New CVS POS Data Sharing Portal

CVS' data sharing program with Retail Solutions, Inc. or RSi was discontinued a few months ago and CVS will be launching a new vendor portal through IRi in November of 2013. CVS also announced that they will be discontinuing the EDI 852 and 867at the same time. Please contact sales@retailvelocity.com (or your Velocity account manager) for recommended transition plans for integrating this valuable downstream data stream into your Demand Signal Repository (DSR) and Consumer Goods "Big Data" analytics initiatives. www.retailvelocity.com

Velocity® Now Compatible with Microsoft SQL Server 2012

The Velocity Solution Suite is tested and compatible with Microsoft SQL Server 2012. Some of the key business benefits of SQL Server 2012 are as follows:

1. Improved Visualization of your Data With Power View you can extract live data into PowerPoint presentations, saving you time and ensuring up to date information for every meeting. This feature enhances your visualization and interactivity with your data, giving you easy access to the company's data, allowing you to quickly make business decisions, and it does this all within one browser.

2. Improved Data Quality Our clients regularly need help with their data quality, an on-going challenge in many organizations. SQL Server 2012 has significantly reduced this problem by improving the accuracy and consistency of the data. It does this by cleaning the data itself resulting in excellent quality and on-going maintenance.

3. Excellent Performance SQL Server 2012 greatly improves your query performance by thousands of times. It does this through fast, interactive exploration of your data, allowing you to get even more business value, even quicker, thus resulting in faster and more accurate decisions.

4. Mission Critical Confidence SQL Server's new disaster recovery solution helps to protect your infrastructure whilst reducing planned and unplanned downtime. It delivers maximum application availability and data protection, ensuring you have the performance you need, at the right price, especially for mission critical workloads.

5. Scale Business Solutions Fast with the Cloud SQL Server 2012 offers you the agility to quickly create and scale solutions that offer you new business opportunity from server to private or public cloud. These are all linked together for optimized productivity allowing you to build once so you can deploy and manage whenever, wherever.

Source of benefits: "What are the Business Benefits for upgrading to SQL Server 2012?", M. Benati, 03-27-12, RightPoint blog

Velocity Provides Demand Data Streaming to SAP Demand Signal Management (DSiM)

April 23, 2013, Ann Arbor, MI - Retail Velocity, a leader of demand signal, repository and retail execution solutions, announced the release of its Velocity® Demand Data Streaming Service that will support SAP Demand Signal Management (DSiM), an SAP HANA application. Working directly with SAP, Retail Velocity has extended its current Integration with SAP Applications partnership to support SAP in providing a holistic view of how consumer demand and in-store sales are materializing downstream in near real time. This service will provide a single, easy-to-implement, seamless integration of retailers' and distributors' demand data streams to a manufacturer's instance of SAP DSiM thereby lowering the total cost of ownership. Armed with such powerful capabilities, manufacturers can ensure that with SAP DSiM inventory levels, replenishment, sales and promotions are aligned with consumer demand, maximizing revenue opportunities and reducing costs.

"I am delighted that Retail Velocity is extending their partner relationship within the SAP Partner network," said Ian McDonald, VP of Consumer Products Industry Business Solutions at SAP. "Retail Velocity's Data Streaming Service offers SAP's Consumer Products customers a tried-and-tested service to quickly access their retail partners' in-store data. It is a fantastic fit with SAP's Demand Signal Management solution. Together we can bring our customers closer to understanding the true consumer pull on the supply chain."

Consumer goods manufacturers today typically have various methods and sometimes disconnected processes for acquiring direct retailer POS data streams that integrate with multiple databases and business intelligence (BI) tools. As a result of the partnership, customers will benefit from a fully integrated end-to-end offering.

"Working with SAP to expand our integration partner relationship in support of SAP's DSiM solution makes perfect sense for us. Given Retail Velocity's strength and experience in the consumer goods space, especially with those manufacturers that are striving to become more consumer-centric, we feel our Velocity Demand Data Streaming Service is a great solution fit to support the DSiM platform," said Jennifer Beckett, VP Sales & Marketing at Retail Velocity.

