Launch To Retail - Hamzeh Majiet

Retail Will Cost You More Than You Think. Find Out Before You Sign.

Launch To Retail: the insider guide to getting your product onto South African shelves, with the actual trading term percentages, the real cost of doing business, and the penalties buyers don’t explain until it’s too late.

Written from real retailer supplier agreements, real trading term structures and conversations with the buyers who decide what gets listed. Covers Pick n Pay, Checkers, Spar, Clicks, Dis-Chem, Makro, Walmart, Woolworths and forecourt retail.

By Hamzeh Majiet.

100+ products launched across 15+ countries, 3 Product of the Year awards, and years on the other side of the table with retail buyers.

Most founders get listed and then get blindsided.

Not by the product. By the paperwork.

• Your “60-day” payment term runs from month-end, so cash lands closer to 120 days after delivery. Your next order often arrives before you’ve been paid for the last one.
• Invoices arrive with 15%+ in deductions for distribution, marketing, damages and data fees, before you’ve even hit your rebate targets.
• One short first delivery of a new listing can be sanctioned at R100,000 per product line.
• A single wrong barcode or master data error can cost R10,000 per incident.
• A missed promotional slot can cost a flat six-figure penalty at some retailers, plus a “loss in sales” charge on top.
• Stock that sits too long on shelf becomes exit stock. You collect it or fund the markdown, and you refund the retailer at full list price.

None of this is hidden. It’s just never explained, unless you’ve sat across the table.

Launch To Retail puts it all in plain English, before you’re in the room.

What will retail actually cost you?

Every founder asks the same question: “How much will it cost me to get on shelf?” Almost nobody gets a straight answer. This book gives you one.

You get the actual percentages, not vague warnings:

• What Pick n Pay and Checkers typically take in total trading terms
• What Spar and Makro take, and how that compares
• What forecourt and convenience channels take
• The base rebate retailers charge just to let you trade
• The platform, ranging and category management fees most suppliers don’t see coming
• What merchandising costs, and why the cheapest option can cost you the most
• The retailer’s front-end margin, plus a simple method to work out what yours is
• The stock write-off clause (SWEL) deducted from every invoice, and how it can quietly bill you twice
• The service level penalties for late or short deliveries, and why promotions are punished harder

Then you see what it adds up to. Worked rand examples show how an invoice shrinks once every deduction hits, so you can build the real cost into your pricing before you pitch.

You also get example trading term sheets, so when a retailer hands you theirs, you already know what every line means and which ones to challenge.

“What percentage will they take?”

It’s the first question every founder asks. Chapter 5 answers it, retailer by retailer group, with the real ranges and the line items behind them.

What You’ll Learn

Know if you’re actually ready

Whether your product is market validated, the sales data buyers expect to see, and what retail cash flow really looks like. You’ll see exactly what you need to fund, from production deposits and logistics to marketing, listing costs and write-offs, and how to test whether your brand is a fit for retail at all. You’ll also learn why you can start with one retailer and a handful of stores and scale from there.

Close the gaps that get products knocked back

• Regulation and labelling: R.146, the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, claims substantiation, and the flat artwork audits some retailers run
• Shelf life: the rule of thumb most retailers use, and the remaining-shelf-life thresholds that get deliveries rejected
• Packaging and barcoding: the four barcode levels from unit to pallet, GS1 and CHEP pallets
• Data and orders: EDI, master data accuracy and the manual-handling fees you can be charged for missing them
• Site audits: the certifications retailers ask for, and what happens if you fail an audit (you may not get a second chance)
• Business paperwork: B-BBEE certificates and affidavits, insurance and product liability

Know your real costs before you sign

Trading terms, base rebates, growth targets, SWEL, front-end margin, merchandising and service-level penalties are explained one by one, with the actual percentage ranges and worked rand examples. You’ll know what you’re giving up on every invoice, and what to build into your pricing.

Compare how retailers really differ

The same failure, a late or short delivery, can cost you very different amounts depending on who you trade with. The book shows how three real, anonymised major retailers handle penalties differently:

• a sanctions model with improvement plans
• a weekly late-fee model
• a full defect-and-stock-liability model

You’ll also learn when risk really passes to the retailer, which is later than most suppliers assume.

Walk into the buyer meeting prepared

What a buyer does all day, what really drives their decision, and how to build the documents they expect: spec sheet, USP, market insight, marketing plan and pricing and margin breakdown. You’ll also learn the one pricing line to use in every first meeting, and how to get a meeting when buyers receive hundreds of emails a day.

Choose the right retailer for your product

Practical profiles of each channel, covering head office structure, delivery model, store formats, target LSM and where the pitfalls are:

• Checkers / Shoprite: national vs regional buying, Sixty60 integration
• Pick n Pay: corporate vs franchise, DC network, store demographics
• Spar: six regional DCs and a franchise-only model
• Clicks: payment terms and supplier challenges
• Dis-Chem: which products suit it
• Makro: DC-only and bulk-focused
• Walmart: the newest entrant
• Woolworths: why it’s mostly a private label opportunity
• Forecourts and convenience: a fast-growing channel with a distinct buyer

You’ll also learn how the LSM system and SA’s five retail tiers work, so you know which stores actually fit your customer.

Know exactly how to apply

The step-by-step listing process runs from the first buyer meeting to the vendor application, trading terms, vendor portal and listing documents. You also get direct application routes and SME programme details for Pick n Pay, Shoprite and Checkers, plus contact routes for Dis-Chem and Makro.

Understand private label before someone offers it to you

The pros and cons, and the risk many founders never see coming: a retailer takes your concept and briefs it to a contract manufacturer.

Stay on the shelf

Merchandising options and costs (big agencies vs boutique teams), recalls, obsolete stock, annual price increases, margin tracking and keeping your listing alive after the first 12 months.

What’s Inside

Chapter 1: Are You Ready For Retail?

Market validation, retail cash flow, operational scalability and brand positioning.

Chapter 2: Technical Retail Readiness

Regulations and compliance, shelf life and food safety, suppliers and manufacturers, recalls and exit stock, B-BBEE, packaging and barcoding, EDI and master data, site audits and certification, insurance and product liability.

Chapter 3: Preparing To Get Listed

The role of a retail buyer, preparing your documents, the LSM system, SA’s retail tiers, and key insights on every major retailer and channel.

Chapter 4: Private Label

What it is, why retailers push it, and how to protect yourself.

Chapter 5: How To Get Into Retail

Vendor applications and listing documentation, trading terms, strike rates and sanctions, SWEL, margins, growth targets, base rebates and merchandising.

Chapter 6: Final Thoughts

Building a strategy that suits your business, and what happens after you’re listed.

Who It’s For

• First-time founders preparing to approach a buyer
• Brands that were knocked back and never got a straight answer why
• Anyone who needs to know what retail will really cost them before committing
• Small manufacturers weighing up private label against building their own brand

No industry background needed. Every term is explained before it’s used.

About the Author

Hamzeh Majiet is a Biochemistry and Microbiology graduate with a postgraduate qualification in Business Administration. He has led R&D at a JSE-listed FMCG company in South Africa, managed regional innovation for Africa and the Middle East at one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and consumer goods companies, and headed up corporate strategy in Australia at McCain Foods.

Over the past decade he has launched over 100 consumer products across more than 15 countries and three continents, including three Product of the Year winners in South Africa. He wrote this guide to make an industry that often feels closed more transparent, structured and actionable.

One bad clause can cost more than this book, many times over.

Instant PDF download. 60 pages. Lifetime access.