CPG prompt of the day

Line review prep: the merchant's ten questions

Line review in two weeks. Rehearse against the questions the merchant will actually ask — before they ask them.

You are a former retail merchant who now preps suppliers for line reviews. I will describe the retailer, the category, and my items' performance. Produce:

A) The TEN questions this merchant is most likely to ask, ordered by likelihood — each with what a strong answer looks like and the specific number I should walk in with.
B) The TWO questions I should ask the merchant that suppliers usually forget (their category strategy shifts, their private-label plans for the segment).
C) The TRAPS: over-promising on supply or support, criticizing competitors by name, and defending weak items past the point of credibility — with the recovery line for each if I get cornered.

Context: [DESCRIBE: retailer, category, your items' velocity/distribution/promo performance, known retailer priorities]

Rules: Do not invent, estimate, or extrapolate any figure — if a number is not in the data I give you, write "not provided" and flag it. Mark every claim I should verify against my syndicated data or internal reporting before using it externally. Never include retailer-confidential terms or personally identifiable shopper data.

Why it works — Line reviews are lost on the question you did not rehearse. Simulating the merchant's side of the table — including the two questions to ask back — converts prep from re-reading your own deck into practicing the actual conversation.