May 3, 2013

Let's talk about why collecting sales history and marketing ROI from your current retailers is critical for future growth and the best way to finesse your request for data.

As you begin scaling up your retail distribution and pitching to larger retailers, it will be important to show your sales history and growth trends to demonstrate why you will generate enough sales for these larger retailers. If you haven’t been collecting this information periodically and over time, you will find yourself scrambling to reach out to old retailers or to buyers with whom you have lost touch. Not a good spot to be in.

Here are some ways to ask for this information from retailers to make the request easier for buyers to stomach:

To current retailers: “Can you please share your point of sales data or sell-through data with us? We would like to monitor sales to learn what is working well, so we can repeat our successes with you. And we would like to see what’s not going so well, so we can develop a solution to improve sales for you.”

To old retailers: Well…You’re out of luck…you can ask for this information, but there is very little incentive for them to help you out. You can beg, but it may be an uphill battle. This is why it’s important to collect this information periodically over the course of your relationship with these stores.