Retail PR: coverage for retailers and retail technology

Story angles that work for retail

Journalists do not cover companies, they cover stories. These are the angles that most often earn retail coverage:

• Store openings, formats and expansion plans
• Sales results and shopper data around key moments
• Retail technology case studies with named retailers
• Executive interviews on the future of shopping

How to run retail PR yourself

1. Pick one story. Choose the strongest angle above and write it in one sentence. If you cannot, the story is not ready.
2. Build a short list. Find the 20 to 50 reporters who have covered retail recently. A short list that fits beats a long list that does not.
3. Write a personal pitch. Three short paragraphs: the news, why it matters to their readers, and what you can offer such as data, interviews or images.
4. Follow up once. Three to five working days later, add something new rather than "just checking in".
5. Track what lands. Note who replied and what they wrote about, so your next pitch is warmer.

What reporters on this beat want

• Retail trade titles want hard numbers: like-for-like sales, store counts, basket size.
• Tie consumer stories to shopping moments such as Black Friday, back to school and holidays.

Mistakes to avoid

• Pitching consumer product news to retail business reporters.
• Results announcements without like-for-like figures.

Who covers retail

InsightFuse lists 5,783 journalists, editors and producers whose role or outlet points to retail coverage, across 114 countries. Here is where they work and what they do.

Browse journalists on these beats

Related guides

Frequently asked questions