About Retail Velocity

Since 1994, Retail Velocity has equipped consumer goods and apparel manufacturers with best-in-class retail data harmonization, demand signal repository (DSR) and business intelligence solutions. Velocity cleanses, harmonizes and integrates daily, store-level POS (demand signals) with third party and internal data to provide end users with best practice analytics and processes geared towards maximizing sell-through and profitability across their retail and distribution accounts. Retail Velocity has been proud to serve market leaders, such as Mattel, MASCO, Revlon, Hanesbrands, Levi Strauss and many others in their quest to become more consumer-driven Retail Velocity Customer Listing.

The Velocity Demand Data Streaming Service provides manufacturers with a single access point for daily updates to store and DC level inventory and sales (POS) activity data. Velocity provides a single source of demand analytics covering key areas such as category management, sales, customer logistics, finance, marketing, merchandising and demand planning. It also provides the largest portfolio of harmonization and integration adaptors covering over 300+ retailers and distributors in all classes of trade and global geographies Retail Velocity Retailer Knowledgebase .

Retail Velocity is a Microsoft Gold Certified and Tier 1 Managed Partner and a SAP PartnerEdge Partner with Certified Integration with SAP Applications. Velocity deployment options are on-premise, SaaS/cloud data, streaming data service or a hybrid of each. All delivery models enable clients to integrate with internal ERP data (forecasts, shipments, costs, shipments, marketing events, trade spend, etc.) and third party data (syndicated, demographics, weather, etc.).

Retail Velocity regularly publishes thought leadership whitepapers and case studies which can be found at Retail Velocity White Papers and Case Studies.

Velocity is a registered trademark of Vendor Managed Technologies, Inc. DBA Retail Velocity.

How eCommerce will Change Retailers in 2013

Ecommerce showed strong growth through 2012, ending the year at more than $186 billion spent online. While the bulk of that spending was for digital content/subscriptions, apparel, consumer electronics and even furnishings are seeing more ecommerce growth. Here's what retailers can expect in 2013:

by Kristina Knight

Kristina: Ecommerce saw a tremendous spike through Q4 2012, with spending estimated at $42 billion; how is Q1 2013 shaping up compared to that record-setting quarter?
Maria Haggerty, President, Dotcom Distribution: Q1 has gotten off to a very positive start. Typically, our clients experience a significant spike in new customers that shop on their website for the first time during the holidays. With the holiday season being so strong this year, our clients were able to acquire many new customers. And since their shopping experience was so positive, January has seen healthy re-orders from these new customers. When you layer continued growth from mobile and the focus on improving conversion rates, we see very positive signs for Q1 and 2013 overall.
Kristina: Are we at the turning point where shoppers will begin going online first and in-store second?
Maria: Absolutely. As we all cram more and more into our busy lives, savvy online shoppers do not want to go to the store only to find that what they are looking for is not in stock. Alternatively, many shoppers still enjoy going to the store and browsing in "real life" and then return home to purchase something that they cannot get out of their mind.
The connection of the physical and virtual presence is and will continue to be part of the online shopping experience. Some traditionally eCommerce-only sites are teaming up with popular traditional brick-and-mortar stores to create pop-up stores to accomplish this.
Kristina: Personalization and on-site search were two focuses for many retailers through 2012; do you expect those two areas to continue getting more play as retailers move forward?
Maria: As e-retailers get smarter about "who" is their customer, they will be looking to serve up items their customers are more likely to buy. Understanding that you generally only get a few seconds to make an impression, you want to make sure that you serve up something that is likely to be purchased. We are seeing more and more of our clients gather information about their customers through reviews and social media. The next step in this evolution will surely be to use that information to personalize the entire shopping experience.
More from Maria tomorrow, including the online segments that will lead ecommerce growth in 2013.


http://www.bizreport.com/2013/02/how-ecommerce-will-change-retailers-2013.html?goback=%2Egde_4783746_member_216345337#

Demand Signal Repository: Hanesbrands Featured Success

Hanesbrands Achieves Success with Velocity's Demand Sensing Solution Suite

This video showcases Hanesbrands implementation of VMT's Velocity Demand Sensing / Demand Signal Repository (DSR) Solution Suite powered by Microsoft's Business Intelligence platform (SQL Server, SharePoint & Excel). See how Hanesbrands leverages Velocity's depth of retail experience to drive higher profitability and consumer satisfaction at retail.

www.RetailVelocity.com

Velocity is a registered trademark of Vendor Managed Technologies, Inc.

