When retail changes as quickly as it does in today’s market, it’s more important than ever to constantly innovate and look for the next opportunity. One way to do that is through retail partnerships.
While collaborating with other retailers expands your reach and builds buzz, it can also expose you to new ideas and tactics. You can test these new concepts before doing a full-blown integration into your business. When it works, early adopters are seen as innovators—a label many retailers strive to attach to their brand.
This guide shares the types of retail partnerships you can make, the benefits of collaborating, plus seven innovative examples to inspire your next campaign.
Today’s ecommerce marketplace has become oversaturated with marketing, making it hard to get your products out there. However, partnering with other retailers gives you the opportunity to reach their existing, loyal customer base.
Take it from underwear brand Thinx. Their VP of Partnerships Lyndsey Arnold says, “We sought out ways to offer our underwear to retailers that were looking to expand their offerings, as well as known go-to stores for comfort wear.
“With that, we quickly increased our Amazon offerings, which previously only included Speax by Thinx and Thinx (BTWN), to include our core Thinx line,” Lyndsey says. “We also sought out new partnerships with stores like Urban Outfitters and Free People, knowing that they would be looking to increase their comfort offerings.”
You want to give your all to marketing, product development, and excellent customer service. But you’re working with limited resources—both in terms of cash and time.
A huge benefit of retail partnerships is that you can share resources. You can collaborate with another retailer’s staff and team up on their existing marketing campaigns. You both get more time to focus on what you do best, with less resource restriction.
Many retailers want to launch new products with a bang, especially if they’re entering a new market or category. The more eyeballs on your product, the better chance you have at standing out against legacy brands in the retail industry. Retail partnerships help you tap into existing audiences of other brands in the space you’re entering.
If your products are easily accessible and top-of-mind, existing customers are reminded to purchase again—especially if they enjoyed the last item they purchased. There’s also a greater chance of reaching new customers as loyal fans recommend you to their family and friends.
Retailers have limited resources—and among the most limited are marketing and advertising budgets. These activities have the potential to drive new customers for any retailer, but they cost a fair amount of money.
As a lower-cost alternative, partner with another retailer—one whose customer demographics overlap with yours—to run a co-marketing campaign. You’ll both reach new potential customer bases with an endorsement from a brand customers already know, like, and trust.
The role of the store is changing. Modern customers don’t want to walk in and be overwhelmed with never-ending product shelves.
One way to capitalize on the experiential retail trend is by partnering with other stores to host co-sponsored events. This could be anything from an in-store workshop to a shared popup shop—both of which introduce your customers to a partner, and their customers to your business. Not only will you reach a broader audience, you won’t have to foot the entire bill for the event.
When retailers come together to create new product lines, the incentive for each brand’s customer base to shop with a partner becomes even stronger.
If you’re taking this route, be clear about how the co-branding or brand licensing partnership works. Clarify how much each retailer will pay to produce the products, the portion of profit they’ll get from each sale, and their commitments to marketing. The last thing you want is to invest time in new product development only to get paid a minute percentage of sales your brand partners make.
By selling your products to other retailers or wholesalers in bulk, you’ll access a large mainstream retail network without needing to find customers yourself. If you’re a skincare brand launching a new makeup line, for example, wholesale collaborations with big department stores like Macy’s or Kohl’s drive the attention your new line needs to gain traction.
Affiliates are social media influencers who earn commission when their audience buys a product using their affiliate link or discount code. They’re a mutually beneficial form of partnership: you only pay out when you make a sale, and creators are in control of how much they can earn. More promotion equals a greater chance to earn commission.
Influencers also let you tap into a larger audience using the voice of someone they already trust. Take this sponsored TikTok post by Bambi Does Beauty, for example. The beauty guru has credibility with her audience—La Roche-Posay gets that same level of credibility by way of association.
Before approaching any partner, get clear on why you want to collaborate and what success looks like. This dictates every aspect of your strategy, from the partners you’ll collaborate with to the type of campaign you’ll launch.
For instance, if your priority is to expand into a new product category, a collaborative product might be the best option. You can lean on another brand’s manufacturing processes and brand recognition to give you a headstart. Metrics like market share, sell-through rate, and new versus existing customer ratios will let you know if the launch is a success.
