What changed in Advantage Solutions Inc.'s 10-K — 2024 vs 2025

Item 1. Business Our Company As a leading business solutions provider to consumer-packaged goods companies and retailers, we offer a platform of high-quality, interconnected, essential, business-critical omni-channel services such as brokerage (headquarter sales), retail merchandising, in-store sampling and private brand development.

We assist brands and retailers of all sizes in getting the right products on the shelf - both physical or digital - and into the hands of consumers however they choose to shop. We innovate as a trusted partner with our clients, solving problems to increase efficiency, effectiveness and sales across various channels.

We are proud to serve more than 4,000 clients across diverse categories, such as grocery, mass merchandisers, club, drug and convenience retailers, maintaining trusted relationships and reach spanning more than 100,000 coast-to-coast locations. Our services reflect our differentiated business systems, talent, relationships, scale and expertise.

We listen, learn and invest in capabilities that help us meet the evolving needs of brands and retailers. This approach enables us to address existing challenges more effectively and tackle new issues promptly while navigating an increasingly omni-channel world. Our experience and the transformation underway are designed to improve our core capabilities through technology and strategic partnerships over time.

We are committed to staying at the forefront of industry trends to harness data and analytic solutions that support our teammates in creating, executing, and measuring insight-based plans to foster our clients’ business growth.

At the most fundamental level: • We operate at the nexus of consumer-packaged goods companies and retailers and are trusted partners for both. • We help our clients sell more while spending less, making their operations more effective and efficient. • We succeed by delivering market-leading services daily and offering innovative client solutions through a nimble operating platform. • We drive our productivity to fuel reinvestment and growth in Advantage Solutions. • Simply put, we seek to operate better, cost-effectively, and faster, keeping commerce and life moving for clients and consumers. 2 Our Solutions Our interconnected solutions for consumer-packaged goods brands and retailers are provided across three segments — Branded Services, Experiential Services and Retailer Services.

Branded Services We serve as the strategic extension of consumer-packaged goods brands by offering services that include selling to retailers, retail merchandising and omni-channel marketing. We typically generate revenues on a commission, fee-for-service or cost-plus basis. Our primary branded services include: Brokerage Services (Headquarter Sales) Our brokerage service offerings focus on providing solutions for branded consumer goods manufacturers and retailers.

We represent our clients and facilitate relationships with retailers across a range of matters, including business development and sales planning that drives awareness and gets brands onto physical and digital shelves for consumers.

We create customized, data-driven business plans for clients and present business cases that aim to increase product distribution and optimize shelf placement, pricing and promotion of their products within our extensive network of industry contacts spanning retailer buying organizations and senior executive ranks.

Our services are enhanced by our comprehensive understanding of both the manufacturers’ and retailers’ strategic priorities and proactive approach to identifying business-building opportunities. Our scale allows us to offer these services locally, regionally or nationally for a client’s designated product, brand, or entire portfolio.

To support our sales efforts, we have a dedicated team of analytics professionals who provide category and space management services. These experts analyze consumer purchase and retailer data to identify retail opportunities that increase sales of our client's products and categories.

We utilize analytical tools that aggregate data to inform sales strategies to expand product distribution and optimize other factors such as assortment, planograms, pricing and trade promotions. Additionally, we employ post-promotion analytical tools, working closely with clients and retailers to make the necessary adjustments that align with sales and profit objectives at the product and category level.

Furthermore, we offer advanced analytical services for clients, including retailer point-of-sale and primary market and shopper research. Branded Merchandising We deploy teams in retail locations that draw on our comprehensive insights to support consumer packaged goods companies' in-store sales strategies.

Our teammates conduct regular and ad hoc store visits to manage product availability and positioning, implement promotions, install point-of-purchase displays, and perform other value-added merchandising services down to the aisle, shelf, and SKU. We offer our clients a wide array of flexible service models for our retail services coverage.

In our dedicated coverage model, our teammates perform services exclusively for a particular client and have intimate knowledge of its categories and products. Our syndicated coverage model utilizes shared teams in particular channels to perform services for multiple clients while in a store.

We also offer hybrid coverage models whereby clients can choose to have dedicated teams covering designated channels or retailers and syndicated coverage for other channels.

Our branded merchandising services leverage internally sourced or third-party technologies for daily point-of-sale store data, supply chain data and advanced algorithms to target and correct potential store-level merchandising issues in real-time, such as stock-keeping units that are void, out of stock or past expiration.

We use this information to improve the routing of our retail teams to address client’s needs and mitigate risk. We also prioritize our teammates’ work to address the highest-value opportunities while conducting a store visit. We also offer supply chain and logistics services that deliver a more efficient and seamless flow of products from the warehouse to the consumer.

