BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Business development in Europe

We find and screen distributors and chains and introduce you; you negotiate and sign with them.

Markets: The European markets agreed with you, in the order the strategy sets
Channels: Retail chains, wholesalers, distributors, importers and partners
Stock: Held in Portugal, inside the EU customs union
Engagement: Terms are set out in a proposal after the first call.

Each European market keeps its own chains, buyers and calendar, so each is researched and approached on its own terms. The goods move more simply: once released for free circulation in Portugal, they reach any member state without a second import.

Starting points

Entering Europe, or growing where the brand already sells?

European buyers weigh a known brand differently from a new arrival. The method stays the same, and the first months of work follow the starting point.

Part of the strategy is deciding one European market first, or all at once.

Entering a European market: Before any buyer is approached: the import route into the EU, the product rules that apply, the competitors on shelf and how each chain buys.
Growing where the brand already sells: A map of who carries the brand in each market, at what price and through which importers or platforms, before any new account is approached.
Adding European territories: For a distributor holding rights in some markets, the neighbouring markets are researched against that agreement, so new coverage respects the territory already held.

The practice in Europe

How is a European market researched and managed?

Each market is read from its own shelves first. Names follow the priorities, and outreach follows each chain's review calendar.

Research

Chains, wholesalers, distributors and importers in each agreed market, read from what they list and sell, beside competitors and comparable entries, failed ones included.
Strategy

Which markets to open, and in which order, and which to leave aside, the positioning and price logic per market, and the route: chain, distributor or both.
Buyers

In a large chain the category is often split across several buyers. We work out how each chain buys the category and introduce the brand to the buyer who owns it.
Follow-through

Chains reconsider a category at set review points, so outreach is timed to each chain's calendar and followed up as each review comes round.

Routes to market

How do the routes to European buyers compare?

Each route trades away something different: control of the customer, title to the goods, breadth of range, or freedom from fixed cost.

Each route also needs a price structure: building a distributor price ladder.

The four routes compared
	Appoint an agent	Appoint a distributor	Open your own EU entity	Working with EFC
Who owns the customer relationship	You, through the agent	The distributor	You	You
Who holds title to the goods	You. The agent holds no stock	The distributor, which buys outright	You	You. We hold the stock for you, and it stays yours
What happens to your range	Depends on the agent's other lines	Often narrowed to the fastest-moving lines	You decide	You decide, with the strategy
Who answers the buyer's operational questions	You, from outside the market	The distributor, from its own stock	Your new team, once it exists	EFC, from the stock and the import set-up its operation arranges
How they are paid	Commission, with termination rights under Council Directive 86/653/EEC	Its margin, taken from your price	Fixed cost from the first month, before the first order	Terms are set out in a proposal after the first call.

The operation underneath

What do European buyers ask before a listing?

Once a category manager likes the product, the questions turn operational: lead time to the distribution centre, who imports the goods, pallet labelling and returns.

We answer them from our base in Portugal: customs and VAT through fiscal representation, and stock and delivery to each chain. Where your import setup needs it, our operation provides the importer of record, not for medical devices.

See how distributors are supplied from stock in the EU.

Questions

Questions about business development in Europe

How are European chains and distributors researched?

From what each channel lists, publishes and prices, in catalogues, brand pages and trade press. Each candidate is rated against your lines, with the reason written.

What is a category review in European retail?

It is the set point at which a chain reconsiders one product group and reallocates its shelf. An approach made outside it usually waits for the next one.

Does EFC work with a brand that already sells in Europe?

Yes. Expansion work opens with the brand's current European footprint, including the listings no one on its side manages, before new accounts are considered.

Is EFC a commercial agent or a distributor?

Neither. Your goods and your contracts stay yours: we do not buy, sell or take title to the goods, and we do not negotiate or sign for you, so we are not a commercial agent. We develop the market, identify and approach the distributors and chains, and once orders follow, handle customs clearance, VAT, warehousing and fulfillment from Portugal. Commercial agents are regulated by Council Directive 86/653/EEC, which gives them minimum notice and, on termination, an indemnity or compensation, subject to the conditions in Articles 17 and 18.

Business development in Europe

Which European markets to open, and in which order, depends on the product and where it already sells. A first call sets out the likely order.

Talk to the team