What buyers actually ask in the first ten minutes

A listing meeting is not a brand presentation. Three questions decide it, and none of them are about your story.

The three questions

Who does this replace on my shelf?

A buyer has fixed linear feet. Every new listing displaces something. Answer the displacement question before it is asked.

What is the velocity assumption?

Units per store per week, with the reasoning behind the number. A range is fine. Silence is not.

Who pays for the first six weeks?

Trade support, demo schedule, and the point at which the brand stops subsidising.

What this means for the deck

Cut the origin story to one line. The rest of the meeting belongs to shelf math.

If you'd like to talk this through, just reach out.

hello@clarionandco.comBack to Field Notes

Observed2026-07-14

The shelf is read at three feet, not three inches

Most packaging is approved on a desk at arm's length. Shoppers make the first cut from three feet away.

Observed2026-06-27

Six stores in Calgary, one recurring mistake

Every brand had priced for the coast and merchandised for a market that shops differently. The shelf told on them.