Skip the small talk. Show up ready to solve real business problems.
Retail buyers are busy – really busy.
Every call, email, and “quick check-in” competes for a packed calendar.
Brands that break through bring something of value and deliver it in a way that’s easy to act on. Let’s get inside the mind of a typical retail merchant to see what it takes to build better partnerships.
First, think like a buyer
If you were a buyer, what would you want from brands competing for your time? Not a deck full of data points you already know. Not ten “priorities” to digest at once.
You’d want a few laser-focused ideas for hitting your targets, winning your category, and clearing any roadblocks stalling your momentum.
With that in mind, our teams:
- Avoid “just touching base” messages. Every outreach should deliver value.
- Aim to bring something new to the table. Think fresh data, competitive intel, or an angle that creates an “aha” moment.
- Focus on one or two outcomes per call. Moving one bold idea forward is better than dancing around a dozen.
When prepping for meetings, we think about wins from the buyer’s point of view, asking:
- Will it help them show results in the next 4-week scan?
- Is it useful enough to share with their team?
- Can they sell it to senior leaders without extra work?
If it’s yes, it stays in the deck. If not, it comes out. From there, we drill down even further:
- “Here’s how we’ll drive incremental units, not just shift share.”
- “This solves a known execution issue in your stores.”
- “We’ve tested this in a similar banner — here’s the lift.”
It’s the difference between taking up time and creating value.
Make every interaction count
Our latest CPG Confidential research shows that nearly 30% of CPG leaders never get beyond their category buyer — a missed chance to influence the people deciding space, budgets, and where to focus resources.
The biggest wins come from cross-category and executive leaders. They set the bigger picture and remember the partners who prove shopper demand, deliver results, and build trust over time.
In 2024, we led 1,600 senior-level meetings with retail partners — the kind of collaborations that can take a brand from $10 million to $300 million — and are on track to match or surpass that pace in 2025.
We earn this access by pairing hyperlocal insight with national resources like IBM-powered analytics. And while AI tools are spotting issues faster than ever, they can’t replace boots in the aisle, in the community, and across the store.
Here’s how it pays off in practice: When ALOHA consolidated their retail business with Acosta, buyer conversations became more focused. That holistic clarity helped the brand double its retail presence and become the #1 protein bar at Whole Foods.
Get out of the office
One of the best ways to inspire a buyer isn’t a meeting at all. It’s a store walk.
Buyers are buried in spreadsheets and virtual calls. Getting them into the aisle — seeing the shelf, the competition, and the consumer experience — shifts the dialogue. It’s tactile, it’s memorable, and it gives them real context for decisions.
We’ve seen entire conversations shift during a 20-minute store walk. A display issue in frozen, a competitor with killer signage, or a price point that’s off. We highlight what others are doing well and follow up with photos buyers can share with their team. Seeing it in person makes it real and adds urgency.
Add a quick agenda, brief summary, and enough lead time to plan it around breakfast or lunch, and it’s that much easier for buyers to say yes. It’s not always easy to arrange, but when it happens, it’s next level.
Tell a better story
Believe it or not, buyers told us what they want from brand sales teams is better storytelling.
So, we built Simple Stories — concise, one-page slides that make retail scenarios clear and actionable. They feature shelf photos, shopper insights, and clean data tied to what’s happening in the aisle or in POS reports. The format is easy to grasp, share, and act on.
In 2024, we shared more than 200 Simple Stories with buyers, which helped frame the opportunity and made it easy for them to champion ideas internally. It’s no surprise that people remember stories up to 22 times more than facts alone.
For one healthy frozen treat brand, storytelling sparked a turning point for growth. Leaning into its unique origin story, our in-store sampling and promotional events helped expand distribution by 200K+ points and drive $200MM in category sales.
Inspire, don’t overwhelm
The market is fast-moving. Pricing and value remain tough. Eight out of ten new products still fail.
But there are always ways to break through — and we see them every day.
Remember that small, focused wins stack up over time. At Whole Foods, Kikkoman moved from regional to national distribution after years of stalled growth — not because we flooded buyers with ideas, but because we brought compelling reasons to act. We built trust, backed it with data showing that more Kikkoman meant more category sales, and earned a spot in all 510 stores that drove +95% sales increase.
In today’s retail environment, inspiring the buyer isn’t optional. It’s what separates the brands winning shelf space from the ones left fighting for it.
Keep it simple. Make it count. We can show you how.
