Reading modern trade and general trade before you commit
Shelf economics differ across formal retail and general trade. Capital plans that model only one channel often miss the constraints that decide stocking.
TACT Insights
Many entry models lean on modern trade assumptions such as listed SKUs, predictable listing fees, and national accounts. In many African cities, general trade still moves the volume that shapes category economics.
Retailers, wholesalers, and distributors in general trade weigh stock risk, cash cycles, margin after informal logistics, and confidence that the brand can refill reliably.
A consumer study that never speaks to those actors can overstate demand the channel will not carry, which is a common path from optimistic decks to write-downs.
TACT interviews across general trade and modern trade because veto power sits where goods actually move. If either channel blocks the thesis, the recommendation has to change.
Operators should know which formats will stock them, at what margin, and with what refill reliability in the first 90 days.
