Walmart is the largest brick-and-mortar retailer in the United States. If you want to find your product on its shelves, you need to understand its seller rules and regulations before scheduling
a sales presentation.

To successfully pitch your products to Walmart, keep the following in mind:

• Clarity and simplicity: Walmart requires packaging to be easily legible, with a focus on the product and its benefits. The packaging should be easy to understand, even for customers who may have limited English skills.
• Compliance with regulations: Like all retail stores, Walmart requires packaging to comply with relevant federal and state regulations, including those related to labeling, safety, and the environment.
• Supply chain efficiency: Walmart is focused on improving logistics throughout the supply chain, and they expect their suppliers to do the same. This includes using efficient packaging designs and materials that minimize waste and reduce handling time.
• Walmart has established sustainability goals and aims to reduce waste and promote environmentally responsible packaging.
• The company’s “Packaging Scorecard” evaluates products based on factors such as recyclability, materials used, and energy efficiency.
• Walmart encourages vendors to use smaller, lighter, and more compact packaging to reduce shipping costs and minimize waste.
• Packaging should be appealing, easily recognizable, and protect the product during transportation and display.

PDQ Display Rules

Pretty darn quick or “PDQ” displays are great temporary displays, especially if Walmart is showcasing your products for a trial period. Before signing a contract with them, you need to understand four simple rules about PDQ displays.

• Message Clarity
  The first rule is “Deliver the Message.” Make sure the price is clearly displayed, and use the principles of functional retail design to show the value of your products. In a nutshell, your PDQ displays need to create a welcoming in-store experience for customers that will encourage them to make purchases. That includes making sure all claims on your packaging are verifiable.
  
  
• Display Integrity
  The second rule of PDQ packaging is “Display Integrity —using materials with proven structural integrity so you can avoid making a poor impression with damaged merchandise. Walmart will only accept corrugated cardboard produced from ECT32 boards or stronger. Don’t use E or F flute corrugated cardboard and test the material to ensure it meets strength requirements.

• Goal Post Price Signs
  Walmart’s third rule involves “Goal Post Price Signs,” which are available in-store and inserted into product packaging to clearly display the price of the product. Your PDQ packaging must hold these goal post price signs safely and securely. Standard solutions include pop-out corrugated brackets, holes through the center of the display, and triangle holes in the back corner of trays. In addition to accommodating the signs, the holes must read “Insert Goal Post Here” for store associates to know where to place the sign.

• Product Turn
  Only deliver as much inventory as Walmart can realistically sell before your next shipment. If your merchandise sells too quickly, you’ll both take a hit with wasted shelf space. If your products don’t sell well enough, you’ll have excess inventory and nowhere to store it. Always use internal metrics to gauge inventory turnover before agreeing to a contract with Walmart.

PDQ Trays

PDQ trays can seamlessly integrate your brand into an existing shelf at Walmart.

They should be easy to restock for associates without sustaining any damage to the packaging. Your products should be safely contained with the PDQ tray and provide easy access for customers.

PDQ trays should be ½ inch shorter than the total length of the shelf. Walmart only allows PDQ
trays that weigh less than 50 pounds. 

With nearly 850 locations worldwide, Costco provides an incredible opportunity to showcase your products. Compared to other retailers, Costco places more focus on “bulk” and “club-pack” sizes, which allows them to offer larger quantities of items at a lower price.

Here are several Costco specific guidelines to keep in mind as you prepare your pitch:

• Sustainability:
  Costco places emphasis on sustainability packaging that reduces waste, saves space, and makes efficient use of materials. Consider using recycled or recyclable paper products, biodegradable plastics, or reducing the weight of your packaging to save fuel during shipping.
• Cost effectiveness: 
  Costco prioritizes cost effectiveness, and they expect their suppliers to do the same. This includes using packaging that is both functional and cost-efficient.
• Clarity and simplicity: 
  Costco requires packaging to be clear and simple, with a focus on the product and its benefits. The packaging should be easy to understand and free of visual clutter.
• Compliance with regulations:
  Costco requires all packaging to comply with relevant federal and state regulations, including those related to labeling, safety, and the
  environment.
• Ease of Use:
  Packaging should be easy to open, clearly labeled, and protected from damage during shipping.

Products may be stored for as long as four weeks under extreme weight and temperature swings. A packaging engineer can test your products beforehand and ensure they are up to the task

Although the maximum weight is 40 pounds, Costco recommends modules not exceed 25 pounds to make transportation easier. Include center supporter dividers if your module features vertically unstable products like bulletin boards or picture frames. The optimum display module for Costco’s fixtures is 16 inches long, 13.3 inches wide, and 11.5 inches tall. It’s okay if your module doesn’t use these exact dimensions, but try to get it as close as possible.

