Hey everyone,
Welcome back for part 3 of 3 in our retail series.
You've done the readiness assessment.
You've nailed the logistics.
Now comes the part that separates retail winners from retail disasters: relationships.
Here's what’s easy to get wrong about retail → thinking it's about products. It's not. It's about people.
The buyer who champions your brand during quarterly reviews.
The category manager who gives you premium shelf placement.
The merchandising team that features you in their promotional calendar.
These relationships determine whether you get 100 stores or 4,000. Whether you get the end cap display or get buried on the bottom shelf. Whether you survive the next reset or get discontinued.
At Obvi, we've learned that retail success isn't just about having great products. It's about building the partnerships that help those products succeed.
On the Menu:
The Pitch That Gets You In
Broker vs. Direct: When to Choose What
Maintaining Relationships That Drive Growth
But first… have you heard about our virtual live event happening July 23rd?
Live Webinar: The Growth Systems That Built Obvi & Feastables Into DTC Giants
We’re bringing Feastables former Director of Retention, Joseph Siegel, on our Chew on This webinar series this Wednesday!
We’ll be covering everything from the exact Meta acquisition system I (Ash) have used to spend over $40M on Meta profitably to what Joseph believes most brands get wrong in the first 30 days post purchase.
Bonus: I (Ash) will be giving away a free 1-on-1 Meta account audit to the live audience.
The Pitch That Gets You In
It’s tempting to approach retail pitches like you’re presenting to investors. Big vision, hockey stick projections, lots of slides about market size.
Buyers don't care about any of that.
Here's what buyers want to know:
Will this product sell? They need data, not dreams. Historical performance, customer reviews, DTC conversion rates.
Will this brand support the launch? They need to see your marketing plan, promotional budget, and commitment to driving trial.
Will this supplier be reliable? They need confidence in your operations, forecasting, and ability to scale.
Our first Walmart pitch was a disaster.
We shared 47 slides covering everything from our founding story to our 5-year vision. The buyer stopped us on slide 12 and asked:
"How many units do you think you'll sell per store per week?"
We didn't have an answer.
Back to the drawing board. Time to simplify.
Our winning pitch deck was just 12 slides →
Product overview (what it is, what it does)
Target customer (who buys this, where they shop)
Market opportunity (category size, growth trends)
DTC performance (sales data, customer reviews, retention)
Competitive advantage (why us vs. alternatives)
Retail-ready packaging (shelf appeal, case pack efficiency)
Pricing strategy (retail price, margins, promotional flexibility)
Marketing support (launch plan, ongoing promotion)
Sales projections (conservative forecasts with rationale)
Operations capability (3PL, forecasting, OTIF track record)
Success metrics (how we'll measure and report performance)
Next steps (clear ask, timeline, follow-up plan)
🔑 The key insight: Buyers aren't buying your vision. They're buying confidence that you'll help them hit their numbers.
✅ What worked for us:
Led with DTC data showing real customer demand
Provided conservative sales projections with clear rationale
Demonstrated operational readiness with our 3PL partnership
Showed promotional flexibility without racing to the bottom on price
❌ What didn't work:
Talking about market size (they already know their category)
Promising unrealistic velocity (they've heard it all before)
Focusing on product features instead of customer benefits
Not having clear answers about operational capabilities
Pro tip: Before any pitch, research the buyer's other wins in the category.
What products have they launched successfully? What patterns can you identify? Tailor your pitch to show how you fit their proven success model.
Broker vs. Direct: When to Choose What
One of the first decisions you'll face: go direct to retailers or work through a broker/distributor.
Most brands obsess over control and margins. But the real question is simpler: what gets you the best outcome?
When to go direct →
You already have strong relationships with target retailers. We went direct with some smaller regional chains where we had existing connections.
You have dedicated retail talent in-house. Direct requires someone who understands retail buying cycles, can manage complex negotiations, and speaks the buyer's language.
You want maximum control over positioning and pricing. Direct gives you more influence over how your brand is presented and promoted.
When to use a broker →
You're targeting major retailers where you have no relationships. Our broker got us into Walmart in 8 months. Going direct would have taken 2+ years, if at all.
You lack retail expertise. Good brokers bring deep category knowledge, established buyer relationships, and operational experience.
You want to test multiple retailers simultaneously. Brokers can often pitch you to 5-10 retailers in parallel.
📋 The broker reality check:
Pros:
Instant access to buyer relationships
Category expertise and market knowledge
Parallel pursuit of multiple opportunities
Operational support during onboarding
Cons:
Commission costs (typically 3-7% of sales)
Less control over brand positioning
Potential conflicts with their other brands
Dependency on their priorities and performance
We used a broker for Walmart but went direct with Target.
The broker got us into Walmart faster and handled the complex onboarding process. But going direct with Target gave us more control over our launch strategy and better margins.
The hybrid approach: Start with a broker to get established, then gradually bring relationships in-house as you build internal capability.
We're now direct with most retailers but still use brokers for new category expansions.
Broker evaluation criteria:
Other brands they represent (complementary, not competitive)
Relationships with your target buyers (recent wins, tenure)
Category expertise (do they understand your market?)
Operational support (just sales or full account management?)
Commission structure (percentage, minimums, performance bonuses)
Maintaining Relationships That Drive Growth
Getting the initial "yes" is only the beginning.
Growing your retail business happens through the ongoing relationship work.
Early on, we only communicated when we needed something. Orders, shelf space, promotional support. But this transactional approach limited our growth.
Everything changed when we started leading with value.
Instead of just asking for things, we became a resource. We shared market research, customer insights, and competitive intelligence that helped our buyers be smarter about their category.
✅ Here's a concrete example →
Through our DTC data, we noticed a competitor having supply chain issues.
We shared that insight with our Walmart buyer, who was able to adjust their orders and avoid stockouts.
Six months later, we got the promotional slot that the competitor had been promised.
The communication rhythm that works:
We send every buyer a monthly one-page summary covering sales performance, inventory levels, upcoming promotions, and any issues.
Takes 10 minutes to create, but buyers love having visibility into what's happening with your brand.
Quarterly, we go deeper with strategic updates about category trends, our new product pipeline, and market opportunities. This positions you as a strategic partner, not just another supplier.
When something goes wrong (and it will), communicate immediately.
Don't wait for the buyer to discover problems. And when you have wins (great customer feedback, social media buzz, press coverage) share those too.
Buyers WANT to back winning brands.
Surviving the retail reset
Retailers regularly "reset" their shelves, discontinuing underperforming products.
We survive these by maintaining detailed performance records, understanding how we compare to alternatives in our price range, and always having new products in development.
Buyers are more likely to keep brands that are innovating and contributing to category growth, not just taking share from existing products.
Sum It Up
Retail relationships aren't networking, they're hardcore biz dev. Every interaction either builds or erodes your opportunity for growth.
Here’s the framework:
Pitch with data, not dreams. Buyers need confidence you'll help them hit their numbers.
Choose broker vs. direct based on capabilities and relationships, not just control preferences.
Invest in ongoing relationship maintenance through consistent communication and value-added insights.
Most importantly, remember that retail is a long-term game.
The relationships you build today determine your opportunities two years from now.
At Obvi, our retail success came from treating buyers as partners, not B2B “clients”. When you help them succeed, they help you grow.
Whether you're just starting your retail journey or looking to expand existing relationships, focus on building genuine partnerships based on mutual success.
That's what turns retail from a sales channel into a growth engine.
All the best,
Ron & Ash
That's a wrap on our 3-part retail series! If you're planning a retail expansion or optimizing existing relationships, we'd love to hear about your experience. Hit reply and let us know what resonates or what questions you still have.