So do you open doors?

We do open them but we keep them open. We don't just book you an appoint and walk away.  

 

How do you choose who you work with?

We understand what retailers need and what they are looking for and what trends are in the UK?

We look for businesses with an interesting story, offering a different angle to what retail is already doing, strong credibility across other countries, likeminded people and great company values.

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What’s your strategy if the retailer says no?

We don’t give up.  We understand why and ask the difficult questions that you just would not ask.  It could be that they have already got similar product, not doing a range review right now, they don’t see that the addition of your product will give them additional sales and seeing it as a substitution. 

We look for other opportunities in the meantime so you can make sales and give them reason to revisit later.  

We then help you build and develop a more compelling proposition for later.  It's hardly ever completely off the table.

 

How long does it take to get in store in large retail if they say yes?

It can take between 6 and 18 months to get in store but there lots of opportunity to get online to make sales and nurture relationship in the interim.  

 

What are the requirements for rebates and marketing for large retail?

business level rebate a stepped / banded growth is required 0.5% through to 3%

Marketing between 3-5% to promote product propositions.  If there is a major requirement to build your brand a separate in house fund is required at least 15-20%

 

What opportunities are there to boost sales?

Utilisation of the retailer own activity such as email subscriptions to their loyal customer base, inclusion in the social media activity, digital marketing on their website, in store execution such as training, merchandising, visuals. 

 

Are you a sales agency?

We are much more than a sales agency.  We love to talk about great product and great stories in a compelling way to engage retailers.  We are an extension to your senior team.  We look beyond the product, understand you and your business and what you want to achieve and do everything possible to get you there. We have managed businesses and worked in senior positions.  We have been supplier and retailer so understand both sides of the conversation which gives us a unique ability to see what's coming. 

 

What does channel management mean and what does it require us to do?

Two things 

• You need to be mindful of retailers who compete in the same space 

• Harmony across all of your retailer channels in your promotional activity.  Transparency is the key here. 

 

What product margin do retailers expect?

This will differ by product category and retailer strategy, individual buyer preference, upfront product margin vs rebate, premium product vs price fighter.  We go through all this with you so that you are ready to do the math.  Which is the important bit.  We tease this out in discussions so you are not on the back foot or have the wrong expectation 

 

What is a bought out guarantee (BOG)?

Regarding customer returns there are usually 3 options:-

• All returns are sent back to the supplier and a full refund is required

• Full refund required with no goods returned

• (Bog) Percentage rebate paid to retailer and retailer will take full responsibility for the return.

 

How much promotional activity/participation do we need to implement?

This will differ by product category but the rule of thumb is always having some element of promotional activity/message across your range all year is required. Using a 50/50 ratio (50% on offer and 50% not)

 

Does the retailer require full margin protection at the promotional price?

Usually yes but there are some retailers that will accept a slightly lower margin especially when the savings are large.  Whole number promotions are required for uk retail.  Some brands from abroad like to give 41% off this is not acceptable in the Uk.  

 

What factory standards do we need to adhere to for the uk?

Additionally to the additional product standard requirements, a growing number of retailers are implementing compulsory SEDEX approval in order to trade.  Link here for SEDEX