Whether you are an established brand or a young start-up, there are always issues with products being executed properly in retail. Your company has seemingly completed all the necessary tasks getting your product placed in-store with retailers and now you find out that your target customers are not having a desired experience when shopping at…

It’s common for a hardware startup to be wary of the retail space. Margins, upfront costs, logistics, new marketing tactics, and other moving pieces can be unfamiliar to many smaller teams of engineers, designers, or developers who come up with a new product. I interviewed up-and-coming technology and hardware CEO – Danny at EVEN (MeQ…

Trade shows can be a fantastic way to launch a new product, find new partners, and garner attention for your brand. It can also be a fantastic way to waste money if you focus too heavily on preparation over execution. Many up-and-coming CPG brands I talk to are looking at CES or the NY Toy…

For brands that are interested in getting their products sold into retailers,  product liability insurance a required necessity of doing business with them. Just like a signed vendor agreement and a W9 (or W8-BEN if you are an International Vendor), a Certificate of Insurance (aka Product Liability Insurance) is mandatory paperwork as part of the…

As always I try to make these posts very concise and to the point.  This one deals with two specific points that your retail buyers care about most.  It basically boils down to time and money.  But to understand the significance and incorporate changes into your business requires some effort on your part. These two…

One of the most common topics brought up by physical product brands is developing strategy between Amazon vs retail (online or offline). While retailers and Amazon will be battling for years to come, what matters to your brand is how to navigate the battlefield. Amazon and retailers operate in a very different way. It’s not…

Retail product manufacturers spend a lot of time, effort and money in getting their product placed with a major retailer like Walmart, Home Depot or Best Buy.  However, no matter how much planning there goes on at the corporate buying office of these large retailers with their product vendors, there is always a chance that…

A solid strategy is required to make the most of your tradeshow marketing efforts. While some companies seem to benefit from tradeshows, many come home wondering whether their time and money was worth it. With some proper strategizing and planning, your tradeshow efforts can get the buzz and results that you want. Here are 9…

For consumer packaged goods, the grass may not always be greener when deciding which side to allocate resources – E-Commerce (direct-to-consumer) vs brick-and-mortar. Regardless of the grass color, regardless of the side, there’s almost always grass (opportunity). We all want to see the biggest return-on-investment when selling our products through sales channels. Many would have…

In today’s competitive retail environment consumer product startups need to do everything faster while maintaining and building a brand known for quality and value. If you’re a startup trying to sell your products into retail, there’s never been a better time to do so. This is due, to some degree, to the resources now at…