---
id: "prereq-traditional-retail-dynamics"
type: "prereq"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Buyer-Seller Role Inversion Requires a New Playbook"]
tags: ["supply-chain", "retail-basics"]
related: ["concept-buyer-seller-role-inversion"]
reason: "Essential for grasping why suppliers feel coerced and why merchandising teams are ill-equipped to handle media sales."
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/the-importance-of-trust-and-transparency-in-retail-media-networks"
source_title: "The Importance of Trust and Transparency in Retail Media Networks"
sources: ["attention"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-attention"
originDay: 4
articleStem: "hbr-foci-71-retail-media-networks-trust"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/the-importance-of-trust-and-transparency-in-retail-media-networks"
sourceTitle: "The Importance of Trust and Transparency in Retail Media Networks"
---
# Understanding of Traditional Retail Supply Chain Dynamics

**Prerequisite.** To understand the friction caused by the [[concept-buyer-seller-role-inversion]], one must first understand the traditional dynamic where retailers hold the power as the *buyer* of goods from suppliers, and merchandising teams handle those negotiations.

**Why it matters.** Without this grounding, the reader misses why suppliers feel coerced (see [[concept-coercive-monetization]]) and why merchandising teams — trained to command suppliers, not to sell them a media product — are ill-equipped to handle media sales.