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Tips for getting listings in retail

  • Aug 5
  • 2 min read

From Whole Foods to Holland and Barrett...

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Find the right buyer

There will be different buyers for different categories; chilled, ambient, health and beauty and more.

LinkedIn, events like Bread and Jam and industry connections can help point you in the right direction

Email advice

Keep emails short! There can be plenty of exciting things to say about your product, but the shorter the email, the more likely it is to be read.

Bullet points help keep your emails succinct.

Email footers

We find email footers, a 1/2 pager about the brand, rather than a deck to be more impactful. Buyers tend to not scroll through a deck, unless they ask for it.

Inevitable chasing

Buyers are busy! So it’s normal that they don’t reply first time. Know you’ll have to chase, but make that chase valuable. That could be:

  • Press/PR

  • New product development

  • Market research, such as category insights showing your brand’s potential

  • Data - how you’re performing in the market

  • Awards, like Great Taste Award

You can change the email footer to reflect what’s being said in the email.

Range review windows

Ask the buyer if there’s a range review window you should be bearing in mind. It will save you chasing when it’s not the right time. Make sure you set a reminder in your calendar!

What can you offer?

To justify getting shelf space, another brand needs to be removed. So, why your brand over theirs? Will you have a higher rate of sale? Higher cash margins?


Marketing budget that supports rate of sale (2 benefits: marketing is a source of revenue for stores and it increases sales).

Routes to market

You need to be clear about how you’d fulfil the account.

Smaller stores, like Whole Foods Market, use wholesalers. You need to be engaging with their buying teams, as well as Whole Foods’, so you can discuss appropriate commercials and terms with both.

Holland and Barrett and larger stores are fulfilled directly.

And lastly, getting a listing is the first step...

The next is staying on shelf.

You need to support with marketing, such as promotions, and activations like gondola ends.

In the likes of Whole Foods Market, you can do samplings too.


Written by Emily Boyce, Founder, Sweet Thyme Foods

Photo credit: Daria Strategy


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