Target Confirms Canadian Store Locations Opening in 2013

Target Corporation has announced a confirmed list of the stores that it intends to open across Canada in 2013. Target selected the leasehold interests of sites across the country operated by Zellers Inc., with plans to open 125 to 135 stores in Canada starting in March/April 2013. The first 125 stores that will open in 2013, and later this year Target will confirm additional store locations that will open starting in early 2014 and beyond

http://pressroom.target.com/pr/news/target-confirms-store-locations-236409.aspx

www.retailvelocity.com

The Home Depot's Expanded SKU Length

The Home Depot (www.thehomedepot.com) is currently in the process of remediating all internal IT systems to increase the length of the SKU field from 6-digits to 10-digits. This change will not require modifications to the EDI mapping specification or recertification of EDI communications with The Home Depot. However to ensure minimal impact to the business, your internal systems need to support this increase in the SKU length field.

Action Required
•Share this memo with leadership at your organization responsible for internal systems
•Perform a full review of your internal systems, 3rd party partner systems, and associated interfaces with Home Depot systems and business processes to confirm you are able to process a 10-digit SKU ASAP.
•If necessary develop system remediation plans and have all system modifications in place by Friday, November 16th 2012.

Key Dates
•July 12th, 2012 – perform review of internal systems to assess impact of SKU length increase
•July 12th, 2012 – send any questions regarding this project to The Home Depot
•November 16th, 2012 – complete any remediation activities required to support SKU length increase

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at Jennifer.Beckett@VMTSoftware.com.  

www.RetailVelocity.com

New White Paper on Demand Signal Repository Data Sources for Demand Sensing

A CG Manufacturer’s Guide to Retail Data Goldmines for Demand Signal Repository (DSR) and Demand Sensing Implementations

 What you don’t know could hurt you.
VMT Velocity White Papers

Once upon a time, syndicated data providers were the main source of retail POS data, and what was available was limited and extremely expensive.  But times have changed, with richer, more detailed demand data becoming available from more and more sources:  syndicated data providers, brokers, third party data managers, and increasingly, retailers themselves — often for free.

But not all consumer goods (CG) companies are aware of who’s sharing and what’s available — even from their own customers.  While it’s true that few retailers share data on the level of Walmart with its Retail Link portal, more and more are grasping the benefits of enabling their suppliers to access store-level sales and inventory information in virtually real time, and taking steps to make it more available.

Store-level demand sensing is the fuel that fires a responsive, profit-enhancing CG demand chain. The ultimate goal is a robust Demand Signal Repository (DSR) and analytics solution that drives actionable business decisions, from supply and demand management through sales and marketing. More and more CG companies are recognizing the need to maximize their access to retailer data to attain this ideal state.

A Short History of Retail Data Sharing

Data sharing gained a major enabler with the development of the EDI 852 product activity data transaction in the 1980s.  However, CGs have been challenged with keeping up with the individual interpretation of the standard by each retailer which can vary widely.   Purchasing syndicated data has long been standard practice, offering suppliers high-level retailer data such as sales volume and market share, yet it was - and still is - devoid of any inventory measures.   In the early 90’s, the data sharing concept expanded with retail’s Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) initiative as well as the debut of Walmart’s Retail Link^®, which triggered the beginning of the analytics era.  As the new century turned, more retailers outside the mass merchandising pioneers began moving to direct data sharing.

Data sharing doesn’t have to be expensive, and the benefits can easily justify the investment. Today there are several avenues for obtaining retailer data, each contributing its own piece to the consumer demand puzzle:

Syndicated Data Providers: Companies such as Nielsen and SymphonyIRI tend to offer SKU-level sales data generally at chain or channel level, but not inventory data. They provide information about competitive market share which makes this data relevant for marketing and top-level sales purposes, but not for robust demand chain analytics. On top of the lack of inventory visibility, there are also challenges with the timeliness and item segmentation of this data, which may not match well with the CG company’s item classifications. 

