U.S. Retail Sales Brokerage for Emerging & International Brands

Entering U.S. retail requires more than a good product. Brands need the right pricing, margins, distribution strategy, buyer materials, retailer targeting and ongoing sales support. Bergstrom & Partners helps emerging and international brands prepare for and pursue sustainable U.S. retail growth.

Why Emerging Brands Use a U.S. Retail Sales Broker
Expanding into U.S. retail requires dedicated sales resources, retailer relationships, buyer outreach, distributor coordination and ongoing account management. For many emerging and international brands, building an internal U.S. sales organization is not practical during the early stages of expansion.

An outsourced retail sales broker can provide experienced U.S. sales representation without the fixed cost of hiring a full-time sales manager and building an internal sales department.

Bergstrom & Partners supports brands with retailer strategy, buyer outreach, category-review planning, retailer submissions, distributor coordination and ongoing account development.

Retail Readiness Comes Before Buyer Outreach
Getting in front of a buyer is only valuable when the brand is ready for the conversation. Before approaching major retailers, a brand should be commercially prepared across the areas buyers and distributors evaluate, including pricing and margins, packaging and positioning, distribution and logistics, retailer strategy, buyer materials and plans to support sell-through.

Strong retail preparation helps protect important buyer relationships and improves the quality of each retailer conversation.

Distribution Is Not the Same as Retail Placement
Being authorized or listed with a distributor such as KeHE or UNFI is an important step, but it does not automatically create retailer orders.

Individual retailers and chains still need to approve the product, buyers need to be contacted and followed up with, category-review schedules must be managed, and accounts require ongoing development after authorization.

Bergstrom & Partners works across both sides of the process — helping brands pursue retailer placement while coordinating with the distributors that service those accounts.