One commercial question, explicit exclusions and a decision-ready answer.
OPERATOR-REVIEWED RETAIL DECISION INTELLIGENCE
Competitor evidence.
Retail decisions.
For specialty retail and DTC teams deciding how to price, position, bundle or launch. CRL turns current market evidence into a ranked action plan — source-linked, operator-reviewed and ready to test.
Source-linked Operator-reviewed Ready to test
ILLUSTRATIVE DECISION BRIEF SNAPSHOTPremium home fragrance
Analysis readyCompetitors4direct brands
Price range$24–46full-size candles
Open signals04worth testing
Positioning mapPrice × differentiation
PremiumValue0102You04
01
HIGH-CONFIDENCE OPPORTUNITYA clear discovery bundle can reduce first-purchase friction.
Evidence trailLinkedobserved and dated
Ranked decision5 actionsimpact × confidence
Built for physical-product teams making a real commercial decision.
SPECIALTY RETAILDTC BRANDSFOUNDER-LED ECOMMERCERETAIL GROWTH TEAMS
PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION / NOT A CLIENT CASE
HARBOR & PINE · FICTIONAL RETAILERInspect the work
Inspect the work
before you trust it.
This demonstration uses fully synthetic client inputs and dated public market evidence. It shows the exact separation between facts, calculations, inference and recommendation — without exposing any client or founder-business data.
Break-even logic and scenarios with declared assumptions — never a promise.
Official source URLs, observation dates, limitations and a decision ledger.
A controlled test with gates, matched comparisons and stop conditions.
WHO IS ACCOUNTABLE
Aktau, Kazakhstan · Working with U.S. and international clientsVLADISLAV SHEPTUKHINFounder &
View Vladislav on LinkedIn ↗
Founder &
Managing Director.
Vladislav brings 19 years of experience in commerce, including eight years building and operating his own specialty retail business. His work has covered the decisions CRL now studies: pricing, assortment, inventory, costs, revenue and customer offers.
“CRL was built from the operator side of retail — to create the research process I wanted before committing money to a commercial decision.”
19 yearsin commerce
8 yearsbuilding an owner-operated retail business
6,800+annual customer orders at operating scale
FINAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Every CRL engagement receives final founder review and sign-off before delivery. AI assists research and synthesis; responsibility for the released decision stays with a named operator.
01 / WHY CRL
Not more information.
A ranked next move.
Tools collect signals. Generic reports describe them. CRL connects observed market evidence to a commercial decision, states confidence and shows what to test first.
8 years building and operating an owner-led specialty retail business · 19 years in commerce.
Illustrative interface elements — the downloadable Harbor & Pine demonstration contains dated public sources, method and limitations.
01
BrandEntry priceCore promise
North & Moss$34Natural calm
Lume House$42Design ritual
Wickfield$29Clean burn
Normalized market evidence
Compare prices, offers and terms on a like-for-like basis — with sources and observation dates.
02
“Beautiful product, but the scent fades too quickly.”
SCENT LONGEVITY31%
PACKAGING22%
VALUE18%
Buyer-signal themes
Find recurring praise, friction and buying objections, tied back to public evidence.
03
01Test refill bundleHigh impact
02Lead with burn timeQuick win
03Simplify gifting offerMedium
Ranked decisions
Each action includes rationale, priority, confidence and a practical validation step.
02 / CRL DECISION STANDARD
Every finding earns
its place.
A recommendation reaches the report only when the evidence, implication and next test are clear.
Evidence
What was observed, where and when.
Implication
What the signal could mean for your decision.
Decision
What to change — and what not to change.
Priority
Ranked by impact, effort and confidence.
Validation
How to test the move and measure the result.
Checks claim-to-source traceability, freshness, arithmetic and disclosure of gaps.
Challenges causality, feasibility, financial logic and whether the recommendation can be tested.
Vladislav verifies that the answer fits the agreed decision, scope and commercial reality before delivery.
03 / DECISION SCOPE
One decision.
The right depth.
Each package expands the evidence and decision horizon — not just the page count. No dashboard or subscription required.
Decision Brief$500
A fast, evidence-backed answer to one concrete business decision.
- One decision: pricing, offer, launch or positioning
- Up to 4 relevant competitors
- Price, offer, positioning & key terms
- 3–5 sourced opportunities or risks
- Three prioritized actions with rationale
- Money Impact + decision brief + evidence workbook
- One clarification round
24-hour deliveryNo payment to start a brief
BEST FOR 30-DAY GROWTH DECISIONS
Growth Intelligence$1,250
A practical 30-day growth program built from competitor and customer evidence.
