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Retail Strategies & Supplier Insights

Discover the strategies and insights you need to thrive in the competitive retail landscape. Retail Strategies & Supplier Insights delivers expert advice, actionable tips, and the latest industry trends tailored specifically for retail suppliers. Whether you’re looking to boost sales, recover profits, or navigate retailer relationships, our blog is your go-to resource for success.

Eye-level view of a warehouse shelf stocked with consumer packaged goods

Navigating Walmart Readiness with Expert Guidance

Entering the Walmart marketplace is like setting sail on a vast ocean filled with opportunity and challenge. For consumer packaged goods brands and suppliers, Walmart represents a treasure trove of potential sales and growth.

Jon Allen

4 hours ago4 min read

Close-up of a map highlighting Bentonville with bold black text. Thin colored lines and nearby roads are visible. Softly blurred background.

Open Call 2025: What to Know Now

Walmart’s annual Open Call is happening right now in Bentonville—and the energy is real. Think hundreds of founders from nearly every corner of the country streaming into town to pitch U.S.-made, grown, or assembled products to Walmart and Sam’s Club merchants.

Jon Allen

21 hours ago3 min read

Red-haired woman holding a magic wand. Pictured on a vivid yellow background.

Unlocking the Benefits of CPG Broker Solutions

Navigating the retail world can feel like trying to find your way through a dense forest without a map. You know there’s a path to success, but the twists and turns can be overwhelming.

Jon Allen

2 days ago4 min read

A person in a blue jacket is joyfully surrounded by falling dollar bills on a white background, creating a dynamic and exuberant scene.

Deduction Recovery with Your Broker—A How-To

Think triage and workflow. The goal is to recover fast while preventing the next hit.

Jon Allen

Oct 21 min read

Woman in white shirt holds glasses and large calculator displaying "$$$$," with surprised expression, on white background.

Post-Audit Surprises: Prepare, Don’t Panic

Here’s the curveball: post-audit deductions can arrive months—even two years—after the sale. If your documentation is messy, those “closed” periods reopen with painful surprises.

Jon Allen

Oct 11 min read

Food Broker + Deduction Recovery

You don’t have to choose between a food broker and a deduction recovery team. The compounding effect comes from both: brokers prevent...

Jon Allen

Sep 301 min read

Understanding the Impact of a Government Shutdown on Retailers and Suppliers

If Congress misses the October 1 funding deadline, parts of the U.S. government will shut down. Essential services will keep running, but...

Jon Allen

Sep 294 min read

The Hidden ROI on Retail Deductions

Retail deductions aren’t a one-time clean-up—they’re a tax on sloppy hand-offs. A strong food broker earns their keep long before the first PO by preventing the errors that become chargebacks: mis-keyed price files, barcode hiccups, promo mismatches, late/short deliveries, and compliance misses.

Jon Allen

Sep 292 min read

Photographer and creative director reviewing product photos on a computer

Your Product Photos Are Killing Conversion (Here’s How to Fix Them)

Shoppers buy the image first, then the product. Low-quality product photos don’t just hurt conversion—they can trigger returns, bad reviews, or even compliance flags.

Jon Allen

Sep 252 min read

Product photographers at work. Preview of red high heels on a high-resolution monitor.

Elevate Your Brand with Expert Product Photography

What is Product Photography? (Simple Definition) Product photography is the disciplined process of planning, lighting, styling, and capturing images of a product, allowing customers to evaluate it online or in print.

Jon Allen

Sep 244 min read

Retail Deduction Software: Why Tools Need Humans to Win

Let’s be real: retail deduction software is essential. But software surfaces claims; experts recover dollars. Winners use both.

Jon Allen

Sep 232 min read

How a Food Broker Becomes Your Compliance Bodyguard

You hire a food broker to open doors. Great. But the best brokers do something more valuable: they keep those doors from slamming shut because of compliance misses

Jon Allen

Sep 222 min read

Retail Deduction Recovery: Getting Paid What You Earned

Imagine this: you ship a $250,000 order of frozen entrees to a major retailer. A few weeks later, the payment arrives—short by $15,000. The code on the statement says “shortage,” but your warehouse confirms the pallets were shipped in full.

Jon Allen

Sep 171 min read

Retail Deductions Never Stop—and What You Can Do About It

If you’ve ever thought, “We already fixed our deduction issues,” you’re not alone. Many suppliers see deductions as a one-time problem: something to clean up, get under control, and move on.

Jon Allen

Sep 162 min read

Retail Deduction Recovery Strategies Every Food Supplier Should Know

Imagine this: a food supplier delivers 20 truckloads of salsa to a retailer. Everything looks good—until the next remittance statement. Suddenly, thousands of dollars are missing. The codes? “Shortage,” “labeling error,” and “freight non-compliance.”

Jon Allen

Sep 151 min read

Why Partnering with a Food Broker Can Cut Your Deduction Risk

Food brokers aren’t just matchmakers between brands and buyers. The best ones are also your compliance bodyguards.

Jon Allen

Sep 101 min read

Avoid Costly Deduction Mistakes: Top Tips for Food Suppliers

Every supplier has been there: a deduction shows up, and everyone points fingers—sales blames ops, ops blames finance. Meanwhile, the money’s gone.

Jon Allen

Sep 91 min read

Food Broker Advantages: Why Small Brands Need Representation to Compete with Giants

For every small brand dreaming of shelf space at Walmart, Kroger, or Target, the reality is clear: the competition isn’t just tough—it’s...

Jon Allen

Sep 81 min read

Retail Compliance Cheat Sheet: How to Avoid Costly Chargebacks Across Walmart, Kroger & More

Every retailer has its own compliance playbook. Walmart wants one format. Kroger another. Target? Completely different. For suppliers,...

Jon Allen

Sep 41 min read

Retail Deduction Recovery Strategies: How to Minimize Losses When Deduction Deadlines Shift

Retail deductions are frustrating enough when they’re predictable. But what happens when the rules change—when a retailer quietly shortens the dispute window or introduces new deduction codes with little warning?

Jon Allen

Sep 31 min read