We’re proud to announce we successfully hosted our first two inaugural Huddles events this past March in Edgbaston Park Hotel in Birmingham with Gift Food & Drink on March 30^th, and Pet on March 31^st.

If you’re unfamiliar with our recently launched Huddles, each of these events bring together up to fifty challenger brands and a remarkable line-up of the UK's biggest retailers for each featured category for a one-day experience, with an optional networking evening for more casual interactions between attendees. Our event format was met with praise by both buyers and suppliers alike as each brand had an opportunity to speak with buyers in their category for 8 minutes.

The pandemic continues to make immense changes in the entire retail industry. Everything from how businesses market themselves, to how and where consumers primarily get their products.

Online retail, already rising pre-pandemic, emerged as the biggest powerhouse in the industry and dominates as the main channel to promote, view, and purchase. Traditional retail, such as brick-and-mortar stores, continue to remain an essential part of retail (albeit with a smaller footprint than before) especially as we adjust ourselves to living with the pandemic in a more long-term mindset. 

As a business, it’s important to get ahead of these trends not only to remain relevant to your target audience, but to breach new markets to aid in business expansion over time.

Guest post by Richard Horwell is the owner of Brand Relations

Wholesalers and retailers 

The main route to market for new brands is through wholesalers; selling direct to stores is almost impossible. But do not rush to contact the most obvious large wholesaler without checking if the wholesaler supplies your target retailers – you would be surprised how frequently this mistake is made.
 
Once you’ve sourced the wholesalers your targeted retailers buy from, you must now convince the wholesaler to give you a listing and, inevitably, pay their listing / marketing fees. So be very aware that stocking at wholesalers isn’t cheap. You will be asked to spend a minimum £2,000 listing fee per wholesaler, before your product is even advertised in their catalogues and that doesn’t include the additional marketing which involves YOU providing the banners, e-flyers and any other materials for them. 

The most dangerous phrase in the English language is “We’ve always done it this way”, renowned computer scientist Grace Hopper famously said. Over the last year as planes were grounded, key retail trade shows cancelled, and face to face meetings replaced by boxes on a screen, these words have proved harshly pertinent to the retail industry, with many FMCG suppliers left scratching their heads as to the best way to get in front of buyers.

Nobody wants to feel like they’re paying over the odds for things, not least a retailer who’s looking to turn a profit on the product they’re buying. As the seller, of course you want to build relationships with retailers and make a bit of money yourself so, does that mean you should offer your product at the lowest possible cost price to make sure that you get the sale?
 
Well, it depends how you want your brand and product to be positioned: do you want to be the Lamborghini or the Lada of your market or, somewhere in the middle? If you’re happy to be the Lada (now largely extinct in the UK, as a side note) you’ll probably concentrate on making sure that your parts, production and packaging along with other business costs are kept to a minimum, to keep your landed costs as low as you feasibly can.

If your trade show is cancelled, don’t despair. I understand it’s a big part of your marketing plans but keep in mind that attending a trade show isn’t the only thing you can do to market your business. You have other tools for networking and marketing at your disposal.