The Retail Factory (TRF)

What The Retail Factory (TRF) does

The Retail Factory (TRF) is a privately held, boutique management consulting firm founded in 2003 in Santiago, Chile, that specializes in Shopper Marketing, Category Management, and Route-to-Market/Purchase/Loyalty strategy. It serves enterprise clients across Latin America and Iberia — primarily global FMCG manufacturers, regional retail chains, telecom operators, and healthcare/pharmacy retailers — through project-based consulting engagements led by partners and senior directors.

The firm's core technology is its proprietary consulting methodology, anchored by the Usage Situation Segmentation model and packaged into branded frameworks including Shoppertunity (shopper conversion optimization), Chaman (channel management), Merchandising Score (in-store execution assessment), Profitability & Floor Planning, and the Route 2 Purchase / Market / Loyalty / Retail frameworks. These methodologies are delivered through customized engagements rather than packaged software or AI-driven products.

TRF operates owned offices in Chile, Mexico, and Peru and extends its reach through a partner network covering Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Spain, and Portugal. The firm is founder/partner-owned (Jean-Marc Ziegler and Antonio Castro are the lead partners), with no disclosed institutional investors, no public listing, and no external funding. Revenue is generated entirely through professional services fees on project engagements; pricing is not publicly disclosed and is scoped per client. Go-to-market relies on direct partner-led enterprise engagement, supplemented by thought-leadership content including publications in industry magazines, webinars, a Shopper Marketing book by Jean Marc Ziegler, conference participation, and a 6-module Shopper Management educational course.

Name

The Retail Factory (TRF)

Legal name

The Retail Factory

Website

https://trf-cg.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Retail Factory (TRF) is a boutique consulting firm specializing in Shopper Marketing, serving FMCG companies, retail chains, telecom operators, and healthcare providers across Latin America and Iberia with proprietary methodologies including Usage Situation Segmentation and Route-to frameworks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Santiago

HQ country

Chile

HQ region

Latin America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Professional consulting services in Shopper Marketing, Category Management, and Route to Market strategy. Services are delivered through project-based engagements with enterprise clients including FMCG companies, retailers, and service providers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Retail Factory (TRF) is a boutique consulting firm that delivers shopper marketing, category management, and route-to-market strategy services to enterprise clients in FMCG, retail, telecom, healthcare, and service-provider industries across Latin America and Iberia. Its offerings are organized around proprietary Route-to frameworks (Route 2 Purchase, Route 2 Market, Route 2 Loyalty, Route 2 Retail) and MBOD organizational design, supported by sub-products such as Chaman channel management, Profitability & Floor Planning, Usage & Purchase, and Merchandising Score.

Product overview

The Retail Factory (TRF) is a boutique consulting firm offering a unified platform of shopper marketing and category management services across Latin America. The core portfolio includes three strategic Route-to frameworks (Route 2 Purchase, Route 2 Market, and Route 2 Loyalty) complemented by Route 2 Retail for retailer-specific solutions and MBOD for organizational design. These strategic services integrate with specialized sub-products including Shopper & Category Management, the Chaman channel management tool, Profitability & Floor Planning, Usage & Purchase analysis, and the Merchandising Score management tool. The Value Offer framework ties together the entire service ecosystem, all built on Usage Situation Segmentation methodology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Route 2 Purchase Strategic consulting service that helps brands understand and improve shoppers' purchase processes across all their purchase channels, maximizing conversion in physical and virtual sales channels.
• Route 2 Market Strategic consulting service focused on understanding and improving the sales process of manufacturers and retailers across all sales channels.
• Route 2 Loyalty Strategic consulting service that helps manufacturers and retailers improve the management of value/loyalty programs for both their Shoppers (B2C) and their customers (B2B).
• Route 2 Retail Strategic consulting service helping retailers materialize their brand DNA in stores, improve the purchase experience of their Shoppers, and increase profitability per square meter.
• MBOD (Market Based Organization Design) Market-based organizational design service that helps companies structure their organizations based on market dynamics and competitive realities.
• Shopper & Category Management Comprehensive shopper and category management solutions that integrate strategic planning with execution, built on the Usage Situation Segmentation methodology.
• Chaman (Channel Management) Channel management solution that enables efficient availability of products and services across all sales channels for manufacturers and retailers.
• Profitability & Floor Planning Retail space and inventory optimization service focused on increasing profitability per square meter through management of space, inventory, and service personnel.
• Usage & Purchase Usage Situation Segmentation service offering customized solutions based on specific client needs and competitive reality.
• Merchandising Score Merchandising assessment and control tool for evaluating and monitoring in-store retail execution performance.
• Value Offer (Oferta de Valor) Comprehensive value proposition framework that generates a brandscape focused on boosting Shopper and Consumer conversion.

