We represent brands of all sizes and lifecycle stages with flexible HQ sales support. Whether you need full‑service execution or strategic consultation for your direct sales team, our experts help establish distribution, drive category innovation, and grow share.
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Ensuring your success involves translating strategic vision into impactful actions that benefit your business, retail partners and, ultimately, your consumers. With a shopper-centric approach, your brand is poised to thrive in a dynamic marketplace.
Leveraging advanced technology and business intelligence, we optimize planning and execution to grow market share and increase sales. The combination of Acosta’s experienced team, data, tools and thought leadership helps our clients better understand shopper behavior and category trends to accelerate growth.
We excel at merging distinct strategies into mutual growth and profitability through integrated intelligence and vertical retailer relationships.
We provide seamless omnichannel planning and execution for a cohesive physical and digital shopping experience.
Our strategic consultation and analysis help allocate funds effectively to promote products, attract customers and boost sales.
We create contracts, reconcile trade spend, process orders, resolve claims manage deductions.
Our actionable insights and recommendations help brands analyze the competitive landscape, optimize trade spending, and excel in line reviews.
Enabling increased sales and distribution with an experienced sales team influencing independent store operators at tier 4 and 5 retailers.
We transform raw shipment data into actionable insights by identifying distribution gaps, viewing downstream trends and uncovering opportunities.
Acosta’s Fresh Techs excel in understanding retailer priorities and educating store associates to enhance sales opportunities for fresh food brands.
We effectively represent your brand in difficult-to-service independent convenience stores and distributor networks within large urban markets.
Our national scale and downstream coverage combined with strong, long-standing retailer connectivity translates into increased influence to introduce new products to the market, secure strategic shelf space and optimize promotional activities.
Our strong retailer relationships, combined with dedicated regional teams, deliver greater impact. By leveraging our comprehensive solutions and harmonized local and national framework, we streamline your business for heightened focus, increased accountability and maximum ROI.
Whether you’re leading efforts in‑house, need strategic reinforcement, or want full representation with retailers, we offer flexible support that adapts to how your sales organization is built.
Thriving in an omnichannel world requires resources, technology and nuanced expertise. We maneuver cross-platform intricacies with ease to create seamless omnichannel shopping experiences for your brands.
“When I think of what makes us such a strong partner, I think of our talent in the local markets executing our clients’ plans by leveraging their unique expertise and category leadership. In today’s economy, clients are counting on simplification – being able to come to a strategic ally with their challenges and being confident in that partner’s ability to deliver. And that’s exactly what our team does.”
For nearly 100 years, Acosta has partnered with the best brands in the industry, committing to trust, transparency and results.
Explore more about Acosta’s headquarter sales services with these frequently asked questions.
At which retailers do you support HQ sales?
We scale our clients’ retail businesses across various channels, including grocery, club, mass, drug, value, convenience, and natural. We have dedicated teams embedded locally at retailers of all shapes and sizes from Piggly Wiggly in Birmingham, Alabama all the way to Kroger nationwide and everywhere in between.
I am a new brand and do not have a national sales team to sell my products into retailers.
Acosta’s IGNITE Sales Services division acts as a trusted strategic partner and advocate in the marketplace for brands with limited sales resources. Our national infrastructure is tailored to the unique needs of brands, including internal sales team led by experienced regional managers, robust business development and analytics support, and expert broker management.
Why would I use Acosta instead of building my own sales team?
Manufacturers benefit from Acosta’s expertise, industry connections, and help in creating efficient distribution channels. We guide brands of all shapes and sizes through complex retail landscape and processes, secure shelf space at retailers, and optimize promotional activities.
Because of our national scale, regional and local connectivity, and comprehensive services, we save manufacturers an estimated 20-30%.
We have a direct team for our tier 1 retailers but need support with execution and sales administration. Is that something Acosta can help with?
Absolutely. If you prefer to manage sales in‑house, our HQ Sales Assist services provide the business intelligence, category insights, and tools your team needs to make informed decisions, strengthen selling strategies, and show up prepared in retailer meetings. We also offer centrally managed order‑to‑cash services to simplify sales administration, reduce deductions, and speed reconciliation.
For teams that want strategic reinforcement without outsourcing the sale, HQ Elevate delivers flexible HQ support models designed to complement your direct sales team. From opening doors with key decision‑makers to sharpening retailer strategy and strengthening messaging for executive conversations, HQ Elevate helps your team show up stronger with the people who shape the shelves.
When a brand requires full representation, Acosta’s Full‑Service Headquarters Sales team steps in to sell directly to retailers, lead joint business planning, and execute against retailer priorities. Our goal is to drive growth through active negotiation, collaboration, and disciplined execution.
How does Acosta support regional strategies?
Acosta’s strategic operating model enables unwavering focus at the regional and local levels combined with national scale, access and influence. Regional planning centers (RPCs) across the country are led by local experts focused on connectivity with regional retailers and driving your business based on in-market trends and shopper behavior. RPCs coordinate with Acosta’s retailer hubs, which are vertically aligned with major retailers to execute national plans to create synergies where opportunities exist.
Does Acosta support brands at independent retailers?
Yes, Acosta covers independent retailers, including bodegas and markets in high-density urban areas. Our dedicated urban selling team drives growth in these unique retail environments, helping brands connect with urban consumers, secure premium shelf space and expand store distribution. We also sell products in at independent natural grocers and drug stores/pharmacies across the U.S.
How does transitioning to Acosta work? How do you avoid disruptions to my business?
We understand that transitioning to Acosta is a monumental decision – and one we don’t take lightly. We’ve developed a proven onboarding process for seamless transition to our team and smooth activation. Our team of activation and onboarding SMEs provides extremely focused support to avoid disruption to your business while driving efficiencies in the process. We’ve also craft tailored activation plans with cross-functional support grounded in our experience and understanding of what works best based on your business. Most importantly, we honor what we say, and we make a smooth transition our priority. That’s why clients are exceedingly comfortable making the switch.
What are the benefits of working with Acosta as opposed to several agencies?
Acosta brings a century of planning expertise, retailer engagement and comprehensive data and insights. By consolidating your business from multiple agencies to Acosta, you minimize agency coordination challenges, miscommunication and fragmented business outcomes. Acosta gives you the best of both worlds with regionally-dedicated teams tied together by a national platform and centralized management. Optimized agency support translates into stronger retailer relationships and alignment for your brand, a more holistic strategy with clear communication channels, stronger brand penetration and, ultimately, the ability to reinvest time, resources and money to drive your business.
