How More and More, You The Consumer Decide What Stores Like Wal-Mart And Macy's Sell

Power to the people.

Taking a page from crowdsourcing pioneers like Threadless.com, where shoppers vote on what t-shirts are made for sale, retailers ranging from Wal-Mart to Macy’s are seeking the wisdom of the crowd to determine the merchandise that will line their shelves.

It’s a byproduct of the digital age.

These days, pretty much anything can be found online: You can tap the retro archives to unearth fashion Dawn dolls from the 1970s on sites like eBay, or design your own clothing, jewelry and home décor on ones like Shapeways.

Want to replace that cherished missing earring or recreate your grandmother’s vintage wedding ring? New site Morphe.us.com, now in beta, promises to recreate lost items via the magic of 3D printing.

Crowdsourcing Goes Mainstream

As the digital age has spit out a proliferation of websites that cater to shoppers ever more idiosyncratic wants, needs and tastes, one-size-fits all retailing just doesn’t cut it these days. And big chains are taking in the message.

As a result, national retailers are trying on several approaches to crowdsourcing or, “social selling” – essentially the democratization of the product- development model.

Some retailers like Wal-Mart and QVC are tapping everyday folks who are would-be entrepreneurs and inventors to feed its merchandise assortment via contests.

Last month, the nation’s largest retailer launched its second annual “Get On the Shelf” contest, calling all “entrepreneurs, business owners and inventors to submit their products for a chance to sell them on Walmart.com and potentially, on shelves in select Wal-Mart stores.”

The retailer said the program’s launch last year was a big success: It garnered more than 5,000 submissions and over a million votes for the winner, Humankind Water, a bottled water company whose proceeds go towards clean water in underdeveloped areas such as Haiti.

Taking a similar tack, home shopping channel QVC launched QVC Sproutslast year.

Inventors submit their product ideas to QVC, and shoppers vote for their favorite items. The winning products are then sold on QVC.com.

The $8.5 billion retailer hopes Sprouts will unearth off-beat, innovative finds that were once so integral to the channel’s DNA, but have become harder to come by since QVC has gotten so big, said Martin Bispels, vice president of business development.

So far, so good, he said. “Since our launch over a year ago we’ve received well over 250,000 votes, which tells us our customers love this new way of interacting with us.”

Meanwhile, Macy’s, Saks and Express EXPR +0.53% have gone the reality show route.

Each week on NBC’s Fashion Star, contestants create and showcase their designs to buyers from department stores Macy's M +0.44% and Saks Fifth Avenue, and this third season, apparel retailer Express, crossing their fingers that their clothing will win coveted shelf space at one of the chains.

Joining Forces With Startups

Some established national chains are partnering with scrappy crowdsourcing pioneers.

In 2012, Quirky , which launched in 2009 and is run by its 26-year-old founder Ben Kaufman, launched 121 new products. It hawked a whopping 2.3 million units through retailers including Target, Bed Bath & Beyond and Best Buy.

People submit their product ideas; Quirky then taps its 405,000-member online community to help decide what submissions will be designed, manufactured and sold by the site.

Quirky gives inventors and community members who contributed to a product’s design and branding a small cut of the sales generated.

Custom Made

Retailers are also playing to shoppers’ interest in putting their own personal design stamp on what they wear ala sites like Shapeways and Blanklabel.com, where you can custom design your own shirts.

At Converse’s new San Francisco store — its largest to date — consumers can design their own one-of-a-kind sneakers and apparel.

The “Converse Customization” process allows shoppers to screen-print their personal designs or graphics selected from the company’s catalog on various styles of Converse footwear, apparel and accessories, Chain Store Age reported.

“We’re thrilled to offer local consumers an outlet to unleash their creativity and participate in our brand through our in-store customization,” Jonathan Tappan, general merchandise manager of direct to consumer for Converse, told CSA.

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