How to Negotiate with Retail Buyers: Six Guidelines for Getting the Best Results for Your Displays

Getting your products into a retail location like Costco, Walmart, Sam’s Club or a specialty retailer like Home Depot or Lowe’s is a powerful accomplishment for any brand.

And once you’ve got an agreement locked in, it can feel as if the best course of action is to agree to any retailer requests. Is your buyer asking for a different product count for your displays? Are there requests to change the display design or push up a launch date?

What is the best way to respond to such requests, when they create added cost and complications?

Negotiations at this stage can feel like a risky strategy – what if pushing back creates a rift in your relationship with the buyer? But agreeing to requests that can impact the success of your program is often the bigger risk, especially when you understand how to make a well-supported argument in favor of another approach.

Mutually Beneficial Alternatives

In fact, when you do your homework and take the time to understand the buyer’s goal in making such a request, and build your case with this in mind, you may uncover a path of overlapping interest and even a mutually beneficial alternative.

When approached correctly, negotiations don’t come at the expense of buyer goodwill.  If you’re unprepared, come across as unreasonable or seem to be operating solely out of self-interest, your efforts are unlikely to succeed.  But when you demonstrate your grasp of the retailer’s needs and goals and negotiate with a well-researched argument, you will leave the table with a stronger buyer relationship than if you had done nothing.

Here are six guidelines for buyer negotiations that are productive, businesslike and highlight your understanding of the retailer’s needs and goals.

6 Guidelines for Effective Buyer Negotiations

1. Do your homework: The more you know about the reason behind the request, the cost impact of changes at every stage, and the available alternatives, the more likely you are to successfully arrive at a compromise.

2. Don’t assume you can talk your way through: You need to make a case. (See guideline above.)

3. Ask the right questions: What are the retailer’s success metrics? How do they define a win for your display? What are the goals underlying the buyer’s request for a change?

4. Understand shopper behavior on the store floor: If your buyer is asking for changes to your custom POP displays and packaging that could adversely impact how buyers interact with it on the floor, be prepared with examples of what can go wrong. Studying shopper behavior can provide insights into how the wrong design choices can result in displays that become disorganized and discourage buyers.

5. Be prepared with data and visuals: Show and tell is generally more effective than talking.

6. Avoid arguing or complaining: Keep in mind that there is a wide space of mutual interest in the success of your program and take the long view. The best outcome is one that aligns with everyone’s goals, and in this context, the goals are rarely far apart.

Learn More About How to Create Successful Retail Campaigns

Successful retail campaigns, especially for big box retailers and club stores, require experience and a solid grasp of retailer requirements, deadlines and logistical challenges.

At TPH Global Solutions^®, we help brands land, launch and repeat successful retail campaigns at retailers like Costco, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Home Depot, Lowe’s and a long list of other specialty retailers, grocers and pharmacy chains.

We can help guide your campaign from start to finish, with custom packaging and custom POP and POS pallet displays, along with expert support for logistics, transportation and supply chain optimization.