We navigate retail distribution complexities and enhance consumer experiences with timely delivery and customer satisfaction. We help clients reach their target audiences by leveraging technology to optimize logistics, procurement and supply chain management. 3 We regularly seek opportunities to enhance our suite of technologies through internal development and strategic partnerships.

For example, we recently implemented routing software that can efficiently and effectively guide our teammates from location to location, considering store volume, sales velocity, location and in-store conditions. Additionally, our teammates utilize merchandising applications and scanners in-store to efficiently and effectively execute various activities such as distribution tasks, validating promotional compliance or answering survey questions.

Omni-commerce Marketing Services We create distinct, shopper-centric brand experiences that seek to stand out physically and digitally across multiple consumer touchpoints, including digital shelf, Amazon, in-store, promotions, social/influencer, media, custom content and beyond. We immerse ourselves in each brand, leveraging consumer insights and retail intelligence to craft memorable campaigns that help brands break through and grow.

Consumer packaged goods companies also hire us for national consumer promotions designed to broadly stimulate demand and awareness of their products. Experiential Services We help brands break through, build loyalty, and drive sales with omni-channel sampling experiences in-store and online.

We are a global leader in sampling and demonstration services, which we believe enhance the shopper experience and accelerate buy rates across channels and touchpoints, driving trial, sales lift, and brand loyalty. We manage highly customized, large-scale sampling programs for leading brands and retailers. Revenues are primarily recognized as fee-for-service and cost-plus fees for providing in-store, digital sampling, and demonstrations.

We cultivate community, loyalty, and results-driven relationships through world-class brand events. We design, orchestrate, and execute brand and premium events connecting consumers with brands, retailers, and products, leveraging our expertise in consumer insights and experiential marketing. Retailer Services We provide retailers end-to-end solutions, including private brand strategy, merchandising, retail media and aisle/shelf optimization.

Our primary retailer services include: Retailer Merchandising We serve select retailers as their exclusive providers and other retailers as authorized providers of in-store merchandising or reset services.

For some of our retailer clients, we perform other in-store services, such as compliance audits, data collection, in-store product assembly and certain advisory services, such as analytics and planogram services to increase sales and optimize inventory and space management. These services allow the retailer’s personnel to focus on interacting with and servicing its shoppers.

We equip retailers with experienced trade professionals, movers and lifters to build out and bring the physical shopping experience to life. Advisory Services We expand our clients’ businesses globally with our leading private brand agency, Daymon. We have the expertise to drive loyalty, differentiation, and sales by combining strong relationships through decades of partnerships with manufacturers and retailers.

We help maximize the market potential of private brand portfolios by providing comprehensive strategy, development and management services to retailers and private brand manufacturers. 4 By leveraging our analytical capabilities and expertise, we develop strategies and provide insights that help retailers establish and grow productive and profitable private brand programs across new and existing product categories.

This process often begins with a thorough marketplace analysis to develop a private brand portfolio strategy that aligns with a client’s priorities. We help identify the most compelling product categories to target and specific products to develop. We also provide packaging and design services to bring our retailer clients’ brands to life through strong brand identities.

Our retailer clients are supported by analytical teams and teammates who execute strategies through assortment planning, product sourcing and marketing and ongoing program management. Agency Services We manage a wide variety of media, merchandising and display platforms for retailers, including multi-manufacturer print and digital circular programs.

We offer targeted media and advertising solutions powered by our proprietary data or through third-party partnerships that deliver to curated, custom audiences. Our cross-screen advertising capabilities enable advertisers to target and engage with custom audience segments across devices via rich media, display, email and value exchange ads.

Department of Agriculture), custom and import matters with respect to products imported to and exported across international borders; • federal and foreign laws and regulations regarding tariffs, taxes, embargoes, retaliations and other governmental responses; • the U.S.

Diverse perspectives amongst our teammates allow them to evaluate issues through different experiences and perspectives and help guide us in a thoughtful way. Our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts include enterprise-wide training, a diversity equity and inclusion board, and eight distinct resource groups, and we encourage a culture of inclusivity.

Intellectual Property We own or have the rights to use certain trade names and trademarks that are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or other foreign trademark registration offices or exist under common law in the United States and other jurisdictions.

Trade names that are important in identifying and distinguishing our business include, but are not limited to, Advantage Solutions, Advantage Sales, Daymon, SAS and, Club Demonstration Services. Our rights to some of these trade names and trademarks may be limited to select markets. We also own domain names, including advantagesolutions.net and youradv.com.

We rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, and proprietary systems and information, to maintain and develop our technology-enabled services.

We try to protect trade secrets and know-how by taking reasonable steps to keep them confidential, including entering into nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements with our teammates and contractors that contain confidentiality obligations and entering into invention assignment commitments that obligate teammates and contractors to assign to us any inventions developed in the course of their work for us.