How to develop strong relationships with retailers

Building strong relationships with retailers requires a commitment to understanding their needs, providing exceptional value, and fostering trust and communication. These relationships can be mutually beneficial and lead to long-term success for your business and theirs. Here are some pointers to consider:

• Understand Their Business: Take the time to understand the retail landscape and the specific challenges and goals of your retail partners. This knowledge will help you tailor your offerings and support to their needs.
• Provide Excellent Support: Retailers often need support in terms of product knowledge, category insights, marketing materials, and inventory management. Offer support, reports and resources to assist them.
• Collaborate on Marketing: Work collaboratively with retailers on marketing initiatives. Co-promotions, joint advertising efforts, and providing marketing materials can strengthen your partnership and enhance sales.
• Make it easy to do business with you: Ensure your processes of ordering and payments are easy for retailers to do business with you.
• Regularly Visit or Connect: Whenever possible, visit your retail partners in person to discuss their needs, challenges, and feedback. Visit the retailers stores and observe shopper behaviour, stock and promotions and displays – not just in your category, but across the store. This will really help you understand the retailer better, and aid in selling.
• Inventory Management: Help retailers optimise their inventory by providing sales data, forecasts, and inventory planning tools. Avoid out of stocks, or overstock situations. Forecasting accurately for promotional slots, are critical to ensure you capitalise on the investment.
• Feedback Loop: Establish a feedback loop with retailers to gather insights on market trends, customer preferences, and product performance. Use this information to improve your products and services.
• Regular Communication: Maintain open and consistent communication with retailers. Provide updates, progress reports, and be responsive to their inquiries and concerns.
• Deliver Value: Continuously deliver value to your retailers. This isn’t about reducing prices or enhancing margins, this is about the service you provide. Go above and beyond their expectations to demonstrate your commitment to their success.

It is worth investing the time, to make retailer relationships into a partnership. Working together drives sales for both your business and your retailers business. It also ensures an excellent offering and/or experience for their shoppers (your consumers).

If you want to build stronger relationships with your retailers, contact us at help@pureblueocean.com and see how we can help you foster a successful longer term partnership