Walmart launches 'American Idol'-like contest for products to win placement in its stores
When a company gets as big as Walmart, how does it stay fresh?
From a consumer standpoint, Walmart is nothing coveted – even in the department store sector, it has zero of the cache a name like Target does – and from an activist viewpoint, the retailer is reviled, the corporate giant that ruins communities, not helps them.
Of course, Walmart can simply look down on its detractors from Mt. Dominance, but you get the sense the Ark.-based store wants more. It wants to be loved.
Well, here’s a way the retailer can get a little buzz. Walmart has just kicked off a contest called “Get on the Shelf,” an American Idol -like campaign where small-time products compete for placement on Walmart’s shelves.
From now until Feb. 22, aspiring pitchmen and women will get a chance to upload videos via YouTube, Dragons’ Den -style, to be considered to appear in Walmart’s stores.
*Bing: Does Walmart really have the lowest prices?
Three winners will be crowned by the public. All three will receive key advertisement on Walmart.com’s front page, which the retailer likes to note reaches some 50 million people.
One of those three winners, though, will receive consideration for prime placement in Walmart’s legion of real-world stores. Given the breadth of Walmart’s retail reach, we’re talking a grand prize that’s a legitimate brand maker here.
What’s unique to Walmart’s contest is that it’s not just a contest but a small business pick-me-up, too.
Certainly, whoever wins the chance to have their product featured in Walmart isn’t likely to be able to meet the kind of demand needed to satisfy 3,000-plus U.S. stores.
Instead, the retailer says it will help the contest’s winner scale up to mass produce its item.
Canadian entrepreneurs aren’t eligible for the Walmart contest, unfortunately, but Canucks can’t compete on American Idol, either. Its Walmart’s hope, we guess, that its “Get on the Shelf” contest can get the kind of international buzz going for it that the TV show does for Fox.
Posted by: KARL V | Jan 26, 2022 2:58:23 PM
OVER THE YEARS WALLMART QUALITY HAS LOST TO PRICE OR THERE VALUE IS MUCH LESS THEN WHEN THEY FIRST OPEN IHAD TO RETURN MANY ITEMS WITH NO PROBLEMS WITH THERE RETURN POLICY BUT DUE TO POOR PRODUCTS KIDS CLOTHES AND SHOES WERE THE BEST NOW WE PURCHASE....... NONE..... STILL I PURCHES A FEW ITEMS ONCE IN EVER 6 WEEKS MAYBE IM BACK TO SEARS FOR QUALITY AND INTERNET EVEN ZELLARS AND TALLEZZE I RATE BETTER ...... AS FOR DUE WALLMARTS RUIN SMALL BUSNESS IN SOME WAYS BUT I HAVE READ STUDYS WERE OVER ALL STANDARD OF LIVE IN SMALL TOWNS AND JOB NUMBERS ARE BETTER AFTER THEY MOVE IN ......... THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THEY SELLING ARE JOBS TO CHINA BY NOT CARRYING ENOUGH NORTH AMERICAIN PRDUCTS,,,,,,,,, THERE LABOUR HABITS ARE VERY QUESTIONABLE THEY LOST 70 MILLION DOLLAR CASE DUE TO NOT GIVEING BREAK,,,,,,,THEY REALLY NEED TO CHANGE IN ALL AREAS
Posted by: Alie | Jan 26, 2022 3:59:46 PM
I see you pitching the CAPS Game to them.
Posted by: Bev/Col | Jan 26, 2022 4:53:21 PM
NO. NO. NO. WALMART DOES NOT HAVE THE LOWEST PRICES. THEY LEAD PEOPLE TO BELIEVE THEY ARE AND AFTER TWO TO THREE YEARS OF ESTABLISHING THEMSELVES THEY START TO HOSE THE CONSUMER. THEY ARE NOT ANY BETTER THEN THE OUTLETS THEY REPLACED. TYPICALLY LARGE BOX STORE GROUPS LEAD THE CONSUMER TO BELIEVE THEY HAVE LOWER PRICES THEN THEY HAMMER IT TO YOU.WAKE UP FOLKS AND SMELL THE COFFEE.
Posted by: Richard | Jan 26, 2022 5:52:44 PM
When purchasing any product it always pays to shop around but with Walmart's price match guarantee all I have to do is take the flyer into their store and they will match the other store's advertised price-and in most cases they have already done so because they have already researched what the other stores have on sale. One stop shopping and therefore I save even more money on gas by not having to go from store to store. As far as not being better than the stores they replaced-does anyone here in Ontario remember Woolco-good riddance and the same goes for Zellers in the coming year.
Posted by: Carol | Jan 26, 2022 9:26:05 PM
I don't think this is a new advertising program - Super Store had this program and it aired on TV about 2 months ago.
Posted by: Elmo | Jan 27, 2022 9:33:24 AM
HEY MORONS... GET OFF THE CAPS LOCK !!!