Walmart USA: Market Entry via Bottom-Up Strategy
Central agreement with Walmart secured in 2 years through a bottom-up market entry strategy. From Puerto Rico distributor to Arkansas HQ — and into every Walmart store across the Americas.
Grupo Rayen
2009–2011
Grupo Rayen had a product competitive enough for the US market but no foothold. Walmart doesn't negotiate with unknowns. A direct approach to Arkansas HQ would have gone nowhere — no sales history, no proof of sell-through, no leverage. Rather than pitching central from day one, I built credibility from the ground up. Entry through Puerto Rico — local distributor, real sales data, proven sell-through at shelf level. Once the numbers existed, the conversation with Arkansas HQ was a fundamentally different one.
Central Walmart USA agreement built bottom-up over 2 years. Puerto Rico as proof-of-concept: local distributor onboarded, sell-through data built, credibility established before HQ escalation. Arkansas HQ agreement secured — product distributed across all Walmart stores in the Americas. BestBuy México secured in parallel. LuLu Hypermarkets and EMKE Group across the Gulf. Sustained accounts across LATAM and North Africa: Carrefour, Metro Group, Sodimac, Falabella, Cencosud, Marjane, Monoprix, Géant. 25+ direct key accounts managed simultaneously. Portfolio representing 20% of group total turnover. 15% consistent annual sales growth. 20+ commercial agents and distributors managed across 10+ markets. OEM product lines developed for US direct-sales companies under Vitrex brand: Heritage Mint, Seventh Avenue, Ginny's and Swiss Colony — combined portfolio ~€1M.
Getting into Walmart is one of the hardest retail milestones in FMCG. It requires sustained sell-through data, strict vendor compliance, and a strategy that works simultaneously at local and central level. A central agreement doesn't mean one store — it means every Walmart across the Americas. This wasn't a lucky introduction — it was built methodically over two years. In parallel, OEM development ran directly with the factory for the North American direct-sales channel — product customization, US standards compliance, and tight coordination between commercial, R&D and production. Running both tracks simultaneously at scale is not a standard BD profile.
"I would like to mention the great commercial work of Oriac in acquiring Walmart as a client. This milestone was thanks to months of work and the penetration in Puerto Rico along with other areas involved in the company in which I also participated." — Eveli Navarro Dalmau, Global Sourcing & Procurement, Grupo Rayen
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