Selling to Small Retailers

I suppose someone could decide to sell a product only to small stores as a matter of 'conscience.' The idea being that 'big box stores' are icky.

There seems to be a more common-sense reason for wanting a lot of small-to-medium accounts, instead of a handful of huge accounts.

Let's say that XYZ Widgets sells 100 units a month to 1,000 stores. I haven't a clue what their widgets are, and it doesn't matter. Their chief competitor is PDQ Widgets, that sells the same number of widgets a month: 100,000.

The difference is that PDQ Widgets sells 50,000 units a month to one major retailer, 40,000 units monthly to another big chain, and 10,000 a month to about a dozen smaller accounts.

Then the 40,000 widget per month chain decided that they'd start stocking a different brand of widget. One of XYZ Widgets' accounts quit buying, too.

But PDQ lost 40% of their income - while XYZ lost 0.1% of theirs. 'Nuf said.

Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show: Second Morning on the Floor

Earlier this morning, Spiral Light Candle Corporation's new website works. As my son-in-law said, 'it shouldn't - but it does!' I didn't have time to get the technical details, but my guess is that the URL got processed with unusual speed. For folks here in Philadelphia, anyway.

Here's where Spiral Light Candle Corp. is, online and elsewhere:

• Spiral Light Candle Corporation
  (spirallightcandle.com)
  P.O. Box 868, Hillsboro, ND 58045
  (701) 425-0682
  info@spirallightcandle.com
  • Spiral Light's Spiral Burning Self Filling Candle
    (also on YouTube)
  • brocuhre (pdf)

Aaron McWilliams invented Spiral Light's self filling candle earlier this year, and that's another topic.

Here's a half-size video of what's on their website:

"Spiral Light's Spiral Burning Self Filling Candle"

(shown half-size: full version at YouTube)
anoasisproduction, YouTube (July 28, 2011)
video, 1:31

Snapshots from the CMN Trade Show

Inevitably, I took photos at the Catholic Marketing Network's 15th Anniversary Trade Show: and want to show them off. This set is mostly about the Spiral Light Candle Corp.'s booth.

Spiral Light Candle Corp. setting up, at the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show. August 1, 2011.

A whole lot of Spiral Light Candle Corp.'s small candles. August 2, 2011.

Start of the first open-floor day at the Catholic Marketing Network's trade show. August 3, 2011.

First open-floor day at the Spiral Light Corp./Oasis Productions booth, Catholic Marketing Network's trade show. August 3, 2011.

There's a lot more going on at the CMN trade show - but I'm on 'company time' right now, so the rest will come later. Maybe in another blog.

Related posts:

• "Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show: First Morning on the Floor"
  (August 3, 2011)
• "Catholic Marketing Network's 15th Annual Trade Show and Me"
  (August 1, 2011)
• "On the Road to the Trade Show: Schedules, Attendees"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (July 31, 2011)
• "Trade Show Time: Catholic Marketing Network"
  (July 27, 2011)
• "How to Engage Others Online - Without Annoying Them"
  (July 30, 2010)

More about the Catholic Marketing Network's trade show and me:

• "Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show"

Background:

• Catholic Marketing Network
• 15th Annual Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show
  Near Philadelphia, PA (Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - Friday, August 5, 2011)