Winning space on shelf isn’t really about the shelf anymore. It’s about convincing a retailer’s buying team that your product, your plan, and your ability to execute are worth the risk of ranging you over something already working. The physical bay is just where the decision becomes visible.
It’s not about facings anymore
Brands still walk into pitches asking for more facings, better eye-line placement, an end-of-aisle spot. Those conversations matter less than they used to. Buyers are managing a category across store, app, and web simultaneously, and a strong in-store position with a weak digital presence is now a bigger red flag than a mediocre bay position with excellent online conversion data.
The digital shelf counts as much as the physical one
Search ranking on a retailer’s own site, review volume, content completeness, and how quickly you respond to out-of-stock alerts all feed into how a category is scored internally. A brand that shows up well in these metrics gets treated as a lower-risk partner — which, in practice, means better terms and more willingness to test something new with you.
What actually moves a buyer’s decision
Three things, in order: a credible sell-through forecast tied to a real marketing plan, evidence you’ll support the range with retail media and content rather than just supply stock, and a track record — even a short one — of doing what you said you’d do. Products rarely lose a pitch on merit alone. They lose it on unconvincing plans.
Preparing a retailer pitch and want it to land differently?
Steven Woodgate, Founder, Emmer Green — former Head of Category (Technology), John Lewis & Partners; former senior commercial leadership roles at Samsung, Dell Technologies and Microsoft.
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