The survey
We surveyed 200 marketing leaders at retailers about their vendor relationships. We asked about pain points, preferences, and what separates the vendors they love from the ones they tolerate.
The results were clear—and probably not what most vendors expect.
Finding #1: Email overload is real
87% of respondents said they feel overwhelmed by vendor emails. The average marketing leader manages relationships with 30+ vendors, each sending multiple emails per week.
The result? Important messages get buried. Context gets lost. And when retailers need to find something—a proposal, a case study, a pricing discussion—they spend hours searching.
Finding #2: Organization matters more than frequency
When we asked what makes a vendor easy to work with, “keeps things organized” ranked higher than “responds quickly” or “sends regular updates.”
Retailers don't want more communication. They want better communication. They want to find what they need when they need it.
Finding #3: Context loss is a major pain point
73% of respondents said they've lost important vendor context when a team member left. The new person has to start from scratch, rebuilding relationships and re-learning history.
This is frustrating for retailers—but it's also an opportunity for vendors who can provide persistent, accessible context.
Finding #4: Champions need ammunition
68% of respondents said they've wanted to advocate for a vendor internally but couldn't find the materials they needed. Case studies buried in email. Pricing discussions scattered across threads. ROI calculations lost in Slack.
Your champion believes in you. But if they can't easily access what they need to sell you to their CMO, the deal stalls.
What retailers actually want
The pattern is clear. Retailers want vendors who:
- Keep everything organized and accessible
- Preserve context across team changes
- Make it easy for champions to advocate internally
- Don't add to email overwhelm
In short: they want the vendors who make their lives easier, not harder.
The takeaway
If you want to stand out from other vendors, stop thinking about how to communicate more. Start thinking about how to communicate better. How to organize better. How to make your retailer contacts' lives easier.
That's the competitive advantage that matters.