FAQs

Find answers to your most pressing questions about our platform and services.

Who is Handshake most relevant for?

Handshake has been built to support any type of contractual agreement. If your business has a buying or procurement team that is making agreements directly with suppliers, then you could benefit from our platform.

We work with both retailers and wholesalers across several markets: Food & Grocery (Supermarkets, Online Grocery, Specialty Stores) , General Merchandise (Department Stores, Warehouse Clubs, Variety Stores, Discount Stores), Health & Beauty (Pharmacies, Health & Wellness Stores, Cosmetics Chains), Home & DIY (DIY, Hardware, Furniture & Homeware, Electronics, Garden Centers), Specialty Retail (Pet Stores, Toy Stores, Stationery & Office Supplies, Book Stores, Sporting Goods), Wholesale (Cash-and-Carry, Foodservice, General Line).

What types of contractual agreements can I manage with Handshake?

All types – Handshake supports any type of contractual agreement between retailers and suppliers. These agreements can be commercial (e.g., promotional agreements) or non-commercial (ESG metrics)

Common agreements managed through our platform include: Joint business plans (JBPs), cost prices and cost price increases (CPIs), trade plans and promotional agreements, retail media (in-store and online), volume-based discounts and overriders, store space (shelf space, feature space), financial terms (payment terms, etc.), supply chain terms (SLAs, MOQs, Delivery terms, etc.), master supplier agreements, open book contracts, ESG terms and more.

Can it manage both Branded and Private Label contracts?

Yes – With Handshake you can create contractual agreements for all product types: Branded, Private Label, Goods for Resale (GFR), Goods Not for Resale (GNFR).

Do we have to use this for every agreement?

No – while there are benefits to storing all agreements in one platform to build a complete image of financials, you can use Handshake to manage a subset of agreement types (e.g., retail media, promotional planning).

How much does it cost?

We charge a fixed license fee which is dependent on expected usage and customization requirements.

With that license fee, you get full access to our platform and all our future product developments.

To learn more about our commercial terms, please reach out to hello@handshake-solutions.com

What is the return on investment?

Handshake can generate a return for your business in three ways:

‍

(1) Helping you make market-leading agreements with suppliers

(2) Eliminating contract leakage by ensuring compliance on agreed terms

(3) Saving time and resource by eliminating any manual administrative task

Does Handshake integrate with my existing systems and processes?

Yes – Handshake has been designed to sit on top of your existing tech stack, with integration and flexibility in mind.

Think of Handshake as the glue which binds all your existing systems together and removes the requirement to manage agreement negotiations over email, Excel, and PowerPoint.

What is the process for setting up Handshake, and how long does it take?

There are four steps required to set up our platform:

(1) Configuring the platform with your desired trading terms
(2) Setting up user permissions and authentications
(3) Uploading supplier and product data through an Excel drop-in or an API integration
(4) Exporting agreed terms to your existing ERP (SAP, Oracle, Blue Yonder, etc.) through API integrations

It takes only 4 weeks to get our platform ready to make, store, and track agreements with suppliers. Setting up the APIs required to export commercial data into your existing ERP will take longer, depending on your ecosystem. In the interim, you have the ability to export agreed terms into Excel in a data structure that is best for you.

How do you ensure successful adoption of Handshake?

Should you decide to select Handshake as your agreement management platform, we take a hands-on approach to customer success.

We place a team to your head office, meet with all your teams, and tailor Handshake to your business. We work side-by-side with your teams to ensure workflows and systems are structured to fit with your ways of working.

We then perform a sequenced rollout. We pilot with a subset of suppliers to ensure we gather feedback from your teams and further customize our product before rollout.

What data does Handshake store, where does it store the data, and how do you keep it secure?

Handshake stores contract data. We do not store sensitive customer data. You can decide to link commercial sales performance or forecasts to enable more accurate financial forecasting within the platform.

All data is stored within an isolated environment for you, with configurable deployment to meet your security needs.

We use TLS to secure data in transit and encryption at rest to ensure stored data remains secure.

Still have questions?

We're here to help!

Contact