Now Is The Time: How To Perfect Your Retail Buyer Pitch

You may have the best cookies, granola, CBD seltzer or jam on the market, but none of that matters if you can’t get retail buyers to listen and to try your CPG product for themselves. We want you to be on your dream shelves across the country and perfecting your retail buyer pitch is step one. We know that is no easy task so we did the prep work for you, here is how to perfect your pitch so every retailer will be lining up to make their first order.

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Face to face is best

These wild times make it trickier to sit down in the same room with a buyer but do the best you can. Don’t just waltz into the store, drop samples and leave or think sending email with your pitch deck is enough. Instead, find the buyer's contact, reach out with a clear and concise ask and get something on the calendar via Zoom or IRL.

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Know your numbers

This isn’t an episode of Shark Tank so you don’t need to come in with your revenue, margins and all that jazz, but you should be able to speak intelligently on your wholesale and suggested retail price and that of the competition. This is also a great time to sweeten the deal for the retailer; can you offer them a lower wholesale price than competitors? Can you do a special promo just for their store?

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What’s your secret sauce

Let’s face it, shelves are getting crowded. Unless you are creating a new category, there are likely dozens of other products just like yours or very similar. It’s up to you to paint the picture of what sets your product apart from the rest. Do you use a unique ingredient? Is your process unique? What niche does your product fit into (ie: vegan, gluten free, organic, keto etc…) What is your founding story? This is your time to show off and brag a little about what you do better than anyone else.

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Let your fans do the talking

Would you rather have a car salesman tell you how great the new *insert trendy car make and model here* is, or would you rather ask your trustworthy friend who actually drives it what they think? You telling the buyer how great your product is is an essential first step but let other people tell them too. Use your data (shameless WeStock plug-we collect the data so you don’t have to) to show that people in their area are requesting your product, use reviews to show how everyday people incorporate your product into their lives and use press to show your credibility.

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Do your research

Every store is unique, knowing who shops there, the type of products they stock and what they value will give you a leg up. While certain items in your pitch deck can stay the same store to store, you may want to personalize certain elements to show how serious you are about being on their shelves specifically.

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Let them taste it

Number one mistake you can make in a retail buyer pitch? Focusing so much on all the items above that you lose sight of the most important part-the taste. Make sure trying the product is a key part of your pitch and leave extra samples so other buyers and employees can give them a try too.

There's more where that came from, download our full pitch deck resource here or watch these videos (here and here) for more insights.

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