Direct Data Sharing: The primary source of shared information is through direct feeds from retailers that contain a wide variety of POS and other data, furnished via the EDI 852, EDI 867 or supplier portals. These feeds provide suppliers with access to store-level point-of-sale (POS) and inventory in near real-time.   Depending on the sophistication level of the sources, CGs may also be able to access retailers’ forecasts, costs, item segmentation, store clusters, etc.

Brokers: Some CG companies rely on brokers and sales agencies for value-added data delivery and analysis services around retailer data. Unless these groups deploy a robust DSR and analytics strategy, this typically features only chain-level analyses of product performance and does not provide consistent insights on recommended actions at store-level.

Third Party POS Providers: Retailers lacking the internal resources to share store sales and inventory data often contract with third party database companies or value-added networks (VANs) to make this available, along with optional data analysis services.

Third Party Data Providers: A range of third party services also offer data to increase insight into POS data, such as weather, demographics, competitive ads and local events that may influence sales.

Sharing by Channel

Retail channels still differ widely when it comes to data sharing practices. Some view it as the means to mutually beneficial collaboration with suppliers; others consider data a profit center.

Here’s how data sharing looks by channel:

Mass – Mass merchants have led the way in data sharing. The retailer providing the most granular and robust data in this category is Walmart followed by Target. Kmart’s solid data sharing is also available through their Workbench portal or — less well known among CG companies — via a secure server connection.

Drug – Historically, the retailers in this channel tend to provide just the minimum (POS units, currency sales and sometimes inventory).  The leader in this channel, CVS, offers powerful EDI feeds that include both sales and inventory data. Rite Aid’s RiteInsight offers limited data. Walgreen’s information is available for a fee through a third party.

Grocery – Syndicated data providers have long been the de facto source of top-line POS data, but now that is shifting to more direct data feeds. Food Lion uses a third party that provides the raw data dumps free to suppliers via FTP; CG companies pay only if they seek data analysis. This model is a good alternative for retailers unable to build data sharing structure internally. Kroger recently initiated data sharing through a third party, but charges for raw data. Other grocers are well behind the curve, only providing DC-level data.

DIY – Lowes’ Vendor DART program leads the way in this channel, backed by a strong EDI 852. The Home Depot shares weekly updates, and Menard’s provides information manually on request, a significant obstacle to true collaboration. Data protectionism is a common trait among privately held retailers.

Big Box Stores – Best Buy offers a good data stream, but shares only units scanned, not actual retail sales currency. Toys”R”Us, The Sports Authority and Dick’s Sporting Goods also provide limited data, but the key is that they do share data.

Office – Along with Big Box stores, the Office channel retailers (Staples, OfficeMax, Office Depot) also provide EDI 852 data and some have portals to augment the data.

Internet Retailers – Amazon.com and other online retailers, including the e-commerce arms of brick and mortar retailers, share data, but fail to break it down by region, which would help CG companies seeking to analyze interplay with brick and mortar sales.

Department Stores – These chains tend to provide minimal data sharing as compared to Mass, and are similar to the Drug channel which tends to share only units sold and sometimes inventory at store-level.  Dillard’s leads in data sharing among department stores, followed by Nordstrom and others, but the data tends to be limited, reducing the potential impact their suppliers can provide to them.

Barriers Remain

Unfortunately, few retailers share promotion and event data, despite the high risks they face in inaccurate promotion forecasting and resulting stock outages. “The forecast error rates on promoted goods are often easily twice that of forecasts for items not on promotion,” according to Retail Systems Research’s Crystal Ball 2.0: The State of Retail Demand Forecasting.

In an ideal consumer product supply and demand chain, retailers and suppliers would collaborate on promotional events to ensure the right inventory levels to support the forecasted event results. Similarly, sharing planograms and their specific store assignments would help CG companies measure the effectiveness of assortment planning.

