Retail consulting
For manufacturers and suppliers: pricing, commercial terms, assortment, promotions and negotiations with retail chains.
Retail consultingAbout
Experience from retail-chain procurement
Meridian Consulting is run by Dominik Prelec. Before Meridian, he worked in procurement at one of Croatia's larger retail chains, where he assessed supplier offers, prices and terms. He now applies that experience to decisions made by manufacturers, suppliers and business owners.
- 100+
- suppliers he worked with
- 50+
- new stores in the retail network expansion
- Direct
- you work with the founder, no intermediaries
Work in procurement
- Prices and commercial terms
- Assortment
- Catalogues and promotions
- Private label
- Sales, margin and stock analysis
- Network expansion through more than 50 new stores
Founder
What procurement shows you
In procurement, Dominik managed national purchasing categories across a large part of the food range and worked with more than 100 suppliers. He also took part in expanding the retail network through more than 50 new stores. From that seat you see how a buyer really assesses an offer: what gets looked at first, which terms add up to the real price, and why some offers do not get through.
At Meridian he uses that experience to prepare decisions: what to ask a retail chain for and where the limit is, whether an investment pays off, how to build a business plan for the HZZ grant, and how to choose a supplier for your own product. What remains at the end is a calculation and a written brief, not general advice.
“Sitting in a retail chain's buying team means working with more than a hundred suppliers and knowing why their offers pass or fail. Meridian grew out of that perspective.”
Why Meridian exists
Decisions rarely fail on strategy. They fail on preparation.
One thing stayed from the procurement years: most suppliers and business owners do not lose on the argument, they lose on preparation. A price increase is requested without a calculation, a product is proposed without rotation data, a promotion is accepted without working out what it really costs, and an investment starts without checking the assumptions.
Meridian was built to work at exactly that level of preparation. Structured but realistic, with numbers and a written brief the owner can take to a retail chain, a bank, or use to decide on their own.
How we work
Four working rules
The buyer's view
The experience comes from the side that assesses supplier offers. So every proposal is first read the way a buyer will read it.
Numbers before advice
Price, margin, promotion or investment is calculated first. The recommendation follows from a number you can check yourself.
A concrete deliverable
Every engagement ends with a document you keep: a calculation, a written recommendation, a negotiation brief, a specification or a business plan.
Clear limits
Meridian does not promise buyer access, grant approval or a sales result, and does not represent both sides of the same commercial relationship. When another specialist is needed, that is said at the start.
Areas of work
Three areas of work
Business planning
Testing an idea or investment through the market, the numbers and scenarios, including preparation for the HZZ self-employment grant.
Business planningProcurement and private label
Choosing suppliers and preparing your own product: criteria, comparable offers, specification and calculation before production.
Procurement and suppliersAlongside advisory work there are Business guides (free expert articles) and Meridian products (tools for preparing work yourself).
In practice
Case examples
Two projects that show the way of working: launching a new business and developing an existing one towards the EU market.
These are own and connected business projects. They are shown for the type of problem and the way of working.
Barbarelle
Business launch
A local service business launched with an HZZ grant
Developing the business idea, the HZZ business plan and financial structure, defining the services, and setting up the website and basic digital infrastructure.
Outcome
HZZ grant approved. A business, financial and digital framework in place to start operating.
Poly-Plast
EU market entry
A local manufacturer reaching B2B customers in the EU
Sales structure, a multilingual website, technical communication with customers and starting sales activity towards customers in the EU.
Outcome
A sales approach and materials for EU customers in place, as a basis for growth beyond the domestic market.
Next step
Book an introductory call
In the first call we go through the decision you are facing and assess whether it makes sense to work together. The call is confidential and without obligation.