Retail expansion is a common next step for brands that grew online, and it puts new pressure on planning, sourcing, and fulfillment. This client had a lean operations team and was entering seven retailers in the same year.
Each new retailer brings its own item setup, EDI transactions, and compliance rules, and each one depends on forecasts the team can trust. Doing that seven times in a year, with a lean team and no dedicated operations leader, left little room for error.
Our Approach
Izba worked alongside the team on the operations behind the launches. That meant planning, a sourcing process, and the team structure needed to support more channels.
Related work across the client family covered the pieces a retail launch depends on. Izba trained the team on EDI transactions, introduced automated retailer dashboards that replaced manual reporting without new headcount, and tightened costing and tariff analysis to protect margin as volume spread across retailers. We simplified complex supply chains, reformulated key SKUs, and ran a monthly S&OP and IBP process so the team had one plan to work from as each launch came online.
The Outcome
- Seven retailers onboarded in a single year, including national mass and club retailers.
- Operations foundations in place for planning, sourcing, and team structure as the retail footprint grew.
- Automated retail reporting that replaced manual work with no new headcount.
- A repeatable launch approach. A sister brand used the same approach to grow from one retailer to four, with smooth launches and stronger financials.