CG companies also need to revisit some of their thinking about data sharing. Retailers that do share forecasts typically offer it in terms of weekly and daily consumption data.  On the other hand, CGs generate shipment-based forecasts based on calendar months, making it challenging to allocate shipments into the same time buckets and units used in retail. They consider forecasting production in the way they get the data, by week and by consumption instead of cases shipped — a daunting transformation for many. Fortunately, this capability is inherent to a DSR, potentially making this shift easier than many CGs anticipate.  

Good Data and How to Get It

Many retailers understand the value of sharing daily/store/item-level data with their supplier community, but technology and financial obstacles prevent their sharing it using the most ideal formats. Fortunately, there are more avenues than ever to exchange store-level POS data, some of which retailers may not have considered. These include:

EDI: EDI is still the most commonly used standard for retailers to share data electronically with their suppliers. EDI allows retailers to transmit an “852” document containing POS data down to daily store level. EDI can be easy to automate and is more reliable than portals for larger data files.  

Those that dismiss EDI as a viable option are missing out on the opportunities that it could bring to their organizations. Some people have commented that POS data can be “wrong” in the EDI 852 and therefore “worthless.” But what they aren’t recognizing is that the information is a reflection of the retailer’s systems. If a data point is “wrong,” such as store-level inventory, it means that there is a problem that needs to be addressed so replenishment flows smoothly. Using EDI requires specific expertise to translate and harmonize for business analytics, but EDI transaction sets themselves remain extremely valuable.  

Web Portals: Retailers are increasingly creating and expanding supplier Web portals to offer POS data to suppliers.  These portals provide an avenue for querying chain-level basics on product performance and allowing suppliers to download that into Excel. However, these portals typically do not perform well for robust data loading into DSRs. Some retailers that recognize the limitations of their portals offer “one-off” methods for obtaining large data sets.  

AS2: AS2 helps retailers send data files directly to suppliers over the Internet without having to go through a third party, thereby minimizing transmission costs. It’s used by Walmart, Target, Lowe’s and many other retailers for automatically sending EDI and other large data sets. For example, Target offers bulk data POS downloads that can be initiated through their Partners OnLine® portal and then scheduled to automatically transmit to the registered supplier via AS2.   This automated process positions suppliers to keep their DSRs as timely as possible, enabling virtually real-time demand sensing.

What Data Can Do

Rich, accurate retail POS data, integrated into a thoughtful DSR and analytics solution, can work wonders across CG organizations and help them provide considerable value to retail partners. Benefit areas include:

Sales: POS-based analytics is a requirement for CG companies to provide actionable insights and planning in order to be that “go-to” source of information for their retailer partners. For example, knowing how specific displays or shippers have performed can set a supplier apart from its competitors, opening the door for future collaboration and potentially leading to additional shelf space within the retailer.  

Trade Promotion Planning: CG companies spend an estimated $200 billion annually on trade promotions; that level of risk demands close monitoring to ensure promotions are executed properly. POS is an essential data point in determining compliance, as well as in evaluating the P&L impact of the promotion.

Demand Chain: An efficient demand chain requires visibility into every movement, from factory to shelf to checkout. POS data facilitates a complete, end-to-end view of the business to ensure forecasts and promotions are delivering on both retailer and consumer goods goals — and highlighting areas for correction when they’re not.

Merchandising: Providing store-specific exceptions to individual store merchandisers may produce more effective visits and improved sell-through. 

Marketing: Brand managers need to understand how their brands are performing across retailers and channels.  Leveraging POS data enables them to measure the performance of the investments they make in their brands such as TV ads, mailers, coupons, retailer ads, etc.

Category Management: Retailers’ category managers are a great source of competitor’s data. When retailers share competitive information with their lead suppliers, they expect CG companies to provide certain analytics back to them. When retailers make this competitive data available in an easy access, automated way, it enhances CG companies’ market insight and analytical capabilities.

In the Consumer Goods Technology/IDC Manufacturing Insights 2011 Shared Strategy Report, CG companies credit retailer collaboration with improving the customer experience and reducing costs.

