I’ve been thinking about winning at retail lately, as I’ve been helping a couple friends with early-stage startups in the CPG space.

This recent post from my good buddy Scott Carter caught my eye. Love this post as it has a great list of advice to follow. Of course I have thoughts, but since I don’t want to throw more ideas at it and break the elegance of 10 Commandments, thought I’d roll it up and provide a framework to think about 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝟰 𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 of the lifecycle:

1.      𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗜𝗻: Focus on what’s your story and how you are going to be incremental to the retailer. What new benefits, new customers, or incremental basket sales can you drive?

2.      𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗜𝗻: Drive your velocity through proper pricing and on-going support. Also, being “findable” is critical at the start – make sure you are in the right store location. That may sound obvious, but some innovations can fall into different locations. Choose wisely.

3.      𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱: Grow the category, grow your space. If you can drive incrementality, you get more space. This can come through smart new SKUs/innovations, different pack configurations, and even optimized pricing and marketing support. Growth can also come from secondary locations and becoming “bump-in-able” for the impulse purchase.

4.      𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲: The select few players can eventually dominate, but this is earned through consistently driving category growth through smart strategies and tactics (see above and Scott’s list). Also essential: a strong sales force (either on your own or in conjunction with a great broker partner) that can maintain your turf. Out of stock means out of business.

Bottom line, as Scott points out in commandment 8: Grow the retailer’s business, and yours will follow.

Thoughts or builds?