Getting Into Stores Isn’t the Goal. Staying There Is.
The Myth of the Broker-as-Strategy
For early- and mid-stage CPG brands, “getting into retail” can start to feel like the holy grail. The assumption is simple: hire a broker, get a meeting, land a PO, and celebrate.
But here’s the problem. A broker is not a retail strategy. At best, they’re a means to an introduction. That’s it. They’re not crafting your pitch. They’re not building your pricing architecture. And they’re definitely not creating a plan to drive sales once you’re on the shelf.
When brands confuse access for a plan, they burn time, money, and credibility. It’s a mistake I see far too often.
What Happens After the PO
Let’s say your broker gets you the meeting, and the buyer says yes. Congrats, you’ve got a purchase order.
Now what?
Do you have a plan to generate velocity in the first 90 days?
Is your supply chain ready to support on-time, in-full delivery?
Have you aligned your retail pricing with your online channels?
Are you supporting the item with the right in-store messaging and media?
If you’re not thinking about these things before the PO lands, you’re already behind. Getting listed is just the start. Without follow-through—marketing, operations, in-store support, digital integration—your product will quietly disappear before the next line review.
At Walmart, and other mass retailers, this isn’t hypothetical. It’s how the game works.
More Than a Contact List
Too many brands approach brokers like they’re the plan. The truth is, you don’t need another middleman. You need a strategy.
That means knowing your margins across channels.
It means adjusting pack sizes for club, pricing architecture for mass, and promotional plans for grocery.
It means preparing for the supply chain implications of going national, not just hoping they work themselves out.
And it means building a sell-through plan with clear roles, timelines, and performance checkpoints.
Sometimes a broker makes sense. Sometimes it doesn’t. But either way, they should be one piece of a larger plan—not the plan itself.
Final Thoughts
Retail success doesn’t come from shortcuts. It comes from doing the hard work to build a strategy that fits the channel, the retailer, and your brand.
If you’re planning to pitch Walmart, ask yourself:
Are we priced and packaged for this channel?
Are we operationally ready to deliver at scale?
Do we have the tools and team in place to drive velocity and measure performance?
If not, press pause and get clear on those answers before moving forward. Because in this space, getting into the store isn’t the end goal.
Staying there is.
Buster Arnwine
Buster has over 21 years of diverse and deep CPG experience. He has experience across every size and stage of brand at Unilever, Reckitt, and Fusion Retail Group.
Buster has a burning passion for driving sustainable & profitable revenue growth for CPG brands.
With expertise in eCommerce, channel management, retail sales, commercial strategy, 4P optimization, financial modeling, performance management, and operations, Buster will make sure that tactics fit into holistic strategy and vice versa.
Buster partners with CPG brands from all categories and channels to find and execute their best sustainable revenue growth paths.
Buster can partner to build P&Ls, find trade spend efficiencies, win line reviews for Mass/Club/Drug/Grocery, grow Amazon revenue, design performance management, brand management strategy, full omni strategy, building out sales/marketing/eComm teams, or special projects.
Buster has a full team of experts to draw upon to enrich the output.