Retail Strategy & Commercial Positioning
For brands & retailers
- Product & category positioning
- Price architecture & margin logic
- Branded vs private label strategy
- Market entry & expansion planning
Athens, Greece
Driving clarity.
Delivering value.
VDS Advisory supports founders, investors, and operators with practical strategy across Retail strategy, negotiations, pricing, and systems.
How we work.
Retail is a game of details—terms, promos, systems, and execution. We keep engagements practical, measurable, and built around how retailers and brands actually operate.
Choose the engagement model that fits your stage. We can start light and scale up—without losing speed.
- Quick diagnostic across pricing, terms, promos, and execution
- Clear prioritization: what to fix first and why
- Action plan with owners, KPIs, and timeline
- Market entry, systems, private label, category reset
- Defined scope, timeline, and deliverables
- Hands-on support from strategy through execution
- Always-on partner for negotiations, planning, and problem-solving
- Weekly cadence + ad hoc escalation
- Dashboards, governance, and stakeholder alignment
- Listings secured, margin uplift, scale milestones
- Aligned incentives with clear measurement rules
- Best for high-impact commercial projects
- For high-potential cases where we can compound impact
- Skin-in-the-game structure, agreed up front
- Longer-term partnership orientation
Services built for retail reality.
Practical advisory for brands, retailers, and operators—covering positioning, terms, pricing, systems, and growth.
Buyer, Supplier & Negotiation Advisory
Both sides of the table
- Buyer pitch & listing strategy (for brands)
- Supplier negotiation & term optimization (for retailers)
- Listing fees, rebates, promos, penalties
- Contract review & risk prevention
Costing, Pricing & Margin Engineering
Retail-grade financial reality
- True cost-to-serve modeling
- Promo & rebate impact analysis
- Margin recovery projects
- Price index & competitive benchmarking
Go-to-Market, Roll-Out & Scale
From first listing to real growth
- Pilot launches & regional roll-outs
- Category resets & shelf optimization
- KPI definition (sell-out, promo ROI, sales/m²)
- National & multi-chain expansion
Retail Systems, ERP & Data Enablement
Where most people fail — and you differentiate
- ERP, POS & inventory system advisory
- EDI & supermarket compliance readiness
- Demand forecasting & replenishment logic
- Retail dashboards & reporting structure
CRM & Trade Relationship Management
Professionalizing relationships
- Buyer & supplier CRM setup
- Promo calendars & contract tracking
- Distributor & account management structure
- Internal sales & category workflows
Quick Commerce, E-Commerce & Omnichannel
Built to complement — not destroy — retail
- Q-commerce entry (Wolt, Glovo, efood, dark stores)
- Retail vs DTC pricing & channel conflict control
- Click-&-collect & local delivery strategy
- Digital shelf & app visibility optimization
Who we serve.
Clear focus. Two client types where we can create outsized commercial impact.
Food Brands & Producers
We help you:
- Enter supermarket chains
- Negotiate better terms
- Scale sustainably
- Build systems that buyers trust
Independent Supermarket Chains (1–10 Stores)
We help you:
- Improve margins & category performance
- Negotiate like big chains
- Launch private label profitably
- Implement modern retail systems
- Compete with nationals & q-commerce
Change starts with a conversation.
Get in touch
Prefer a quick call or email? Reach us directly — we typically reply within 1 business day.