The article emphasizes the role of brand strategies, as placement in regional niche strategies for manufacturers, to impact retailer-manufacturer relations in the grocery retail sector. Due to joint purchases of initially unrelated products within a shopping cart, transaction cost-induced complementarities between those products arise. Given unique retailer data, we infer complementarities arising from a specific product to a shopping cart of products. Using a Nash-in-Nash framework, we are able to show that the impact on the bargaining position for the manufacturer vis-a-vis a retailer is substantial and helps to increase the potential of gaining a larger slice of the profit pie.