Getting your product onto the right retail shelves requires specialized expertise distinct from general marketing. It involves navigating complex buyer relationships, understanding channel logistics, and negotiating favorable terms. Here are a few examples of companies and service provider types dedicated to this specific function – securing placement for products in retail and online stores:
Acosta Group: A leading sales agency representing CPG brands to retailers across North America. Their core function is acting as a broker, leveraging deep relationships with retail buyers to secure shelf space and manage categories.
Advantage Solutions: Similar to Acosta, Advantage is a major sales and retail operations company focused on representing manufacturers and driving product placement and sales velocity within various retail channels through direct buyer engagement.
Distroly: We specialize in bridging the gap between development and retail execution. Distroly helps with branding development, identifying the optimal retail channels (physical or online) for a product based on target audience and brand fit, and directly engages with retail buyers, negotiates placement terms, and facilitates the logistical onboarding process to get products listed and onto shelves or e-commerce platforms.
Presence Marketing / Dynamic Presence: A specialized national food brokerage focused exclusively on securing placement for natural and organic products within grocery stores, mass retailers with natural sets, and relevant online channels.
BeaconUnited: A national food brokerage firm providing direct headquarter sales representation to secure product listings and manage relationships with buyers primarily in the US grocery channel.
Market Performance Group (MPG): While offering strategic consulting, a core service is sales management and execution focused on securing retail distribution. They help brands get appointments with buyers and negotiate placement across multiple channels, including e-commerce.
SPAR Group: Offers global retail merchandising, marketing, and distribution services. While heavy on in-store execution (merchandising, audits), they also provide services supporting product placement and ensuring compliance once placement is secured.
Alliance Sales & Marketing: A dedicated food broker concentrating on representing brands (especially perishables) directly to retail buyers to secure product listings and manage ongoing sales relationships.
C.A. Fortune: Functions as a consumer brands agency with a strong emphasis on direct sales management and retail execution to get products placed and performing within grocery, mass, natural, and online retailers.
IGNITE Sales & Marketing: Despite the name, their primary function relevant here is acting as a sales representative for food and beverage brands, focusing on building distribution networks by securing listings with retail buyers.
Pinnacle Sales & Marketing: A manufacturer's representative firm focused on securing product placement and managing sales within the foodservice and grocery retail sectors through direct interaction with distributors and retail buyers.
Other Coniderations from Various Specialists:
There's a large segment of E-commerce Enablers & Aggregators, which prove a distinct and powerful role in the industry of product placement. These type companies focus solely on managing the process of getting products listed and optimized on platforms like Amazon, Walmart Marketplace, etc. They handle the technical listing, inventory feeds, and compliance required for digital shelf space, distinct from marketing campaigns. Examples include firms focused purely on marketplace onboarding and operations.
Another great segment of important movers and shakers are Independent Manufacturer Representatives & Regional Brokers. They typically represent smaller firms and individuals specializing in specific product types (e.g., hardware, apparel components, giftware) or geographic regions. Their core business is direct sales representation to retail buyers within their niche to secure purchase orders and placement.