How startup brands prep their supply chains for launches in Target and Walmart

But launching in thousands of Walmart or Target doors at once also comes with expensive operational challenges. In fact, some brands are saying no when these retailers come knocking, choosing to focus on growing more sustainably, and at their own pace, given the current economic and fundraising environment. Not only do these big launches come with additional manufacturing and marketing costs, but they can also impact a small brand’s entire supply chain.

For many brands, preparing to launch into Target and Walmart is a years-long process. They work with their manufacturing partners to ramp up capacity. They have to find other suppliers, like packaging manufacturers, who are accustomed to working with big retailers. And, they have to make tweak after tweak to make sure their margins can support the slotting fees or advertising spend that will come with launching into retail.

In late February, Jupiter, which sells dandruff and scalp care products, made its first foray into national retail with its rollout in nearly 1,100 Target locations. This was the first entry into a big-box retailer for Jupiter, which launched as a DTC brand in 2020 and more recently launched on Amazon. The company also sells through some high-end salon and barbershop chains and in about 150 dermatology practices. 

Ross Goodhart, co-founder and co-CEO at Jupiter, told Modern Retail it took years for the company to prepare its production capacity to service a big retailer like Target. “We knew that the move to retail was going to add another layer of complexity to our overall business and supply chain,” Goodhart said. The company raised a $3 million funding round in early 2024 to help expand its product portfolio and prepare for a major retail launch.

“We had the opportunity to launch at Target a few years ago and ultimately opted to stay focused on building brand awareness and building the core businesses,” Goodhart said. Jupiter had joined Target’s accelerator program in 2022, which Goodhart said helped inform much of Jupiter’s retail launch strategy.

Ahead of the Target launch, Jupiter made a number of changes. The brand underwent a packaging overhaul to debut an updated look. The packaging features new colors and easier-to-use bottles. It’s to help Jupiter products stand out more than the previous minimalist, all-white bottles. Jupiter also took steps to decrease its price point and position Jupiter as an elevated, yet accessible dandruff care line, Goodhart said. The idea was this would help the brand better compete with the big drugstore names. 

“We want to be this ‘masspirational’ brand, and having a more accessible price point is a big part of that,” he said. “So we had to make it work.” Until now, Jupiter’s shampoo and conditioner retailed for about $30 and the scalp serum for $35. With the Target launch, the entire line is now priced under $20 per product. “We didn’t want to stand out on the shelf by being so much higher priced than existing brands,” Goodhart said.

At a time when many brands are raising their prices, Goodhart said the company had to create operational efficiencies to hit the new price range. “A big part of it is just having scaled enough over the years — there is margin improvement that comes with that,” he said. 

To create the refreshed line for Target, Jupiter worked with a new manufacturer that helped bring packaging costs down. The company also simplified its product line to focus on a few key areas — namely, its dry scalp and oily scalp categories. Other tweaks include reducing its shampoo and conditioner sizes, from 9.5 ounces to 8.5-ounce bottles. 

Goodhart said Jupiter also moved to a new 3PL shortly before the Target launch, as the new 3PL also services a number of other brands that sell at Target already. Moreover, Jupiter hired a head of supply chain and production to lead these efforts. All these steps allowed the company to save enough to slash the product’s price by about $10. “It is tight at times, but we’ve made it work with our partners,” Goodhart said.

Shaving brand Nimbi, which soft-launched last year with a test run at Erewhon, launched in over 900 Target stores in early March. 

Anna Reid, founder of Nimbi, said it took years to find the right suppliers and a manufacturer to build out a supply chain that supports Nimbi’s biomaterial-derived single-blade razors. Reid’s background includes helping bring a number of brands by big CPG companies to market — predominantly in the skin care, cosmetics and personal care spaces.

She said she began by talking to buyers about creating eco-friendly, disposable razors at an affordable price point. 

“Engaging Target early was taking a massive risk, but they were incredibly engaged and supportive,” she said. But Reid said finding the right supplier “is the bulk of the process” when prepping your supply chain to prepare for retail launches. She added that this is especially difficult without a lot of upfront capital.

“Manufacturers are only interested in volume R&D that is going to shape and evolve their business,” Reid said. “It took a long time to persuade those people and convince them that we would land a large retail deal.” 

Reid said she courted some of the biggest raw material firms to source from at a large enough capacity to fulfill orders for retailers like Target. She said one of the supply firms Nimbi works with creates the paper inserts for Apple’s iPhone boxes, for example. Nimbi’s material comes from several regions, such as re-engineered plastic from Northern Europe and steel blades from Sweden. “The pack-off happens in China, and there was no other way we could have done it,” she said.  

A test run at Erewhon also helped prepare the company, Reid said, as the grocer has a rigorous due diligence process to accept eco-friendly brands and products. “We now have a manufacturing capability of 100 million units per year,” Reid said. Target is Nimbi’s first national launch outside of its Amazon store, which launched last November.

Prepping for a launch into a big-box retailer is stressful enough, but now tariffs are also adding a constant source of uncertainty for many of these brands. “The only comfort — and this isn’t a comfort in any stretch — is that all of the brands are having the same issues when it comes to tariffs,” Reid said.

The supply chain side is a constant stress and concern for any business, Reid said, “Unless you are privileged enough to be under a big conglomerate to have a complete closed loop.” 

Jupiter’s Goodhart said there are a lot of steps to execute a big box launch at this time, and that’s being further complicated by supply chain disruptions. “But we want to stand out from the traditional blue and white bottles that have owned the [dandruff] space,” Goodhart said. “Launching at Target definitely accelerates these investments.”