Cart Culture: The Data Retailers Want Before You Walk In the Door

What you'll learn

You have a great product. The question is whether you have the proof.

In this edition of Cart Culture, Emily Steele, CEO and Co-founder of Hummingbirds, sits down with Kate Walker, Vice President of Emerging Brands Development at NIQ, for a candid fireside chat on what it actually takes to walk into a buyer meeting ready. Kate works exclusively with emerging and high-growth brands across food, beverage, personal care, home care, pet, and more, helping them make data-driven decisions that move the needle at retail. If you are building or managing a CPG brand and trying to figure out how to turn early momentum into real retail traction, this session will challenge how you think about data, readiness, and what buyers are actually looking for in 2026.

In this conversation, we'll cover:

What Retail-Ready Actually Means in 2026

Why so many emerging and high-growth brands overestimate their readiness and what the brands getting it right are doing differently. The gap between DTC success and brick and mortar readiness, and why closing it starts with your data story.

What Buyers Are Actually Asking For

The data retailers expect to see before they take a brand seriously, and what most emerging and high-growth brands are showing up without. How the evaluation playbook varies by retailer and what that means for how you prepare.

The Velocity Question

Why retail velocity is one of the most important signals in a buyer conversation and what strong actually looks like. How verified purchase data and real consumer behavior at shelf factor into the case you build.

Building a Data Foundation Before You Have the Numbers

What emerging and high-growth brands can do to build a compelling, data-backed pitch even before they have years of distribution history. The moves to make 6 to 12 months out from a major retail push.

How to Walk In the Door Ready

Real talk on what separates brands that earn placement from brands that leave empty-handed. What buyers remember, what they dismiss, and what you can do starting tomorrow to close the gap.

Built on Real Experience

Kate Walker has spent her career working directly with some of the fastest-growing CPG brands in consumables, backed by the full depth of NIQ's data and retailer relationships. This is not a theory conversation. It is built on years of real brand and retailer experience.