Key Account Data Can Help Your Retail Relationship

You’ve researched and innovated, and now you want to show your retail partners why your products deserve more space on their shelves.    

That’s where SPINS can help. We provide Key Account data for select retailers who have agreed to share market-level performance data across their network. Find out how your products are performing at this retailer and get clear view of how your category is performing at that retailer and how your products are faring against your competition.  This view will allow you to tell the retailer how your product(s) will help them grow—and to do that, they need to give you more shelf space. As we mentioned when explaining how to craft the perfect retail pitch, retailers want to see the data that supports your business case. You can have the most impassioned reason they should carry your product lineup, but at the end of the day they need proof that customers are going to put your items in their shopping baskets and increase the retailers’ bottom line. 

Key Account data enables you to have a fact-based conversation that shows retailers you understand their business, what is happening in the category, and why you’re uniquely positioned to succeed with them. You and your team have created products that you know will succeed—this is your chance to help the retailer understand why. 

Here are 4 Key Account data points that let you build your case in a language that retailers care about: 

Key Account data can help you see how your products are performing for this retailer and how that compares to overall category growth. This information can help you tell different stories depending on the data. For example, if your products’ sales are higher than the overall category’s growth rate, you’re clearly offering a product that resonates with customers and can help the retailer reach the category’s potential. When you can speak to these specifics and bring this data together, you speak directly to the results that retailers are looking for.  

Key Account data can show you which brands are excelling, which are underperforming, and how much room they’re taking up on shelves. Having a view of how competitors are performing allows you to easily identify where you have opportunity to expand. If you’re outperforming the competition, you can show a retailer that you have a relationship with an established customer and are in demand—and thereby deserve more inventory space to grow and convert more consumers. 

Another advantage of having a peak into your competition’s performance is identifying which of their products are bringing them success and which are lagging. If you have a product that can go head-to-head with their top performers, you can make the case that customers are looking for products like yours and you can help the retailer achieve unmet demand. Conversely, when you know which of their products are underperforming, you can show that the retailer is losing potential sales by not carrying your more successful products instead.

Retailers don’t just want to hear you talk about they should carry more of your products; they want to know you understand your audience and are a brand they can rely on to perform consistently. Key Account data allows you to look at specific attributes that are driving growth in the category. If your products align with these popular or growing attributes, you can show that you have created products that customers want and are ahead of the curve when it comes to meeting their expectations. Other brands that have not yet realized where the trends are going and don’t have a relevant product in their portfolio are already late to the game and will be slow to get one to market. You, however, are ready to sell now. 

Before you head into your next meeting with a retail partner, make sure you’re ready to speak their language. SPINS Key Account data can give you the insights to help you speak that language and prove why your products are the smart choice. 

Contact us today to find out how SPINS Key Account data can help you.