To Launch or Not to Launch? : A study on how retailer acceptance affects the success of a product-launch.

Abstract: In the Swedish Fast-moving consumer goods industry (FMCG), most suppliers sell their products through retailers. For a successful product-launch, retailer acceptance is essential. Up to ninety percent of all product-launches fail, thus retailers must choose wisely which products to accept. Failing product-launches cost large sums of money for both retailers and suppliers. A number of factors have been shown by previous research to affect the success of a productlaunch and retailer acceptance, but there are factors that have been previously ignored, such as inter-organizational relationships. The authors of this study have chosen to conduct a study regarding how retailer acceptance and relational factors affect the success of a product launch in the Swedish FMCG-industry. The focus of this study has been on the relationships of Swedish retailer ICA AB and three of its suppliers. ICA AB was chosen because it is the largest retailer on the Swedish market. This study shows that retailer acceptance is positively affected by mutual trust, commitment and the relationship itself between the supplier and the retailer. However, the importance of these factors varies depending on the size of supplier and type of product.