If the goal is to increase brand visibility, consider a co-marketing campaign. This lets your brand lean on another retailer’s audience without investing in product development. Track key performance indicators (KPIs) like impressions, reach, and social engagement.
There’s a lot at stake when you partner with another brand. Any missteps from your partner can have consequences for your retail business, so it’s crucial to thoroughly vet any potential collaborators before you launch the campaign.
Find the right retail partners by asking your customers who they like or researching brands in your local area. Evaluate their:
To increase the odds of your shortlisted partners saying “yes” to your collaboration, put together a proposal that covers:
For example: “We’re looking for a distribution partner to expand our premium homeware line into Europe. Our US retail sales grew 40% year-over-year, and our average order value is 25% above the category average. We’re offering regional exclusivity and co-marketing support.”
Once your partner verbally agrees to the retail collaboration, put the terms in writing so that both parties stick to their end of the deal. It’s worth getting legal help at this stage just in case the partnership doesn’t go as planned.
A strategic partnership agreement should cover:
Uri Weinberger, founder of Milky Mama, explains: “Be transparent and when you’re going to the negotiating table, be up front and say, ‘This has to work within these parameters.’
“You set the stage to say, ‘Hey, we want this to work. You want this to work. Let us have some ability to help you grow the brand. Let us introduce new products. Let us introduce new programs. Let us innovate for you.’”
Use both brands’ email lists, paid ads, in-store displays, and social audiences to spread the word about the collaboration, and use shared dashboards or reports so you can both see performance in real time.
Other tips to maximize the value of your partnership:
When the partnership comes to a close, evaluate what worked and what didn’t. Did the partner deliver the reach and return on investment (ROI) you expected? Is there potential to expand the relationship (e.g., into new territories or SKUs)? Should you replicate this model with similar partners elsewhere?
💡Tip: Shopify’s unified data model lets you track store performance before, during, and after the collaboration across every sales channel. It also funnels data you’ve collected on customers into a unified profile, making it easier to personalize outreach to new shoppers once the partnership ends.
Need inspiration on how to partner with other brands? From Target and Nordstrom to Nike and Skims, here are seven examples of retailers that have successfully collaborated.
Big box retailer Nordstrom is no stranger to brand partnerships. In the past, they have collaborated with direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands like Glossier, Casper, Boy Smells, and Everlane. More recently, Nordstrom partnered with apparel brand Indochino.
Suit-shopping is notoriously difficult to do online. But instead of losing customers to retailers with their own physical store, Indochino launched shop-in-shops within 38 Nordstrom stores. Customers can visit their local Nordstrom and get their suits sized and tailored, all without Indochino having to operate their own retail locations.
“Nordstrom as a brand and its team have been an incredible partner to Indochino since we launched our partnership in 2020,” says Drew Green, president and CEO of Indochino, in Retail Dive. “The showroom-in-shop model has become a core part of our profitable growth.”
Livestreaming platform Twitch might not sound like the natural best fit for a beauty brand, but e.l.f Cosmetics proves otherwise. The brand has their own Twitch channel, e.l.f.YOU!, where gaming influencers stream their favorite games while wearing and applying e.l.f’s products.
The brand has taken their social commerce strategy further with an official Twitch partnership. Powered by Amazon Ads, e.l.f Cosmetics can create shoppable content within the Twitch streams. This shortens the path to purchase: viewers can see their favorite gamer applying a product, then buy it—all without exiting the stream.
“When we launched e.l.f.YOU! on Twitch, our vision was simple yet bold—to meet our community where they play, create and connect,” says Patrick O’Keefe, chief integrated marketing communications officer at e.l.f, in a recent press release.
“Livestreaming on Twitch has always been about self-expression, and we saw an opportunity to ‘game-up’ the space by bringing beauty into the conversation and creating a safe space for every eye, lip and face.”
Virtual influencers might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re brainstorming retail partnership opportunities. However, luxury apparel brand Coach’s collaboration with imma—a virtual influencer with over 387,000 Instagram followers—proves the two worlds can collide.
Coach’s “Find Your Courage” campaign tapped into younger generations’ desire for authenticity—both in the real world and online. In a CGI-powered video series, imma learns about celebrity’s “superpowers” with the underlying message to be unapologetically yourself.