- One main growth question
- Up to 8 direct competitors
- Pricing, discounts, bundles, delivery & guarantees
- Offers, messaging, product pages & funnel
- Structured review sample and buying barriers
- 5–8 opportunities scored by impact, effort & confidence
- 30-day experiment plan + evidence pack
- Source workbook and 30-minute review
- Two clarification rounds
4 business daysNo payment to start a brief
Market Strategy Sprint$3,500
A strategic market view for launches, repositioning and category-level decisions.
- 10–12 direct, indirect & benchmark companies
- Category and price-segment map
- Assortment, offers, positioning & buying signals
- Whitespace and crowded-direction analysis
- Three positioning strategies with trade-offs
- Pricing and product-architecture recommendations
- Prioritized 90-day decision roadmap
- Executive deck + full source workbook
- 60-minute session, 14-day check-in & two clarification rounds
7–10 business daysNo payment to start a brief
Enterprise Intelligence EngagementFrom $7,500
Custom decision intelligence for multi-market, multi-channel or executive-level scope.
- One executive decision across markets, channels or business units
- 15–25 comparison companies when relevant
- Custom evidence architecture and source plan
- Client-data integration when explicitly scoped
- Commercial scenarios and decision-risk register
- Executive workshop and implementation roadmap
- Independent evidence and decision review
- Confidentiality and delivery terms agreed before payment
Scope and timeline confirmed firstNo payment to start a brief
DECISION FIT CHECK / NO COSTConfirm the question
Confirm the question
before buying the work.
We check whether the decision is answerable, what inputs are required, which package fits and what will not be included. This is a scope review — not a free audit or generic sales call.
04 / SECOND-STAGE SERVICE
YOUR OWN SALES & INVENTORY DATARetail Performance
Retail Performance
Diagnostic.
A separate second-stage service that turns your own sales and inventory data into prioritized operating decisions.
Custom scopeTiming confirmed after data review
- CSV/XLSX quality check and cleaning
- Sales and gross profit by SKU and category
- ABC/XYZ analysis when the data supports it
- Slow movers, dead stock and stockout risks
- Discount, return and margin-leakage signals
- Five priority decisions with supporting evidence
- Working file, report and review session
- Quoted only after the available fields are reviewed
WHY TRUST THE WORKOperator-reviewed.
Operator-reviewed.
Evidence first.
Traceable — key claims link back to their public source.
Normalized — important comparisons are made on a like-for-like basis.
Clear limits — assumptions and data gaps are stated, not hidden.
Independently challenged — evidence and decision logic pass separate review gates.
05 / COMMON QUESTIONS
Before you
start.
Still unsure? Ask the site assistant in the lower-right corner.
Who is accountable for my project?+
Vladislav Sheptukhin, CRL’s Founder and Managing Director, personally reviews and signs off every engagement before delivery. He brings 19 years in commerce, including eight years building and operating his own specialty retail business.
Who is CRL built for?+
Specialty retailers and DTC physical-product brands facing a specific commercial decision about pricing, offers, positioning, a launch or category direction. CRL is not a general-purpose marketing agency.
Why not just use ChatGPT or a monitoring tool?+
Those tools can collect signals or generate ideas. CRL selects relevant competitors, normalizes comparisons, verifies evidence, separates facts from inference, ranks decisions by impact, effort and confidence, and defines what to test next. You buy completed decision work, not software access.
Can I see a sample before paying?+
Yes. The Harbor & Pine public demonstration includes an eight-page Decision Brief and a nine-sheet evidence workbook. The company and client inputs are synthetic; public market evidence is dated and source-linked. Every page and sheet is marked as a demonstration and not a client case.
What is the free Decision Fit Check?+
It confirms whether the question is answerable, what inputs are needed, which package fits and what the work excludes. It is not a free competitor analysis. You receive the proposed scope, timing and price before any payment.
What information do you need from me?+
Your website, target market, category, the competitors you already know and one clear business decision. If you do not know the competitors, we can identify them.
Where does the research data come from?+
Public sources such as brand websites, product pages, marketplaces, review platforms, public ad libraries and relevant industry sources. Confidential or paywalled data is not accessed without permission.
Is the report created entirely by AI?+
No. AI accelerates collection and synthesis, but important claims pass an Evidence Audit, recommendations are challenged by a Decision Red Team, and Vladislav personally reviews and signs off the released work.
Can you guarantee a business result?+
No credible researcher can guarantee sales or profit. We guarantee the agreed deliverables and a transparent evidence trail so you can make a better-informed decision.
What happens after I submit the brief?+
You receive a reply confirming fit, scope, delivery date and payment method. Work starts only after you approve those details.
Can you analyze our own sales and inventory data?+
Yes. The Retail Performance Diagnostic is a separately scoped service. We first review the available CSV/XLSX fields, confirm which analyses the data can support, quote the exact scope and explain secure preparation before any payment.
YOUR NEXT MOVE STARTS WITH A CLEARER VIEW
One decision.
Evidence you can act on.
No subscription · No payment at this stage · Scope confirmed before work begins