The alliance trap: Why traditional negotiation fails
Your biggest retail customer just announced they’re now part of EPIC, Everest, Agecore, Eureca, Eurelec, Vasco, EMD, or Coopernic.
These alliances are not just reshuffling the rules, they’re rewriting the entire game with coordinated strategy, shared data, and synchronized pressure tactics across markets. They operate with joint negotiation teams and coordinated timelines that make your traditional approach obsolete.
The uncomfortable truth: Most FMCG suppliers lose alliance negotiations not because they lack negotiation skills, but because they’re still negotiating like it’s 2015. They treat alliances like a collection of local deals. They’re negotiating in fragments, while the alliance plays a synchronized game across all markets.
The fatal mistakes FMCG suppliers make with alliances
- Using local market tactics against a coordinated international approach
- Treating each market separately while alliances share your data across borders
- Relying on historical relationships that alliance structures have just neutralized
- Relying on historical relationships that alliance structures have just neutralized
- Fighting battles in isolation while competitors align with alliance dynamics
Your competitors are embracing the power of negotiation in an alliance. Don’t let them gain the advantage.
How Impact Negotiation Group levels the playing field
We don’t teach general negotiation skills. We help commercial leaders decode alliance behavior and build strategies that work in the new reality.
We help commercial leaders meet this challenge with two proven approaches
1. Buying alliance negotiation consulting
Expert support when the stakes are highest
When you’re preparing for negotiations with a buying alliance, our consulting support offers targeted, practical guidance. We help shape strategy, align stakeholders across functions and markets, and support decision-making at each critical stage.
Our approach improves internal coordination, reduces risk, and strengthens your ability to respond effectively to alliance tactics.
Consulting services include:
- Strategic diagnosis of alliance structure and leverage points
- Complex stakeholder dynamics are at play (procurement vs. operations vs. C-suite)
- War room planning and scenario modeling
- Cross-functional stakeholder alignment across markets
- Playbook and counter-tactics development
- Senior advisor participation in internal negotiation rehearsals
Who we work with:
- Commercial Directors and VPs facing alliance pressure
- International Key Account Directors managing international retailers
- Negotiation leads coordinating across central and local markets
- Finance, revenue management, and strategy teams
2. Strategic negotiation planning workshop
Equip your teams with alliance-specific strategies
Our 2-day Strategic Negotiation Planning Workshop is designed for senior commercial leaders facing the complexity of buying alliances. It develops your team’s ability to craft well-aligned strategies across borders and prepare for high-leverage negotiations with clarity and control.
Training outcomes:
- Choose your position: Understand when to stand with the group and when to isolate, depending on alliance strategy
- Adapt to alliance types: Distinguish between top-investment vs. term-comparison alliances vs centalised buying and adjust your approach
- Build unified strategy: Align central and local teams to present consistent, defensible positions
- Understand internal dynamics: Gain insights into how alliances make decisions and influence outcomes
- Balance objectives: Navigate between short-term wins and long-term strategic priorities
- Strengthen internal cohesion: Break silos across countries and functions
Workshop format:
- Duration: 2 days
- Audience: Up to 12 senior leaders
- Location: On-site or off-site
- Includes: Proprietary negotiation planning toolkit, real-world alliance case studies, hands-on cross-border alignment exercises
Know your alliance opponents
Understanding alliance structures is step one. Here’s the current landscape:
EPIC
EDEKA, Migros, Jeronimo Martins, Jumbo, Picnic, Aura Retail International
Everest
EDEKA, Jumbo, Picnic, Aura Retail International
AgeCore
Colruyt, Coop, Conad, Eroski, Kaufland
Eurelec
E.Leclerc, REWE, Ahold Delhaize (Albert Heijn and Delhaize)
Eureca
Carrefour (G6 countries)
Vascp
Colruyt, Coop, Superunie
EMD
Superunie, Markant, Dagrofa, Euromadi, Unil, ESD, Dagab
Coopernic
E.Leclerc, REWE, Ahold Delhaize, Coop Italia
Why Impact Negotiation Group
We’re not a general training company. We’re alliance negotiation specialists who help you win against coordinated opposition.
We’re senior negotiation consultants who’ve negotiated billions in high-stakes deals. We understand the psychology of alliance decisions, the politics of cross-border dynamics, and the art of maintaining margins under coordinated pressure.
Proven alliance experience, not generic training
We’ve been in your position facing alliance pressure. We’ve developed strategies that work against coordinated tactics.
Strategic intelligence, not just negotiation skills
We help you understand alliance behavior and build responses that shape outcomes before formal negotiations begin.
Commercial obsession
Every recommendation is tested against one question: Does this strengthen your position against alliance coordination and protect your business value?
Real results from real clients
SaaS Provider: 50% Boost via Price Negotiation Tactics
FMCG Retail: 15% Margin Boost via Retail Negotiation
Book Retailer: Financial Win via Price Negotiation Tactics
Employee Relations Negotiation: 4 Weeks to a 4-Year Deal
Global Pharma: Optimized Market Access Negotiation Across Europe
PE-Owned ICT: 42x ROI via Price Negotiation Tactics
Mastering domain name acquisition: A strategic negotiation case study
Results vary by client and situation. Individual outcomes depend on multiple factors including market conditions and implementation.
Having worked with the team at Impact Negotiation Group over the past two years, I’ve found them to be incredibly knowledgeable, responsive, and a pleasure to work with.
Very good nego training. I have learned a lot; tactics, how to behave, to not be in a competitive mindset.
Absolutely powerful and valuable training. Applicable in most of the aspects in your life
Interesting, fast-paced and lot of pratical examples.
Very useful, high intensity
10 out of 10! Do it it’s a very good training with real examples
This is ROI positive and therefore a must for senior sales
Nice full and rich program, with humor and great balance between theory and practice!
With these experts, you can be sure you have thought of everything and are best prepared for your negotiations. This will give you confidence for the future.
Ready to take control of the alliance game?
Whether you’re building long-term capability or preparing for a critical negotiation, we can help.
Don’t let alliances control the narrative while you’re still using outdated playbooks.
Alliance negotiation questions answered
How do you negotiate effectively with buying alliances?
By understanding their coordination mechanisms and building strategies that account for shared data, joint decision-making, and cross-border pressure tactics.
What’s the difference between local and alliance negotiation strategies?
Local strategies focus on individual relationships and market dynamics. Alliance strategies must account for coordinated data sharing, joint decision-making, and cross-border pressure tactics.
When should you engage alliance negotiation support?
When facing your first major alliance negotiation, when traditional approaches aren’t working, or when you need to align teams across multiple markets for coordinated response.
How do you protect margins against alliance pressure?
By building unified strategies across markets, understanding alliance decision dynamics, and positioning value propositions that work across the entire alliance structure.
What mistakes do FMCG suppliers make with alliance negotiations?
Treating each market separately, using outdated relationship-based approaches, underestimating alliance coordination, and failing to align internal teams across borders.
