The Ultimate Playbook For Retail Sales: From C-Store to Big Box

Do you remember how you met your best friend? Chances are, you guys didn’t form the bond that you have now overnight. Taking time to get to know each other and create something meaningful between the two of you took a little nurturing.

The same goes for forging relationships with retailers. You ultimately want them to give your brand maximum visibility, and they want your products to move off the shelf quickly. Positioning your brand as a consultancy with the know-how to make products fly off the shelf is one way to cultivate a partnership.

But as you know, not all retailers operate in the same way; Some care about their namesake in the community whereas others want to be seen as innovative. To tackle this pain point, we’ve created a playbook for how to approach some of the more common retailer types your food or beverage brand works with.

The Ultimate Playbook for Retail Sales: From C-Store to Big Box

Every retailer requires a slightly different approach, one that varies even further depending on your goals with the account. Behind each card, we offer a couple suggestions for finding success with each retailer type, whether you're looking to maximize merchandising, distribution, or market understanding. Refer to this playbook to get big-picture ideas or jog your memory, and use the text below for more details about the suggested strategies. 

For even more tactics your brand can use to catapult itself out of a sales slump, check out this post where we address things like shelf placement, out-of-stocks, and more!

Big Box Stores

The Walmarts and Targets of the world can be some of the toughest nuts to crack. Data-driven compliance is a must for these sorts of companies, which often have extensive supplier application processes.

Merchandising Techniques

• Try to fit in with the retailer’s current ecosystem in terms of brand image and product selection. It’s expected that you’ll comply with current structures and standards as opposed to trying to reinvent them.
• Use messaging that proves how your product fills a void in the current product selection.
• Show your commitment to staying relevant in a brick and mortar environment with experiential displays.
• Encourage brand reps to guide managers with velocity-boosting ideas. For example, your craft candy might spur impulse buys if it’s at the front of the store during Halloween season. Despite the red tape, individual store managers still have a lot of control over how products are placed in their store.
• Promote product lines as opposed to individual products. This is especially if they’re being promoted with a merchandising display.
• Negotiate on merchandising tactics when an order is placed.

Distribution & Scalability

• Decide if you qualify to distribute nationally or regionally. If regional, which markets are the best fit for your brand? Store managers often have the last word on inventory for locally distributed brands.
• Prove how your brand can meet delivery deadlines, as well as a sudden increase in demand. Know that quick turnaround is expected.
• Inform the retailer know if you have the capacity to sell online.
• Demonstrate your sales potential by reporting on units per store per week (UPSPW) at other retailers. Show how your performance in the last 8 weeks compares to year-to-date. Ideally, you want to highlight patterns of growth.
• Show how your brand will drive incremental sales (i.e. not cannibalize the current assortment of products).

Understanding of the Market

• Know who you’re competing with on the shelf. One of the most important concerns for big box stores is filling gaps in their current product selection.
• Prevent sinking the your brand as a result of shifting market trends by not allowing big box retailers to account for more than 30% of your business.
• Be familiar with your purchase frequency and how many units of your product a consumer normally buys at once.
• Define your brand as either a top-line sales driver or a margin-driver.

Convenience Stores

C-stores are all about what you’d think - convenience. In an environment centered around both impulse buys and everyday staples, it’s crucial that your brand is accessible enough to drive profits for the convenience store owner at all times.

Merchandising Techniques

• Having reps in-store to manage retail execution in this fast-paced, cut-throat environment is crucial. There’s a greater need for brand reps to monitor the store more closely.
• Present store managers with a spec sheet to show how many units a given merchandising display will hold.
• Emphasize “grab-and-go” or impulse buys through visual merchandising.
• Consider the role of signage and displays outside the store, such as at gas pumps.
• Be consistent across stores so consumers will find what they need easily. “Browsing” is often discouraged in the c-store space.

Distribution & Scalability

• Research programs like Checkstand, which specialize in new product launches specifically for c-stores.
• Using brokers is extremely common in the c-store environment.
• Decide if your brand will use rack jobbers. These are vendors who rent space in a store to display and sell products and are considered distributors as they bring in products from large wholesale companies to sell at local stores. Some manufacture their own products and set up agreements with store owners to occupy their floor space.

Understanding of the Market

• Carrying young, innovative brands is more characteristic of c-stores than other retailers, especially since many are not corporate-owned.

Grocery Stores

A main focus for grocers is freshness and following consumer trends. Food and beverage products are the primary items sold here, so delivering in these areas will give your brand an edge.

Merchandising Techniques

• Have a solid understanding of your category. For example, you might produce a packaged product that is comprised of 100% fruit, in which case it might make sense to be in the produce category as opposed to packaged snacks.
• Don’t expect distributors and brokers to be meticulous about displays.
• Performing in-store demos (with accompanying displays) is a common selling technique in the grocery space.

Distribution & Scalability

• Secure a distributor. Many stores will refuse to work with you if you haven’t.
• Choose distributors that specialize in retail as opposed to foodservice. Experience with the types of products you produce (i.e. CPG, refrigerated, etc.) or your company size are also beneficial.

Understanding of the Market

• Be on trend. Grocers want to stock their shelves with products that satisfy what the consumer wants to eat and drink in the present moment.
• Understand the retailer’s demographic. Whole Foods customers value sustainability and organic agriculture, for example.
• Don’t try to introduce new products late Summer and Fall when grocers are preparing for the holiday season.

Independent Retailers

Perhaps the most atypical on this list, independent retailers generally allow vendors more flexibility in how they position their brand in the store. However, these folks pride themselves on their unique offerings and presence in the community; Their way of doing business is often “hands on.”

Merchandising Techniques

• Know that how your brand displays its products is negotiable, but also understand that owners and managers of independents tend to be very protective of their stores.
• Deliver a unique experience that’s highly tailored to the store’s demographic. Consistency across stores is less important, since most independents only operate a handful (or sometimes only one).
• Use marketing messaging that resonates strongly with the target customer and offers a personalized feel.

Distribution & Scalability

• Show that you can send shipments on the fly to fill unexpected product voids on the shelf.
• Expect more flexibility with minimum order size.

Understanding of the Market

• Know the retailer’s stance. Some independents want to be seen as innovative and therefore are more likely to carry disruptive brands. Others want to be steadfast and focus on maintaining their clientele’s expectations.
• Have an understanding of the retailer’s unique positioning instead of worrying about compliance as one would be at a big chain.
• Provide customized offerings as opposed to convenience.

WIth patience and practice, your brand will get on that first-name basis with retailers and eventually scale up inventory. If you’re looking for other ways to remedy your stagnant sales on the shelf, check out this post. Hint: Socrates might have the answers you’re looking for.