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Pricing Discussions – How Far Can You Go?
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Dec 2006 |
UK and EC Competition Laws prohibit
anti-competitive agreements or practices. They were introduced to ensure
healthy competition between companies, as this should both promote efficiency
and protect consumers. |
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Standing up to the Reality of Retail…
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June 2006 |
Survival for suppliers in the
current retail climate means being able to understand the realities of the
retail business model and insisting upon a fair share of the risk-reward
investment as equal business partners… |
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Tesco, The Only Show In Town?
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May 2006 |
With the announcement of its latest
figures and track record vs. its rivals, it could be said that Tesco is
on the way to becoming a solo act in UK retail. |
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Audit-proofing Trade Funding....
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April 2006 |
With the
development of Post-Audit-Recovery (PAR), coupled with the growth in
trade funding to over 20% of sales to the customer, it is important that
vendors anticipate the probability that every record of every
promotional initiative will be subjected to analysis in terms of ‘plan
vs. actual’, up to six years in arrears. |
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KAM – The New Centre Of Gravity?
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March 2006 |
With the growth in
trade funding from 5% to 20% of sales to the trade, possibly at a cost to
above-the-line budgets in a zero-sum game, it is perhaps useful to explore the
possibility that an equivalent shift is taking place in the potential power of
KAMs vs. their colleagues in brand marketing. |
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Breaking Through - Get Naïve
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February 2006 |
We’ve all seen it
or heard it and most have probably been guilty of it (I’ve certainly got my hand
up). We’ve sat in meetings claiming a ‘truth’ because the company universally
accepts it (usually driven by a leading decision maker).
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To Remain The Same, Everything Has To
Change*
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February 2006 |
If retailers want to continue to grow
at current rates, using the same business model, they may have to do so
without the help of some key suppliers. |
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Love Thy Neighbour – The Sales &
Marketing Relationship
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January 2006 |
When was the last time you
applauded the new product or promotion from Marketing, or for that matter when
did they last applaud the hard work getting their latest variant or promotion
listed? A bit of a head-scratcher? |
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Managing ‘Real-world’
Imperfection...
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December 2005 |
At the end of
what appears to have been the toughest year in retailing, it may be appropriate
to reflect on how the harsh realities of 2005 might provide a wake-up platform
for a positive approach to next year. |
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‘Unlike-With-Like’ Competition In Blind-Eye Sourcing…
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December
2005 |
In their relentless quest for lower prices, retailers are
correctly including global sourcing in their buying repertoire. Buyers are
obliged to seek the best deals, without geographical constraints, within a free
market. |
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Making Trade
Funding Work Harder
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November 2005 |
The other day I
attended a 2-day
Business Account Management workshop in order to ‘broaden my skills profile’
- or some other such jargon – and came away having
both learned and been reminded of much. |
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Alliance-Boots,
A ‘New’ Kid On The Block?
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October 2005 |
For many
suppliers, this weekend’s proposed ‘equal’merger between Boots and Alliance
UniChem will create one of Europe’s biggest H&B and pharmaceutical
retailer-distributor customers, with an initial market capitalisation of £7bn.
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Competing
Alongside The Competition…
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August 2005 |
Product,
company and customers are all going through different stages of different lifecycles,
and the competitive profile is changing in respect of all three, simultaneously. |
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Making The Most Of News In An Imperfect
Market…
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July 2005 |
Given the sheer volume and rate
of decay of even the most up-to-date-news, it is important to avoid delay in
applying a systematic approach to news-application in order to gain and maintain
competitive edge over those who take longer. |
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Stepping-Back,
Without Missing A Beat…?
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June
2005 |
The recent
decision by Sir Ken Morrison to step back from day-to-day management of
Morrisons, the UK No.4 retail multiple, has already been the subject of
extensive press coverage, but little has been written about the impact upon the
vendor role. |
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Tesco And The ‘Rule Of 25’…
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May
2005 |
Given Tesco’s
rate of growth in terms of market share, penetration of non-food categories and
globalisation, with the resultant impact upon most suppliers’ future, it is
perhaps useful to explore some of Tesco’s key retail measures as indicators of
their future moves. |
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Retail
Political Power…A Force For Change?
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April
2005 |
Given their
sensitivity and ability to respond rapidly and cost-effectively to
consumer-shopper needs, based upon their intimate knowledge of their target
audience it could be said that retailers have
more political power than the politicians… |
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Shelf-Ready Packaging - A ‘Fair-Share’ Return
On Investment?
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April
2005 |
Shelf-Ready Packaging is set to become a permanent feature of the retail sector, as
retailers seek to streamline their operations, maximise space
productivity and pass cost back up the pipeline. |
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KAM-Outsourcing…?
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March
2005 |
With increasing
trade polarisation resulting in fewer, larger customers each demanding
specialist team-management using best in-house talent, it is perhaps wise to try
to counterbalance the growth in trade power by investing in the middle and tail
end of the trade. |
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The End Of The
‘Excessive’ Brand Premium? |
February 2005 |
The P&G takeover of
Gillette effectively brings to an end the extent to which a brand can attempt to
charge more than an ‘appropriate’ premium over its generic equivalent.
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