So you've received a Category Review Alert and your category is up for review soon.
This review period, better known as a category review, is the time when a retailer reviews the performance of specific categories like yogurt, baby food, or pet cleaning, and decides which new products they want to bring into their stores. The months to weeks leading up to a category review are when buyers are especially active on RangeMe. Read on to learn how to submit your products on RangeMe.
1. Get Verified
As a RangeMe Premium or Pro member, it's important to focus on verifying your brand(s). Once you're verified, you'll receive increased visibility with buyers and it will also show retailers you're ready to do business.
2. Review Your Profile
After you've gotten your brand verified, it's important to review your product listings and brand page to make sure everything is up-to-date with the most current information.
As buyers look through products on their dashboard and review submissions in their submission folder, they will be checking to see if you're verified and also for specific fields on your profile and product listings. Here are the items you should review to ensure the information best reflects your offering:
1. Product Images
Have you recently gotten new pictures taken? Have you changed your packaging? If so, you should update your product images. Your product image is one of the first elements a buyer sees when they first come across your product.
2. Cost and MSRP
Has the price of your product changed? Do you want your product to be within a specific margin? Preview your product to see your product’s margin.
3. Currently Sold At
Has your product been placed in any new retailer’s stores? Have you added any new locations of a current retailer partner? Don’t forget to update this information on each of your product listings.
4. Distributors
Have you partnered with any new distributors? Make sure to add your new distributors. If you don’t see the distributor as an option in the picklist, let us know.
3. Add New Products
If you've added a new product to your product line but haven't added it to RangeMe yet, now would be a good time to do so!
4. Get to Know the Retailer
Just like you would research an employer before a job interview, you should research a retailer before you submit your product. Learn about what the retailer specializes in and what initiatives they are taking on this year. If you’re in driving distance of one of their stores, take a walk through to get a sense of the retailer. You want to sell the retailer on why your product would be a good fit for their stores and how you plan to move the category forward. This research will position your submission message and help to further fuel your conversation with the buyer if your product gets brought on for the category review.
5. Submit Your Brand via Retailer Submissions
Knowing when a buyer is reviewing and taking on new products for their category is the first step. By submitting your product during this period, you’ll be putting your product in front of buyers at an opportune time.
As a Premium or Pro member, you're allowed to submit each brand once per year, per retailer. It is recommended to think strategically about when you want to use your submissions. You can browse through all category reviews or toggle to your products-specific category reviews.
When you do choose to submit your brand, you can accompany the submission with a message. Use the research you've done to compose a message to the buyer telling them why you think your offering is right for their stores.
6. Share Your Brand's RangeMe Profile
An alternative channel to get your brand visibility during the category review period is sharing your brand's RangeMe profile externally with prospective buyers. You can either share your profile via an email sent from RangeMe or create a link to include in your outreach.
Once you’ve sent your share, you can sit back and see how buyers engage with your share via Sharing Insights. You’ll be able to see if and when they opened your email, visited your brand page, and even get detailed information on what the buyer looked at when visiting your profile.
7. Manage Submissions
Don't forget to check on your submission status! After you have submitted your brand to a retailer, you can manage and track your retailer submissions with an overview of your progress.
You are able to manage your limited campaign and ongoing submissions. To learn more about managing your submissions click here!
Ready, Set, Go!
Now that you know what you can do to prepare your business for an upcoming category review, we recommend starting from the top of this list to put your brand in the best position for success.
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