Key components
Understanding your market, customers, and performance metrics can help you make informed decisions as you prepare for and grow within retail.
While early-stage brands may not yet have access to retail sales data, there are still valuable insights available through consumer research, digital channels, market trends, and retailer feedback. As your brand grows, establishing a robust performance tracking framework will help identify opportunities, support retailer conversations, and strengthen long-term retail success.
💬 From the Voices Behind the Contents
"Listings do not equal sales - being stocked is only the beginning of retail success."
"Listings do not equal sales - being stocked is only the beginning of retail success."
1. Market & Consumer Insights
It is important to focus on understanding the market landscape and the consumers you're looking to reach.
Areas to Research
✔ Consumer trends and purchasing behaviours
✔ Category growth and emerging segments
✔ Competitor pricing and positioning
✔ Product formats, ingredients, and claims gaining traction
✔ Retailer assortment and market gaps
Sources of Insight
📊 Industry reports
🛒 Retail store visits
⭐ Customer reviews
📱 Social listening
📧 Consumer surveys
🎪 Sampling and event feedback
💡 Top Tip: Strong market understanding helps you identify where your product fits and where opportunities exist before approaching retailers.
Areas to Research
✔ Consumer trends and purchasing behaviours
✔ Category growth and emerging segments
✔ Competitor pricing and positioning
✔ Product formats, ingredients, and claims gaining traction
✔ Retailer assortment and market gaps
Sources of Insight
📊 Industry reports
🛒 Retail store visits
⭐ Customer reviews
📱 Social listening
📧 Consumer surveys
🎪 Sampling and event feedback
💡 Top Tip: Strong market understanding helps you identify where your product fits and where opportunities exist before approaching retailers.
2. E-Commerce & Digital Performance
For brands without retail listings, your own website and digital channels can provide valuable proof of demand and customer behaviour insights.
📊 Key Digital Metrics (Using Your Own Data):
✔ Website traffic – Measures awareness and interest
✔ Conversion rate (CVR) – Indicates product-market fit
✔ Add-to-cart rate – Demonstrates purchase intent
✔ Average Order Value (AOV) – Shows basket strength
✔ Repeat purchase rate – Signals customer loyalty
✔ Email Subscriber Growth – Measures audience building
✔ Customer Reviews – Provides social proof
🪄 Digital Shelf Optimisation:
✔ High-quality product imagery
✔ SEO-optimised product pages
✔ Customer reviews and testimonials
✔ Clear product benefits and claims
✔ Educational content and FAQs
✔ User-generated content (UGC)
📊 Key Digital Metrics (Using Your Own Data):
✔ Website traffic – Measures awareness and interest
✔ Conversion rate (CVR) – Indicates product-market fit
✔ Add-to-cart rate – Demonstrates purchase intent
✔ Average Order Value (AOV) – Shows basket strength
✔ Repeat purchase rate – Signals customer loyalty
✔ Email Subscriber Growth – Measures audience building
✔ Customer Reviews – Provides social proof
🪄 Digital Shelf Optimisation:
✔ High-quality product imagery
✔ SEO-optimised product pages
✔ Customer reviews and testimonials
✔ Clear product benefits and claims
✔ Educational content and FAQs
✔ User-generated content (UGC)
3. Retail Performance Metrics (Post-Listing)
📈 Why It Matters:
Retail sales data provides a clear picture of how your products are performing across stores, regions, and channels. It helps you understand consumer demand, justify additional listings, and identify opportunities to improve distribution and sales.
Key Metrics to Track:
✔ Sell-Through Rate – Percentage of stock sold within a given period.
✔ Rate of Sale (ROS) – Average units sold per store per week.
✔ Distribution – Number and percentage of stores stocking your products.
✔ Stock Cover – Number of weeks current inventory will last.
✔ Out-of-Stocks (OOS) – Supply and availability performance.
✔ Promotional Uplift – Impact of promotions.
✔ Average Selling Price (ASP) – Average retail selling price.
✔ Gross Margin – Profit contribution after retailer costs.
✔ Repeat Purchase Rate – Percentage of customers who buy again.
Why Buyers Care:
Retail buyers use these metrics to evaluate whether your products deserve additional distribution, promotional investment, or long-term shelf space.
💬 From the buyer Voices
"It's important to regularly review sales performance, best-sellers, and promotional performance. If you have category data, use it to provide context and tell the wider story."
Retail KPI Dashboard "It's important to regularly review sales performance, best-sellers, and promotional performance. If you have category data, use it to provide context and tell the wider story."
(ROS, sell-through, distribution, OOS tracking, promotional uplift)
4. Marketing Performance & Attribution
📣 Retail success depends on connecting consumer marketing activity to measurable sales outcomes. Retailers want to see that brands are actively driving consumer demand and supporting sell-through.
Trackable Marketing Channels (not a must to have any / all in place):
📱 (Paid) Social media
🤝 Influencer partnerships
📧 Email marketing
🔍 Paid search
📰 PR and content
🛒 Retail media
Performance Metrics:
✔ Return on Investment (ROI)
✔ Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
✔ Cost per Click (CPC)
✔ Conversion Rate
✔ Repeat Purchase Rate
✔ Engagement Rate
✔ Sales Uplift
💡 Top Tip: You don't need to be active on every channel. Focus on the channels that most effectively reach your target customer.
