouts Farmers Market and Lucky Vitamin, communicate their focus on quality goods through their product standards. Never heard of a product standard before? Fear not — this post will demystify two common standards so you’re better prepared to submit your product to your preferred retailer.
Natural & Speciality Products Sweeping the US Markets
Organic and natural food are the fastest-growing sectors in the US food marketplace. Each year Americans spend $45 billion on organic food products1Pofeldt, Elaine. The organic food revolution that is minting millionaires. CNBC.com. May 6, 2016., and this growing trend has reshaped retailers’ perspective on how they do business. Nowadays, retailers are motivated to provide a personal and holistic shopping experience, centered around the products placed on their shelves.
In order to sell products that meet the changing attitudes of their customers, retailers are taking a firm stance on the type and quality of products they sell in their stores. And that translates into their product standards.
Why this matters: If you plan to submit your product to a retail store with a set of product standards, your product must meet or exceed these standards. Otherwise, your product will likely be removed from consideration.
Demystifying Two Common Product Standards
If this comes as news to you, don’t worry. Although each retailer’s product standards are unique to their brand, there are similar themes among retailers. Keep reading as we demystify two common standards seen across the US.
Product Standard #1: Natural Food Products
What does it mean?
There is no true definition of what “natural” means when it comes to food. This label is often misunderstood, so retailers are setting the bar on the type of natural products they have in their stores. In order to provide quality products without sacrificing their credibility, retailers are encouraging suppliers to include transparent labeling, such as USDA Organic, on their products.
How can RangeMe help with this?
To showcase your product on RangeMe, it is recommended to list all certifications, labels or approvals on your product profile. If your product packaging shows your certification, make sure your product image reflects this so it’s extra clear to the buyer that you’ve gone through the steps to get certified.
Product Standard #2: Body Care Made with Quality Ingredients
What does it mean?
There are few regulations when it comes to ingredients in body care products, yet the growing demand for “natural” body care products continues to grow. Nowadays, retailers are looking to work with businesses that provide products that are free of harmful ingredients such as parabens, sulfate, synthetic or artificial dyes, colors and fragrances (to name a few).
How can RangeMe help with this?
Similar to food and beverage products, buyers care about the ingredients in your body care products. Make sure to include these when creating your product profile on RangeMe. If you want to take it a step further, RangeMe gives you the option to highlight three Unique Selling Propositions (USP) of your product. For example, you can say “Organic” or “Not Tested on Animals” as USPs.
Whether you’re new to the consumer packaged goods space or have been working in it for a while, you should do yourself a favor and get familiar with your preferred retailer’s product standards before you submit your product for consideration. Otherwise, you are doing your business a disservice by not putting your best product forward.
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For more information on a few of RangeMe’s retail partners’ product standards, learn more here: