A contest to get in with Walmart

Walmart has a pretty neat contest under way that will give three small companies an opportunity to sell their products at Walmart.com and be featured on the website homepage. One finalist is guaranteed to land on the shelves of the mega retailer.

For a small-start up with a unique idea, the financial significance of winning can't be overstated.

More than 4,000 product creators from across the U.S. entered video submission to the "Get on the Shelf" contest between Jan. 9 and Feb. 22.

After five days of public voting, the contest drew 274,000 total votes as of March 11. In the first 24 hours, which started March 7, 93 percent of contestants had received votes. An average of 55,000 votes are cast daily and an average of 92,000 daily visits are made to the contest website, according to Walmart.

People can vote once for a product using their Facebook account and text messaging every day. Votes can be cast for multiple products a day.

The first round of voting will run through April 3, when the top 10 finalists will be announced. The second round of voting will take place April 11 through April 24, after which the top three contestants and grand prize winner will be unveiled.

This is the first contest of its kind from a major retailer, Walmart said.

Some of the products trending in the initial days of voting including datil pepper salt from combat veterans; eyeglass repair kit to fix glasses in 30 seconds; and a fork specifically designed for dogs.

The top five product categories submitted to Get on the Shelf included:

• Home improvement at 11.4 percent
• Personalized products at 10.2 percent
• Health/wellness/fitness at 9.6 percent
• Fashion apparel/home at 8.1 percent
• Outdoor home at 6.7 percent

If any company from the greater Bradenton or Sarasota area has entered in the contest please call me at 941-745-7095 for a potential story.


And, as always, follow me on Twitter @JoshSalman