Summary
Overview
Planet Money hosts Kenny Malone and Erica Barris document their journey to get their board game 'Sell Me a Sasquatch' onto big box retail shelves. After developing the game with Exploding Kittens based on the economics paper 'The Market for Lemons,' Erica pitches to major retail buyers in a high-stakes line review meeting. The episode reveals the intense, secretive process of getting products into major retailers, from the pitch room to pricing decisions to factory production in China, culminating in the game's successful placement at Target, Walmart, and other stores.
The High-Stakes Pitch Meeting
Erica Barris prepares nervously to pitch the Planet Money board game to buyers from a major big box retailer in a crucial line review meeting at Exploding Kittens headquarters in Los Angeles. This meeting represents the culmination of over a year of work and their best chance to get the game onto retail shelves. With only 3-5 minutes to present, Erica must convince skeptical buyers who see hundreds of games annually that their economics-inspired party game deserves precious shelf space.
- Erica traveled to Los Angeles for a crucial pitch meeting with big box retail buyers visiting Exploding Kittens office
- The game 'Sell Me a Sasquatch' is based on the Nobel Prize-winning economics paper 'The Market for Lemons' about asymmetric information
- This line review meeting happens only twice a year and represents the main opportunity to get new products into stores
- Erica would have just 3-5 minutes to pitch to buyers who regularly see the best games in the world
" I was sitting on the airplane, like, kind of mumbling to myself, being like, and the thing you got to know is our devoted audience. I was just like, yeah, I got this. I got this. I have arm movements that are going to happen. "
" They have a very, very difficult job because they're trying to tell the future and that's not possible. So a lot of times what the best tool they have is to bet on the person instead of the game. "
Inside the Big Box Retail System
The episode reveals the secretive, highly competitive world of big box retail buying. Former Target buyer Matt Adelman explains that of 100 line review submissions, only 30 get meetings, and just 3-6 of those actually make it to shelves. Buyers must mentally play retail Tetris with limited shelf space, then defend their choices to senior executives. The process involves planograms, intense scrutiny, and the constant pressure to maximize every inch of shelf space.
- 81% of U.S. retail buying still happens at brick-and-mortar stores, not online
- Out of 100 line review submissions, only 30 get meetings and just 3-6 products actually reach shelves
- Buyers use planograms (blueprints of store shelves) and must defend their choices to VPs and SVPs
- Any new product must replace something already on the shelf and perform better than what it replaces
" At the end of the day, what am I really thinking? Is this going to sell? If I bring this in, I have to replace something, right? You're going to take a spot on the shelf at the expense of somebody. "
" Remember the nerves you had, I'm sure, sitting in the line of view pitching to the buyer. Well, now the buyers get to go to their VPs or their SVPs and say, here's my planogram. Here's what I want to do. And now the VPs and all the senior leaders get to go, what about this? And they challenge you like crazy. "
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