Quantifiable outcome

• 600+ projects completed across Latin America
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Partner GuatemalaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner network extending TRF's shopper marketing consulting services to clients in Guatemala through independent consultants or firms.
• Partner Costa RicaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner network extending TRF's shopper marketing consulting services to clients in Costa Rica through independent consultants or firms.
• Partner EcuadorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner network extending TRF's shopper marketing consulting services to clients in Ecuador through independent consultants or firms.
• Partner BoliviaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner network extending TRF's shopper marketing consulting services to clients in Bolivia through independent consultants or firms.
• Partner ArgentinaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner network extending TRF's shopper marketing consulting services to clients in Argentina through independent consultants or firms.
• Partner ColombiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner network extending TRF's shopper marketing consulting services to clients in Colombia through independent consultants or firms.
• Partner EspañaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner network extending TRF's shopper marketing consulting services to clients in Spain through independent consultants or firms.
• Partner PortugalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner network extending TRF's shopper marketing consulting services to clients in Portugal through independent consultants or firms.
• Partner BrasilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner network extending TRF's shopper marketing consulting services to clients in Brazil through independent consultants or firms.
• Partner UruguayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner network extending TRF's shopper marketing consulting services to clients in Uruguay through independent consultants or firms.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• GlobalPraxis: GlobalPraxis is a Europe- and Latin America-based consulting firm specialized in Route-to-Market and Shopper Marketing — the most direct comparable peer. TRF's founder Jean Marc Ziegler previously worked at GlobalPraxis before founding SCG/TRF in 2003, and both firms serve global FMCG manufacturers with similar route-to-market methodologies.
• Advantage Solutions: Advantage Solutions is a US-headquartered provider of sales, marketing and retail-merchandising services to CPG manufacturers and retailers. Its in-store execution, category management and shopper insights capabilities are highly analogous to TRF's Chaman, Profitability & Floor Planning and Merchandising Score offerings.
• Acosta Group: Acosta is a global sales-and-marketing services company offering retail merchandising, category management and shopper marketing to CPG manufacturers and retailers. It is highly comparable to TRF on route-to-market, retail execution and category-advisory work, scaled up through acquired brands.
• TCC Global: TCC Global is a specialist shopper-marketing agency focused on loyalty, promotion and shopper engagement programs for retailers and FMCG brands. Its services in loyalty design and promotional effectiveness closely mirror TRF's Route 2 Loyalty and Shoppertunity practices.

Broad incumbents

• NielsenIQ: NielsenIQ is a global consumer and retail measurement company offering shopper insights, retail media analytics, and consulting to FMCG manufacturers and retailers — many of the same enterprise client segments TRF serves. While broader and data-led, NielsenIQ increasingly bundles advisory work that overlaps with TRF's Shopper Marketing scope.
• Kantar: Kantar is a global research, insights and consulting group with dedicated Shopper and Consumer practices serving FMCG, retail and telecom clients worldwide. It competes with TRF for shopper-insights and category-management mandates at large multinational clients across Latin America and Iberia.
• Circana (formerly IRI + NPD): Circana is a global advisor to the consumer products industry combining retail measurement, shopper insights and consumer research. It serves the same enterprise FMCG and retail accounts as TRF and increasingly offers strategic advisory that overlaps with TRF's route-to-market and category-management offerings.
• Ipsos: Ipsos is a global market-research and advisory firm with deep shopper, consumer and category research practices serving FMCG, retail, telecom and healthcare clients. Its LatAm presence and shopper-behavior portfolio place it in direct competition with TRF for branded shopper-marketing engagements.
• Accenture (Consumer Goods & Retail practice): Accenture is a global professional-services firm with a large Consumer Goods and Retail practice offering strategy, consulting, technology and implementation to omnichannel retailers and CPG manufacturers. Its scale and bundled offerings put it in competition with TRF for multi-country transformation mandates from the same accounts.
• McKinsey & Company (Consumer & Retail practice): McKinsey's Consumer and Retail practice advises global FMCG manufacturers and retailers on growth, marketing and shopper strategy. While broader than TRF, it competes for the same enterprise strategic mandates and increasingly bundles shopper-insights work that overlaps with TRF's value proposition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/retail_factory
• Facebookfacebook.com/The-Retail-Factory-318453404012/?fref=ts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-retail-factory-trf-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Retail Factory (TRF)