01.20.12
Got a great beauty, personal care or household product—and want to see sold at Walmart? Well, tell the world's largest retailer about it.
Walmart has launched "Get on the Shelf,"a nationwide contest open to the mass in which the winners will get a chance have their product sold on Walmart.com and even in Walmart stores.
Any product in any category currently covered by Walmart is eligible, according to the company. Contestants must create videos of their latest inventions and the public will vote online for the winners.
A two-round public voting process will determine the top three products to be sold on Walmart.com. The grand prize winner's product will be sold on Walmart.com and featured on the site's home page and will also get valuable shelf space in select Walmart stores.
"Walmart has the best products at everyday low prices but we know there are some great undiscovered products that have not yet reached our shelves," said Venky Harinarayan, senior vice president of Walmart Global e-commerce and co-head of @WalmartLabs. "For a long time, the ability to get a product into a retail store was at the sole discretion of the store buyer.Today, we are removing these barriers by giving anyone a chance to launch their product at Walmart and reach millions of shoppers nationwide."
The contest opened with a sneak preview a few weeks ago and already has nearly 60 entries including a new hot sauce, cube game, hair accessory, iPad pillow and paw puffs for dogs.
Contestants can submit an entry video at http://GetOnTheShelf.com until Feb. 22.
The first round of voting will take place March 7- April 4, at which point the top 10 finalists will be announced. The second round of voting will take place April 11-24, at which point the top three contestants and grand prize winner will be announced.
Products already carried by Walmart or Walmart.com are not eligible for entry.