In “Leveraging Customer Demand Signals” custom research report by CGT, over 80% of respondents confirmed that higher customer satisfaction levels and increased sales were benefits that they expect from a customer-centric, demand-driven supply chain.

The Ideal State

Anticipating consumer behavior will always be difficult. But CG demand chain managers have at their fingertips a considerable arsenal of tools to make refined, educated predictions. Each of the parties to the CG supply and demand chain — CG companies and retailers, as well as the third parties that support their activities — own a puzzle piece in the form of critical data and analytical capabilities. The more of these puzzle pieces that are brought together, the better and more efficient the CG demand chain can predict and act.

The more open and easy it is to share data, then, the more everyone benefits.   Simplistically, here’s what an ideal retail supply chain looks like when it comes to data sharing:

1)      Retailers make a wide variety of daily, store-level data available free of charge in an automated way that can be easily loaded into the suppliers’ DSR.

2)      CG companies provide high quality, actionable analytics and recommendations in a way that makes it easy for the buyer to implement.

3)      Retail buyers recognize the quality of consumer goods companies’ analytics and are receptive to adopting their recommendations where appropriate.

4)      The partners collaborate to create the most efficient and effective forecasts, inventory plans and promotional spend plans, increasing profits and revenues for every party.

Ideals are hard to attain. But the CG demand chain can certainly come a lot closer to this vision than they are right now. Those that share really do reap benefits over those that do not, and those that share more, win more. It takes education, investment, relationship-building and trust among all parties, but as data sharing increases, so will the positive results.

50-word description:

The days of a static, limited POS data are over. Today, a responsive, profit-enhancing CG demand chain requires rich, detailed store-level data in near real time. This insider’s view reveals where to look and how to overcome the technical and financial obstacles to gaining the competitive advantage that robust POS data can reap and the challenges associated with obtaining the best data for a successful demand signal repository (DSR) implementation.

25-word description: An insider’s tips for overcoming obstacles and gaining access to the rich, detailed store-level retailer data for demand signal repositories (DSR) that powers a responsive, profit-enhancing CG demand chain.

About the Author

Jennifer Beckett has worked in the field of demand and supply chain management for over 25 years covering multiple industries.   She holds an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in Supply Chain Management and a MBA from Loyola Marymount University in International Marketing and Management.   Over the last 15 years, her core area of focus at Vendor Managed Technologies, Inc.  has been enabling CGs in their quest to leverage the demand signal to optimize their sell-through and overall profitability at retail.

Retail Link, Partners OnLine, Workbench and Vendor Dart are registered trademarks of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Brands, Inc., Sears Brands, LLC and Lowe’s Companies Inc., respectively.

©Copyright 2012 Vendor Managed Technologies, Inc.   All Rights Reserved.  Velocity is a registered trademark of Vendor Managed Technologies, Inc.

Food Lion Completing CAO Rollout

ORLANDO, Fla. — Food Lion is close to completing a rollout of computer-assisted ordering (CAO) to all of its more than 1,500 stores, according to Scott Craig, director of supply chain, Delhaize America.

The implementation of the CAO system from SAF (now part of SAP), began in October 2010 and was almost completed last year, Craig said at the Supply Chain Conference here this week. The Supply Chain Conference is sponsored by the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association. About three-fourths of the remaining 140 stores were deployed this month, with the rest to be done shortly, he added. The system triggers replenishment orders from distribution centers based on forecasts and inventory counts, among other factors. Food Lion uses a home-grown perpetual inventory system with the CAO application.

As a result of the CAO rollout, “our in-stocks are way up,” Craig said. “We’ve reduced store inventory, reclaims and shrink in fresh departments.” Food Lion’s sister Delhaize America chain Hannaford Bros., Scarborough, Maine, also uses the same CAO system.

Walmart's Chasing the Dollar Stores Again.

Forget "cheap chic." Wal-Mart just wants to be cheap.

After years of trying to mimic Target's trendy fashions and house wares with mixed results, Wal-Mart is shifting its cross-hairs and taking aim at dollar stores' rock-bottom prices.

