Retail Ramp Up · For inventors and product startups
Get your product into retail stores.
Retail Ramp Up is an eight-week, one-on-one program that gets your product retail-ready: the channel strategy, the pricing that survives retailer fees, the packaging, and the buyer presentation that earns the meeting. Led by consultants who have sat on both sides of the buyer's desk since 2008.
- Weekly 1:1 sessions with a senior retail consultant — 40 hours over two months
- Deliverables you keep: channel strategy, pricing model, packaging review, buyer deck
- A clear path to buyers: our network of 100+ retailers, 25+ distributors and 200+ sales reps
Book your free retail consultation
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Watch the overviewOur clients sit on the shelves of
Why products stall
Good products get turned down for four boring reasons.
Retail buyers see hundreds of pitches a season. They rarely say no because the product is bad. They say no because the brand isn't ready to be a vendor — and they can tell by the second page of your deck.
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01
No channel strategy
Pitching Walmart before you've proven sell-through with regional retailers and marketplaces is how cash flow dies. Buyers want to see a sequence, not a wish list.
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02
Pricing that doesn't survive retail math
Retailer margin, distributor cuts, freight allowances, chargebacks, returns. If your MSRP wasn't built for them, the buyer will find the gap in seconds.
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03
Packaging built for a browser, not a shelf
Master case packs, inner packs, planogram fit. A product that looks great on Amazon can be un-stockable in a store.
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04
A deck that answers your questions, not the buyer's
Buyers want sell-through data, marketing support and vendor terms. Not your origin story.
- Retail Ramp Up fixes all four in eight weeks — with a consultant who has sat on the buyer's side of the desk.
The program
Eight weeks. One consultant. A product buyers can say yes to.
Retail Ramp Up is Retailbound's preparation program for inventors and product startups. You work one-on-one with a senior retail consultant every week and leave with every deliverable a buyer will ask for — built by people who have sat in the buyer's chair.
Weeks 1–2
Retail channel strategy
- Which retailers to target, in what order, and why
- "Slow burn" sequencing: regional retailers, marketplaces and TV before national chains
- Marketplace vs. brick-and-mortar plan for your category
Weeks 3–4
Pricing and margin model
- MSRP, wholesale and distributor pricing that still leaves you margin
- Retailer back-end fees, freight allowances, chargebacks and returns built in
- A MAP policy so your channels don't undercut each other
Weeks 5–6
Packaging and operations review
- Retail and warehouse packaging: master and inner case-pack configurations
- Warranty and product-returns strategy
- Vendor compliance basics every buyer will ask about
Weeks 7–8
Buyer presentation and outreach plan
- Your sell sheet and buyer deck, built around what buyers need to see
- Promotional marketing plan for your first year on shelf
- A prioritized outreach plan for your first buyer meetings
Client story · UltraHuman
From a $600K Kickstarter to QVC, Best Buy, Costco and Walmart.
In 2022, UltraHuman launched its smart ring on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. By mid-2023 their main competitor was in every Best Buy in America and UltraHuman had no retail presence. They partnered with Retailbound in June 2023.
Once retail-ready, we facilitated meetings with Best Buy and other top retailers. In under six months that led to on-air exposure at QVC — where the ring sold out in seconds during the Black Friday event — and, in 2024, launches across the U.S. and Canada:
A note from the founder
“Our team has sat on both sides of the retail buyer's desk. We know what a buyer decides in the first minute of a pitch, because we've been the ones deciding. Retail Ramp Up exists so you walk into that meeting ready — and never hear ‘come back when you're retail-ready’ again. We take on a handful of new brands a month so every consultant works with five clients, not fifty. If your product is ready for that conversation, I'd like to hear about it.”
What clients say
Word of mouth is still the best advice.
“I hired him to help me get the Neck Hammock into retail, but he has done so much more than that. He helped me create a top notch sell sheet, retail box design, and pitch presentation to present to buyers. He has also helped me get my MAP pricing under control and pointed out important details in contracts I would have easily overlooked. Anyone can find a buyer, but it's all about finding the right buyer.”
“We were overwhelmed and needed immediate expertise in the field that we did not have internally. Five years later, Yohan and his team have been instrumental in bringing our brand to life — in big box stores, via e-commerce, and TV shopping. Yohan's network is expansive and the Retailbound team is willing to tackle any challenge. We would not be where we are today without them.”
“As a startup looking to expand into the retail space, we are very happy to have found Retailbound. Yohan brings a wealth of knowledge, the ability to execute, and a contagious energy. He has brought vision and order to our retail strategy and has not failed to deliver on any promise or deliverable.”
Is this for you?
We're selective, and we'd rather tell you now.
Retail Ramp Up works when the product is real and the founder is ready to do the work. We turn brands away every month — here's how to know before you book.
A good fit
- Hardlines products — consumer electronics, home, tools, outdoor, pet, auto, sporting goods
- A working product, in market or in production, ideally with early sales from DTC, Amazon or crowdfunding
- Meaningful differentiation you can explain to a buyer in one sentence
- A founder who can commit to a weekly working session for eight weeks
Not a fit right now
- Softlines and apparel
- Consumables, food and beverage
- Health, wellness and beauty
- Brands looking for a commission-only rep to make introductions without doing the preparation
Questions founders ask