Trackable Marketing Channels (not a must to have any / all in place):
📱 (Paid) Social media
🤝 Influencer partnerships
📧 Email marketing
🔍 Paid search
📰 PR and content
🛒 Retail media
Performance Metrics:
✔ Return on Investment (ROI)
✔ Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
✔ Cost per Click (CPC)
✔ Conversion Rate
✔ Repeat Purchase Rate
✔ Engagement Rate
✔ Sales Uplift
💡 Top Tip: You don't need to be active on every channel. Focus on the channels that most effectively reach your target customer.
5. Retailer Feedback & Performance Reviews
📝 Once listed, retailer feedback becomes a valuable source of insight and can help identify opportunities for growth.
Common Areas of Feedback
📦 Packaging
💷 Pricing
🏷 Product positioning
📈 Sales performance
🛍 Shopper behaviour
🚚 Availability and supply
Use Feedback To
✔ Refine your proposition
✔ Improve promotional plans
✔ Support range review discussions
✔ Identify future opportunities
✔ Strengthen retailer relationships
Common Areas of Feedback
📦 Packaging
💷 Pricing
🏷 Product positioning
📈 Sales performance
🛍 Shopper behaviour
🚚 Availability and supply
Use Feedback To
✔ Refine your proposition
✔ Improve promotional plans
✔ Support range review discussions
✔ Identify future opportunities
✔ Strengthen retailer relationships
💬 From the buyer Voices
"Buyer & brand catch-ups once a brand is listed are hugely under-used. A challenger brand has the potential to be that buyer's most fun meeting of the week - seize that"
"Buyer & brand catch-ups once a brand is listed are hugely under-used. A challenger brand has the potential to be that buyer's most fun meeting of the week - seize that"
6. Data Sources & Analytics Tools
As your business grows, combining multiple data sources will provide a more complete picture of performance.
🛠️ Useful Sources
✔ Retailer portals and scorecards (usually available as part of a listing)
✔ Distributor and wholesaler reports
✔ Google Analytics
✔ Shopify / e-commerce platform analytics
✔ Meta Ads Manager
✔ Amazon Seller Central
✔ Customer surveys
✔ Review platforms
Advanced Retail Data Providers
📊 North Star
📊 NielsenIQ
📊 Circana (formerly IRI)
📊 Kantar
Typically more relevant for brands with established retail distribution.
🛠️ Useful Sources
✔ Retailer portals and scorecards (usually available as part of a listing)
✔ Distributor and wholesaler reports
✔ Google Analytics
✔ Shopify / e-commerce platform analytics
✔ Meta Ads Manager
✔ Amazon Seller Central
✔ Customer surveys
✔ Review platforms
Advanced Retail Data Providers
📊 North Star
📊 NielsenIQ
📊 Circana (formerly IRI)
📊 Kantar
Typically more relevant for brands with established retail distribution.
7. Continuous Optimisation
Data should support decision-making, not simply reporting.
Regularly review performance to identify opportunities and make informed adjustments.
🚀 Areas to Optimise
✔ Pricing strategy
✔ Product assortment
✔ Promotional activity
✔ Marketing spend
✔ Packaging and messaging
✔ Retail partnerships
Best Practice
📅 Monthly: Review digital and marketing performance
📊 Quarterly: Review retail performance and category trends
🎯 Annually: Review overall retail strategy and growth opportunities
Regularly review performance to identify opportunities and make informed adjustments.
🚀 Areas to Optimise
✔ Pricing strategy
✔ Product assortment
✔ Promotional activity
✔ Marketing spend
✔ Packaging and messaging
✔ Retail partnerships
Best Practice
📅 Monthly: Review digital and marketing performance
📊 Quarterly: Review retail performance and category trends
🎯 Annually: Review overall retail strategy and growth opportunities
Final Takeaways
🔍 Use market and consumer insights to identify opportunities and validate demand.
📱 Leverage DTC and digital performance data before retail listings are secured
📈 Track retail KPIs to support buyer conversations and future growth.
📣 Measure marketing effectiveness and understand which activities drive results.
📝 Use retailer feedback and performance reviews to strengthen listings and relationships.
🚀 Continuously optimise pricing, marketing, assortment, and retail strategy based on insights and performance data.
📱 Leverage DTC and digital performance data before retail listings are secured
📈 Track retail KPIs to support buyer conversations and future growth.
📣 Measure marketing effectiveness and understand which activities drive results.
📝 Use retailer feedback and performance reviews to strengthen listings and relationships.
🚀 Continuously optimise pricing, marketing, assortment, and retail strategy based on insights and performance data.
Extra
💰 Fundraising & Investment Readiness
Strong data and performance tracking doesn’t just support retail growth - it also plays an important role in future fundraising conversations.
Investors typically look for clear signals of traction and scalability, including:
📊 Evidence of demand (DTC performance, retail sell-through, conversion rates)
🛒 Early retail listings or distribution growth
📈 Category relevance and market opportunity
🔁 Repeat purchase behaviour and customer loyalty
🚀 Clear indicators of momentum and future scale potential
💡 In short: the same data that helps you grow in retail also helps demonstrate that your brand is investable.
Investors typically look for clear signals of traction and scalability, including:
📊 Evidence of demand (DTC performance, retail sell-through, conversion rates)
🛒 Early retail listings or distribution growth
📈 Category relevance and market opportunity
🔁 Repeat purchase behaviour and customer loyalty
🚀 Clear indicators of momentum and future scale potential
💡 In short: the same data that helps you grow in retail also helps demonstrate that your brand is investable.
