McLane Co. Inc. has launched the Emerging Brands online marketplace, allowing convenience-store retailers to diversify their product selection with new, innovative and trending brands.
“Consumers today are more conscious than ever about their choices and have come to expect a personalized shopping experience,” said Vito Maurici, McLane’s customer experience officer. “With its flexible model, Emerging Brands provides retailers of any size a best-in-class, innovative platform to capitalize on the increasing demand for unique products and to tailor their offerings to what their consumers are looking for.”
The company cited research from McKinsey & Co. revealing that one in three shoppers are consciously searching for new brands and products to try. Emerging Brands brings differentiation and variety to retailers by expanding access to local, new-to-market, small-batch and values-driven products, including those not in distribution, said McLane. Retailers can quickly diversify their product offerings with trending products in popular categories like alternative snacks, salty and sweet snacks and packaged sweets and candy.
In addition to expanding access to a greater variety of products, Emerging Brands allows retailers to test out new products quickly with low order minimums, rapid processing and warehouse-less drop shipping using the same order and payment methods they use to buy products from McLane’s warehouses.
The digital marketplace is made possible by technology partner Mable, and will allow retailers to browse intuitively by searching, filtering and sorting products by location, dietary preference, brand values, category and more. Customers can also add products to their favorites and receive highly personalized order recommendations based on the collection.
“Mable’s partnership with McLane provides a frictionless eCommerce platform that seamlessly connects emerging brands with retailers,” said Arik Keller, founder and CEO of Mable. “Our drop ship model and integration with McLane’s product systems allows customers to procure emerging brands the same way they do McLane’s warehouse brands. We’re excited to bring this program to market together.”
McLane offers customizable solutions for retail and restaurant customers from ordering and fulfillment to equipment and in-store merchandising.
Founded in 1894, McLane is one of the largest distributors in America, serving convenience stores, mass merchants and chain restaurants. With headquarters in Temple, Texas, McLane has more than 80 distribution centers. The Temple, Texas-based company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Omaha, Nebraska.
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