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…

We work with hundreds of up-and-coming CPG brands because of our partnerships (such as Indiegogo) and because of our track record of pioneering new products in the retail distribution (and b2b) space. Time and time again there’s an imbalance of perceived significance between sell-in and sell-through. Sell-in: When a retailer purchases product from a manufacturer…

Retailers and manufacturers constantly battle over the placement, promotion, and pricing of products. However, the current retail landscape has retailers pulling ahead with greater demands, increasing pressure on manufacturers. Major consumer goods companies are disputing with large retailers—such as Office Depot, Toys “R” Us, and Walmart—over the use of trade promotion dollars and product orders.…

The retail industry is naturally wrought with frequent change and disruptive models – from the retailers, product manufacturers, consumers, and all other parties who play a role in physical product supply and demand. Consumer product brands can sometimes get too attached to a particular retail goal or trend and base too many decisions on that…

Surviving as a consumer product company is – no surprise – incredibly difficult. Above all else, being in the consumer product industry inherently means understanding how people feel and interact with your product: consumers, employees, partners, etc. While there are many variables, my interview with the guys at Keyport shows how focusing on people is…