Navigating Higher Tariffs: Four Key Mitigation Strategies for Retailers

As retailers prepare for significant tariff increases, Murali Gokki, Adam Meiras, and Allie Drabinsky recommend focusing on finding the balance between absorbing costs, protecting margins, and maintaining price competitiveness.

Amid imminently higher tariffs, limited capacity in alternative sourcing regions, and tightening origin-tracking regulations, retailers must leverage actionable strategies to address immediate and long-term cost pressures. Four strategies to navigate the financial impact of increased tariffs include:

1. Passing costs fully to protect margins
2. Sharing costs with consumers
3. Rebalancing the supplier base to lower product costs
4. Negotiating with current suppliers to lower product costs