The seminar focused on retail trends, practical experiences, and ideas on what successful win-win cooperation looks like.
We particularly appreciated the advice from long-time Purchasing Director Katrin Riisalu: “Getting your product onto a retail chain’s shelves is not the finish line – keep working on the product. Monitor sales, invest in marketing and campaigns, and continue developing the product. Getting onto the shelf is less important than staying there. Success is when the product sells and both sides benefit.”
In the second half of the day, Stockmann, NG Logistics, Bolt Food, Wolt Market, Rimi and Maxima opened their doors to the participants. These practical visits offered a rare opportunity to see how each company operates on a daily basis and to ask senior executives and specialists directly about anything relevant or interesting in their day-to-day work. One of the key takeaways of the day was Ann Tereski’s (Wolt Market) definition of good cooperation: “For me, good cooperation means doing great things together, putting a plan in place and achieving what we have agreed upon.”
There was also plenty of opportunity to exchange ideas with other suppliers, producers, growers and importers and to get an up-to-date overview of what is happening in the market. There are many products out there, and standing out requires more than ever before. Still, one thought came through clearly: business is done by people, and strong relationships and sharing experiences are what ultimately create success.
Today, Karlskroona works with both large and smaller retail chains in Estonia, as well as with the HoReCa sector. But we never take good partnerships for granted: relationships need to be nurtured, knowledge kept up to date and we need to keep pace with the market. Our ambition is not to be simply a supplier to our customers. We want to be a partner who knows the market, notices changes, brings ideas to the table and helps find solutions. Good business happens when both sides win 🤝
A big thank you to Äripäev and everyone who took part for such an insightful day and for giving us a valuable inside look into the retail industry!