“For us, imma is the perfect ambassador to tell this story because she is challenging the notion of what we consider ‘real’ today,” says Sandeep Seth, Coach’s global chief marketing officer and North America president, in a press release. “Her journey in our campaign takes us into a new world that pushes the boundaries of self-expression and inspires us along the way.”
Apparel retail brand Urban Outfitters is known for their out-of-the-box marketing campaigns. In a bid to reach college students with a back-to-school campaign, they recently partnered with moving service U-Haul to host an in-person scavenger hunt.
The so-called “UO Haul” sent students around Manhattan in search of glass-walled trucks decorated as dorm rooms. Those who found the trucks were entered into a draw to attend a special event that included exclusive previews of their new product assortment and live music from pop band Katseye.
This retail partnership example is a great lesson in how brands in hugely different industries can partner on a campaign. Apparel and moving services aren’t an obvious pairing, but the audience they serve—Gen Zers who are going to college—lends itself to a unique retail activation.
Co-marketing campaigns are excellent at driving new customers without having to invest heavily in paid marketing.
Take it from Gianluca Boncompagni, founder of Off Road Tents, which runs co-marketing campaigns every year. They recently partnered with Guana Equipment to host a rooftop tent giveaway. Entrants had to submit their email address and phone number to have the chance to win.
“We managed to collect 7,000+ emails and cellphone numbers in 30 days,” Gianluca says. “We considered it a success, since the collaboration gave us lots of high-quality emails and SMS subscribers, which actually ended up buying other tents at a discount for having participated!”
To celebrate the upcoming release of the final season on Netflix’s Stranger Things, Target obtained a brand-licensing deal to replicate the show’s fictional town of Hawkins both in Target stores and on the retailer’s website. This includes a new Stranger Things-inspired product line, including walkie-talkie-style phone cases and a popcorn bucket based on the show’s main antagonist, the Demogorgon.
“The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is more than an ending,” says Cassandra Jones, Target’s SVP of merchandising for Fun101. “It’s a cultural moment, and Target is proud to be the place where fans can celebrate together.
“With our long history of trendy collaborations, this partnership with Netflix is a thrilling way to continue that legacy—offering exclusive watch party must-haves, holiday gifts and engaging experiences that bring Hawkins into everyday life. We’re turning the finale into a fan experience as unforgettable as the show itself.”
Skims founder Kim Kardashian has built her brand on strategic partnerships, including her latest collaboration with Nike. In a bid to gain market share and leverage another retailer’s brand awareness and manufacturing capabilities, Skims recently announced their partnership with Nike to create NikeSkims—an activewear brand built for women with the Skims aesthetic.
“Skims is very body-oriented—we do swimwear, loungewear, shapewear—so our next evolution was that we really wanted to do activewear,” Kim says in a Vogue interview. “Our dream was to work with Nike: their legacy, innovation and athlete insights—it was the perfect thing to mix with Skims, and our dedication to the female form.”
While these partnerships offer valuable inspiration, there are so many more examples across the retail landscape. Brands of all sizes have found new customer bases, expanded markets, and other successes through strategic retail partnerships.
Test the waters by partnering with local retail stores in your area. Run co-marketing campaigns, feature each others’ products in each store to increase sales, and host co-sponsored events to drive foot traffic. You can also build on those retail relationships with larger-scale initiatives.
Retail partners are brands that have collaborated on a mutually beneficial project, like a product line, event, or marketing campaign. The partners typically have complementary but non-competitive audiences, making this a great way to expand their own audiences.
When choosing a retail partner, you want to find a company that has a similar audience as you but isn’t a direct competitor. So two clothing brands or two makeup stores wouldn’t want to collaborate, but a clothing brand may choose to collaborate with a makeup store.
Start by having your marketing or partnerships manager reach out to the other company’s marketing or partnerships manager. You’ll propose a collaboration and wait to hear back on if the brand is interested. Then you can start to move forward with creating and implementing the partnership plan.
A brand partnership is a collaboration between two businesses with overlapping audiences but different offerings. It can take many forms—co-branded products, popup events, content collaborations, or shared retail space. For example, it could look like furniture store West Elm collaborating with mattress company Casper by placing Casper mattresses on bed frames in their brick-and-mortar store, giving interested customers the opportunity to try out the mattress while browsing West Elm’s furniture collection as well.
