How a retailer or distributor decides whether to stock a new consumer brand

The decision on a new brand tends to run in one order. Margin comes first, then the return policy, then how fast it will sell, when stock arrives and what support you give. The product itself comes last. Makers often present them in reverse and wonder why the answer is "leave your card". Answer in the buyer's order, on one page, and a visit can turn into a trial order.

Why the product comes last

You know the product is good. The shop owner assumes nothing, because new brands come and go and the ones that fail leave the shop holding stock. The fear is not a bad product. It is dead stock. It is capital tied up in a name nobody asks for.

So the questions are about the shop's risk. What do I earn per piece? What if it does not move? How long before the next carton is needed? Who will make customers ask for it? When you answer those, the product's quality becomes a tie-breaker, not the pitch.

The five questions, in the buyer's order

The fifth question is the one new brands ignore. A distributor who stocks a brand with no pull has to create the demand, and in practice the brand sits.

A retailer and a distributor ask differently

The five questions apply to both, but the weight shifts. A retailer thinks about shelf space and cash in a till, so the questions are what is earned per piece and whether you take back what does not sell. A distributor thinks about a godown and a beat of salesmen: how many cartons must be bought, how soon they sell through, and what the salesmen will say about the brand. Check which one you are facing before you open the page, and put that buyer's two questions at the top.

Give the answers on one page

What gets forwarded on WhatsApp inside a distributor's shop is a photo of a single page. So put the five answers on that page: product photograph, pack size, MRP, trade price, margin, scheme, minimum first order, return policy, delivery day, support offered. Our post on a trade price list and margin sheet shows the layout, and advertising to distributors covers where such a page is read.

Avoid vague promises like "we will support you with marketing". Say what: "one counter display per shop for the first order", or "two sampling days in your town". If you cannot afford it, leave it out. A small promise kept gives you a reference.

Return policy: how generous should it be?

A new brand must carry more risk than an established one, or the shop will not. But a policy that takes everything back with no limit is how small firms lose money. A workable pattern:

• Replace damaged stock if it is reported with a photo within a stated number of days.
• Take back slow stock only against a repeat order, as a credit note.
• For products with a shelf life, state who bears the cost of nearing-date stock and how close to the date it must be reported. Rules on labels and shelf life differ by product and by body, so check your own with your adviser.

Whatever you choose, write it down. A verbal promise is forgotten by the next visit, and a distributor who thinks you changed the terms stops ordering.

When the answer is no, and it is correct

Some stockists are right to refuse. If your margin is thinner than the established brand's, you offer no support and your minimum order is large, "no" is a sensible answer, not a sales failure. Fix the offer first. Then visit the next shop. Equally, if a distributor wants exclusivity over a whole city on day one with no commitment, do not hand it over. Let the distributor earn it.

For example: an agarbatti brand from Madurai

Imagine a small Madurai maker of incense sticks wants Chennai general stores to carry its new range. The founder visits a distributor and spends twenty minutes on fragrance and hand-rolled craft. The distributor says, politely, to leave samples.

On the next visit, the founder brings a one-page sheet. It gives MRP and trade price for the two pack sizes, and the margin in rupees per carton. It states a minimum first order of two cartons at ₹3,600 each (an invented figure). It promises replacement of damaged packs reported with a photo. It names a delivery day for the distributor's area. And it offers a small counter stand to each shop that takes a carton. The distributor asks about the margin first and the delivery day second, then agrees to a trial of two cartons, to be shown to three shops.

The product had not changed, only the order of the talk. The result was partial. Two of the three shops reordered after a fortnight, and the third returned half a carton, which the founder took back as the sheet had promised, at a cost of about ₹900.

Test the page on five counters

Try the page on five shops or two distributors first. Note which question each one asks first and which one stops them, then change the page, not the speech.

Once a few say yes, onboarding a new dealer or distributor covers what comes after. Makers of everyday goods will find the wider picture on our consumer products manufacturing sales and marketing page. If the offer itself is where you are stuck, tell us what you need.