Packaging must not only meet strength requirements but should be aesthetically pleasing to customers. Suppliers must ship full production samples to the store before they are considered. Plain packaging is extremely unlikely to get picked up in Costco’s competitive retail environment. A supplier who offers factory samples and understands the intricacies of Costco’s packaging guidelines is often helpful. 

If you make construction or home improvement-related products, getting shelf space at Home Depot is a dream come true. Many vendors apply, which makes it competitive— getting and staying on Home Depot shelves requires a lot of work.

The payoff is huge, so make sure you’re ready for your pitch by understanding the following:

• Perhaps even more so than other retailers, Home Depot places a strong emphasis on sustainability and eco-friendly packaging. You should take this into account when preparing a product presentation, and ensure you can explain how your packaging aligns with the store’s values and goals.
• Home Depot also gives preference to diverse suppliers, including minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, LGBTQ-owned, and disability-owned suppliers. If you fit into one of these groups, highlight it in your pitch.
• Home Depot values a transparent supply chain. If you have third-party verifications and supply chain documentation, present these during your pitch meeting.

Packaging Requirements

Home Depot has numerous technical packaging requirements, but they all focus on a series of central principles. All product packaging for Home Depot should:

• Enhance the customer’s shopping experience: 
  Make sure that packaging has a positive effect on the surrounding retail environment.
• Provide protection for product integrity: 
  Consider durability at every step of your design process to ensure merchandise arrives in one piece.
• Serve the customer from pre-purchase through product use and package disposal:
  Take the entire life cycle of packaging into account. Is it recyclable and easily handleable by associates?
• Minimize the material handling hazards associated with packaging for associates and
  customers: 
  Avoid sharp edges and anything that could be potentially dangerous for shoppers or employees.
• Contain sustainable materials: 
  Home Depot is much more likely to stock your product if it includes recycled or biodegradable materials.

In addition, packaging should always remain compliant with technical specifications. Familiarize yourself with these rules so you remain in good standing with Home Depot.

With locations exclusively along the East Coast and a handful of states in the Midwest, BJ’s is less ubiquitous than its competitors. Still, it pays to get your products on BJ’s shelves— generating over 16 billion dollars in revenue, it has a large and loyal customer base.

Stay compliant with these rules and regulations to find success with BJ's: 

• BJ’s recently launched its Supply Chain Packaging Innovation Initiative, which plans to improve every aspect of the packaging supply chain and reduce costs by 2 percent every year. If you’re using innovative packaging that will help BJ’s cut costs, highlight this in your pitch meeting.
• The same initiative focuses on improving sustainability in the packaging supply chain. Mention any eco-friendly credentials in your pitch meeting. These can include using renewable energy, recycled materials, or co-packaging to conserve resources.
• BJ’s also values locally sourced products. Consider focusing on any benefits your company provides to the regional economy.

Unlike other retailers, BJ’s does not allow tear front panels, inner wrapping, or bubble wrap. Opening instructions should be clearly visible so associates can prepare the tray for display. Check with your buyer for a special exception if your tray weighs more than 25 pounds. 

BJ’s only accepts white corrugated cardboard for trays, and layer trays with egg-crate type partitions should not be more than 50 percent of the height of the product. If you plan to sell products in the freezer or dairy aisle, avoid using packaging with wax coating that is not recyclable. A good alternative is MRA (moisture resistant adhesive).

Your products are more likely to succeed at BJ’s if they include sustainable materials, including a high percentage of post-consumer content.

For display tray graphics, BJ’s prefers Preprint or Litho. All text and graphics should be approved by your buyer before you ship your merchandise. Any text should be clearly readable from six feet away. Display-ready pallets require specific approval from your buyer. Reach out to your contact at BJ’s to learn more.

Pitching to big box retail stores isn’t always easy to navigate, and a packaging engineer could be the key to a successful pitch meeting. Packaging engineers offer:

• Technical expertise: 
  A packaging engineer has expertise in designing and testing packaging to ensure it meets the retailer’s requirements and can withstand the rigors of shipping, handling, and display.
• Retailer compliance: 
  They can help ensure your packaging complies with each retailer’s regulations and packaging materials.
• Cost efficiency: 
  A packaging engineer can help optimize the packaging design to reduce costs while maintaining quality and functionality.
• Shelf impact: 
  They can design packaging that is visually appealing and increases the product’s shelf impact, helping it stand out among other products on the shelves.
• Sustainability:
  A packaging engineer can also help design eco-friendly packaging options to appeal to environmentally conscious customers and meet the retailer’s sustainability goals.
• Samples and prototypes:
  Working with the right packaging supplier will arm you with exactly what’s needed for your pitch. In this early stage, there’s no reason to invest in a full order of packaging, when what you need are factory samples that impress. A packaging engineer with design experience takes the guesswork out of creating samples that meet the requirements and wow each big box retailer.