ABOUT THIS EPISODE
335. If you're trying to get into retail stores, a better-looking CPG pitch deck is not enough.
Retail buyers hear versions of the same founder, product, traction, growth, and market-size story every day.
The brands that stand out make the retailer's decision easier.
In this episode of Bulletproof Your CPG Brand, I explain what retail buyers actually need to understand before taking the risk on a new item — including where the product belongs, who the shopper is, why that shopper matters to the retailer, what useful evidence the brand can bring, what the retailer gains, and what needs to happen after authorization.
You'll also hear:
- why an investor pitch and retailer presentation solve different problems
- why retail buyers start tuning out self-focused brand pitches
- how I turned one of the weakest DSD routes into the highest-grossing route by making retailers' lives easier
- why a simple shelf image built in PowerPoint can be more useful than another 20 slides
- why retailers do not need you to read their own data back to them
- what happened when a brand expanded distribution faster than it could support
- why brokers, distributors, software, data, and agencies can help — but the brand still has to own the strategy
- how to build your retail muscle one practical win at a time
FREE NEXT STEP
Before your next buyer meeting, pressure-test the retail fundamentals behind the launch.
Get the free New Item Essential System:
RetailSolved.com/guide13
The goal is not to fix everything at once.
Ask one question:
Which retail fundamental is costing you the most right now?
Then build that muscle first.
CHAPTERS
00:00 What retail buyers need to see before they say yes
01:05 Why this is not really about a prettier pitch deck
01:59 CPG pitch deck: make the retailer's decision easier
02:39 Investor pitch vs. retailer decision
04:12 Why retail buyers start tuning brands out
05:06 The lightbulb moment when I became the brand
06:39 The simplest retailer tool almost nobody uses
08:27 1. Where exactly does the product belong?
08:44 2. Who is the shopper and why do they matter? 09:45 3. What can you show the retailer they do not already know?
10:36 4. What does the retailer gain if they say yes?
11:22 5. What happens after the retailer says yes?
12:13 When more distribution creates a bigger problem
14:01 Can your brand actually support the growth?
14:35 Build your retail muscle
15:51 One question before your next retailer meeting
16:29 Free New Item Essential System
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