According to several sources close to the company, the world's biggest retailer in recent weeks has begun aggressively hitting up its suppliers for "opening price point" goods -- that is, the cheapest items in any given product category.

That means opening its shelves to new manufacturers who can deliver ever-lower prices for cosmetics, party favors, appliances and greeting cards.

Wal-Mart plans to go down market — in areas where dollar store rivals are scoring big gains — as it tries to kick-start growth. Likewise, it means pressing big partners like Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods to produce smaller, more affordable packages for everything from diapers to laundry soap to instant soup.

"The message is, 'Anybody who can deliver opening price point [goods] for us will become a vendor -- anybody who can't, can leave,' " according to one longtime supplier to the mega-discounter.

"Not since the 1990s have we seen Wal-Mart signal this level of competition on price."

With gasoline prices soaring and unemployment still hovering near double digits, Wal-Mart executives sniff an opportunity to return decisively to the company's low-price roots.

Sources close to the company speculate the move will further Wal-Mart's plan to enter urban areas, including the Big Apple, with smaller stores this year.

This month, Wal-Mart merchants took the unusual step of actively contacting vendors to get out the message on lower prices, according to several sources close to the company.

"It's pretty unusual to have them calling you instead of the other way around," one manufacturing executive said. "They told us, 'The dollar chains are eating our lunch, and we're not going to let them do that anymore.'"

Wal-Mart is preaching to the choir, according to Cameron Smith of Cameron Smith & Associates, a dominant executive-search firm for Wal-Mart suppliers. Dollar stores led by Dollar General and Family Dollar pose the greatest threat to Wal-Mart over the next five years, according to a survey of Wal-Mart's vendors released last month.

"To be honest, I didn't really expect that," Smith told The Post, noting that most chatter typically surrounds Wal-Mart's rivalry with Target.

A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to comment.

Wal-Mart began to refocus on low prices last summer as CEO Mike Duke ousted chief merchant John Fleming, an ex-Target exec, and tapped Wal-Mart veteran Bill Simon to head the company's US division.

Simon, who has since pressed for stricter adherence to the company's "Everyday Low Price" mantra, said last October, "I don't really find it acceptable" when asked by an analyst about dollar stores that were stealing Wal-Mart's lowest-income shoppers.

Dollar stores have siphoned away Wal-Mart's lower-income shoppers with more convenient locations and smaller package sizes, according to Jefferies analyst Daniel Binder.

Revlon Selects VMT’s Velocity® to Drive their Demand Sensing and Analytics Strategy

Ann Arbor, MI – September 1, 2010 - Vendor Managed Technologies, Inc. (VMT), the leading provider of enterprise Demand Signal Repository (DSR) and Analytics solutions for the consumer products industry, today announced that Revlon has selected its Velocity® Solution Suite. With VMT’s award-winning Velocity® Demand Signal Repository (DSR) using Microsoft® SQL Server 2008, Revlon will increase product performance and inventory visibility from the time of shipment through store-level scanned sales at the register.

Piotr Prussak, VP of Application Development stated that "Revlon selected VMT’s Velocity on the Microsoft software platform to facilitate a single view of our customers across all departments including Finance, Marketing, Sales and Demand Planning."

"VMT’s sixteen year history enabling suppliers to leverage demand and inventory data has uniquely positioned us to accelerate finance, marketing, sales and demand forecasting efforts," said Jennifer Beckett, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at VMT. "We are excited to support our customers in becoming more consumer-centric and appreciate their commitment to partner with VMT and Microsoft."

“Understanding consumer demand in a constantly shifting economy is challenging, making it critical for companies to have access to the right information to more accurately manage demand and supply,” said Kevin Tigges, director of U.S. consumer goods industry solutions, Microsoft. “VMT’s Velocity Solution Suite empowers business analysts with the integrated data and demand analytics they need to help increase customer demand for its products, meet sales objectives and improve margins.”

Want to learn more? Contact VMT’s Velocity team at sales@vmtsoftware.com or check out www.RetailVelocity.com.

