Looking to expand your product’s reach and break into new markets? It’s a common challenge – even with solid marketing efforts, growth can plateau. 

While building a direct sales team might seem like the obvious solution, retail partnerships offer a powerful alternative. They’re a practical and often overlooked way to scale, and with focused fieldwork, you can make these collaborations even more impactful.

So, get ready to dive into what makes a successful retail partnership, how you can nurture those opportunities, and the role fieldwork plays in these mutually beneficial arrangements. 

What is a retail partnership?

Retail partnerships are collaborations between two businesses that enable both brands to benefit from each other’s audiences and resources. 

Retail partnerships are usually between parties with complementary and non-competing products. Occasionally, brands selling similar products may collaborate to pool their resources and achieve something impossible for each to do alone. The goal is to team up with brands that have similar customers but not too much overlap. 

How could a retail partnership help your brand?

These partnerships can be convenient for startups that lack extensive teams or experience since they often leverage employees from more established businesses. They can also improve operational efficiency, as employees from both companies share their ongoing challenges and how they have overcome previous setbacks. Partnerships like these can amplify brand awareness by introducing your products to a wider audience. 

A prime example is Rihanna’s 2023 collaboration with Ulta Beauty, which brought Fenty Beauty to Target stores. The launch featured fresh products and exclusive sets, sparking curiosity and encouraging more people to give them a try.

Rihanna acknowledged this arrangement would bring her brand to more consumers. A Target representative said it would enable discovery by presenting shoppers with affordable, pleasing options that help them meet specific beauty goals. 

Characteristics of a worthwhile retail partnership

Fieldwork gives businesses the insights they need to evaluate whether a partnership will benefit both parties. For example, team members can visit stores to assess display opportunities and customer traffic patterns. 

It’s also a valuable training ground for new employees, helping them build workplace skills and develop expertise in managing partnerships. By involving junior team members in these hands-on activities, companies can strengthen their talent pipeline and set them up for success in future partnership management roles.

If a store has several locations in a particular region, a fieldworker researching for a marketing team can visit them all and decide which one should get the products first. This strategy is ideal when budgets don’t allow for a full rollout across the area.

You can leverage the insights gained from fieldwork to assess potential partnerships, focusing on these key characteristics:

1. Shared purpose

A strong retail partnership relies on both parties being driven by a common purpose and having well-defined goals. Clear alignment ensures everyone is working toward the same outcomes from the outset. 

As you look for potential collaborators, put yourself in your customers’ position. What would make your offerings more appealing or accessible to them? Collaborating with the right partner can help you deliver exactly that. 

2. Reputation and consumer perception

Reputation is another essential part of successful partnerships. Use fieldwork and in-depth online research to evaluate a potential collaborator and look for anything that could upset consumers and cause them to boycott the pairing. News travels fast through the internet, and it doesn’t take people long to dig up details that brands would rather keep hidden.

Working with a well-known and beloved brand can improve how the public views your company, bolstering your internal marketing efforts. However, the opposite is true if your brand partner has been involved in a scandal or gets wrapped up in one during your relationship. 

3. Mutual value and trust

A fulfilling retail partnership allows each party to provide meaningful expertise. That firsthand knowledge builds trust that fuels growth. 

Retrofête is a high-end clothing brand that strengthened its direct-to-consumer presence during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of its more recent strategies was finding wholesale partners. Those parties benefit from the Retrofête team’s knowledge of the brand’s customer base and what they love. The brand’s co-founder and creative director said its direct-to-consumer roots provided the confidence and data to win over wholesale partners.

Building meaningful partnerships through fieldwork

Fieldworkers play a critical role in establishing successful retail partnerships. By visiting individual locations, they gather firsthand insights into what happens once a partnership is in place. They’re also instrumental in the partner selection process, ensuring the right fit from the start.

Partnerships often begin with a compelling proposal outlining mutual benefits and the roles each party will play. The specifics can vary widely. For instance, product collaborations – where brands create exclusive offerings together – work best when both have loyal customers eager to engage.

Another approach involves pairing brick-and-mortar brands with those that have a strong online presence, increasing their reach. One of the most common examples is companies creating brand pages on Amazon. This free strategy allows those businesses to tap into the e-commerce brand’s gigantic customer base while showcasing their products. 

Fieldwork offers retail professionals a front-row seat to industry trends, giving them valuable insights through direct, hands-on experience. While many may have assumptions about consumer behavior, time spent in the field helps validate – or challenge – those beliefs in real-world settings.

Regular meetings with potential retail partners provide opportunities to gather sales data, understand customer sentiments, and analyze buying patterns. When those meetings happen regularly, each visit is an opportunity to strengthen the business relationship.

Correcting misunderstandings and overcoming barriers: A case study in fieldwork

Fieldwork has the power to shift perceptions, showing potential partners how a collaboration could be more rewarding than they first imagined. 

HOMAGE, a clothing brand known for turning nostalgia into iconic shirt designs, leveraged this approach to great success. In 2010, founder Ryan Vesler was in talks with a buyer from the baseball team formerly known as the Cleveland Indians. Vesler’s business was also Cleveland-based, allowing the sports brand to partner with a local company. The entrepreneur wanted to sell a particular shirt design at games. 

The buyer was initially dubious, asking why fans would want to purchase it at the venue when they could get it outside the gates at a much lower price. That perception opened the door for the founder, who explained the cheaper shirts were unauthorized copies. 

As conversations progressed, the buyer eventually agreed to a 24-piece consignment deal. Although that was one of HOMAGE’s first team orders, it led to multiple licensing agreements for the clothing company, including to sell official gear for the baseball team – now called the Guardians. 

Making the most of fieldwork visits

Take inspiration from this case study by maximizing your fieldwork visits and getting to the root of any hesitation. A potential partner could take weeks or months to see what’s in it for them. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that sometimes even the best-planned and executed efforts are ultimately fruitless. 

Keep the conversation moving by asking questions that uncover the obstacles preventing a partnership from taking shape. Sometimes, the issue may stem from a misunderstanding. Other times, potential partners might doubt the benefits of the collaboration. In such cases, providing additional data and insights can help address their concerns and make your proposal more compelling.

Setting fieldwork appointments to review progress

A strong retail partnership thrives on mutual commitment. After the collaboration begins, schedule regular meetings to review progress and refine the strategy. Each session should center on how both parties can play to their strengths and set actionable goals to accomplish before the next discussion.

Establishing a clear framework ensures each meeting is productive, with defined expectations and a structured agenda for review. These regular check-ins also give retail partners a chance to share successes and learnings as the relationship evolves.

While securing a partner’s participation is the initial priority, the real work begins in the following stages – deepening the relationship and exploring opportunities to extend it. Setting specific goals at each meeting helps track progress, highlight successes, and address any challenges. 

Regular meetings assure retail partners that partnerships are team efforts and provide an easy way to share feedback. Whether you schedule to visit partners weekly, monthly, or less often, these regular check-ins keep people accountable and reinforce how they have accessible support for growing their businesses and meeting other goals. 

Create strong retail partnerships through fieldwork efforts

As you implement the strategies we’ve shared in this article, remember that productive fieldwork centers on building relationships. Focus on strategies that align with this principle and engage with retail partners in ways that match your current resources. It’s better to forge strong relationships with fewer parties than to overextend yourself and have shallower connections with many.