Contact:
Jennifer Beckett
Vendor Managed Technologies, Inc.
(734) 426-2300
Jennifer.Beckett@VMTSoftware.com

About Revlon
Revlon® (NYSE: REV) is a global leader in color cosmetics, hair color, beauty tools, fragrances, skincare, anti-perspirant / deodorants and beauty care products and is one of the strongest consumer brand franchises in the world. Revlon’s global brand portfolio includes Revlon® color cosmetics, Almay® color cosmetics, Revlon Colorsilk® hair color, Revlon® beauty tools, Charlie® fragrances, Mitchum® anti-perspirant / deodorants, and Ultima II® and Gatineau® skincare and its products are sold in over 100 countries across six continents. Websites featuring current product and promotional information can be reached at www.revlon.com, www.almay.com and www.mitchumman.com.
About Vendor Managed Technologies, Inc. (VMT)

Through its flagship Velocity Solution Suite, VMT enables consumer goods manufacturers to become consumer–centric in their category management, sales, marketing, merchandising, trade promotion, demand planning and replenishment strategies.

For over 16 years, VMT has equipped consumer goods manufacturers with best-in-class demand signal repository (DSR) and business intelligence solutions. Velocity cleanses, harmonizes and integrates store-level POS with third-party and internal data to provide end users with best practice analytics and processes geared towards maximizing sell-through and profitability across their retail and distribution accounts. Velocity provides harmonization adaptors for over 200 retailers and distributors covering all classes of trades and geographies.

For more information, please visit www.retailvelocity.com. VMT is a Microsoft Gold Certified Tier-One Managed Partner.

Walmart Takes Control of Transportation

Wal-Mart Takes Back Its Supply Chain, IT In The Spotlight
Written by Frank Hayes May 26th, 2010

Supply chains don’t get a lot of love from IT. They’re not sexy; no customer-facing payment systems or kiosks to love, just pallets, diesel and rubber. But Wal-Mart is about to change that. Retail’s $405 billion gorilla is taking over the trucks that deliver products from thousands of its suppliers. That may not sound like it has much to do with IT, but boy, does it ever. True to its contrarian roots, Wal-Mart is turning just-in-time inventory inside-out–and taking back its supply chain.

Officially, Wal-Mart hasn’t said anything about IT’s role in the trucking plan, which is spearheaded by Transportation Vice President Kelly Abney. Abney says it’s all about squeezing out costs by keeping Wal-Mart’s own trucks busy and by accepting delivery of merchandise at the supplier’s loading dock instead of at a Wal-Mart distribution center. Wal-Mart figures it can cut wholesale prices by 6 percent if it hauls the merchandise itself. The company is also positioning the change as a benefit for suppliers, who can “focus on what they do best, manufacturing products for us,” Abney told Bloomberg news.

But Wal-Mart isn’t in the trucking business any more than its suppliers are, and just squeezing out a little savings in fuel costs would be a wasted opportunity. By stretching its supply-chain perimeter though, Wal-Mart will get much better control over the inventory coming in: when it arrives, how it arrives and how quickly it can be turned around. And that’s all about IT.
Right now, Wal-Mart begins tracking every pallet as soon as it’s delivered to a distribution center. When the RFID tags on the pallets are scanned there, the information is linked to what EDI documents say should be in the shipment. That’s when any unpleasant surprises show up, such as missing pallets or delayed shipments. At that point, there’s nothing the truck driver can do about those problems but shrug. By the time the truck has arrived, the inventory system is at the mercy of suppliers.

Those delivery surprises are enough of a problem for Wal-Mart that in February the company began imposing a 3 percent penalty for any merchandise that is not delivered on time.
In the new regime, when a Wal-Mart driver picks up a load at a supplier’s loading dock that same driver will have to scan each pallet’s RFID tag as it’s loaded. The driver will then transmit the data so it can be matched up in real-time with EDI documents that specify what’s in the shipment. Sending that data ahead doesn’t just give Wal-Mart the inventory information a few hours earlier. It gives the retailer the chance to have unpleasant inventory surprises corrected in minutes at the supplier’s loading dock, not days later.

Once the pallets are on the truck, Wal-Mart also gains complete control over when that truck will arrive at the distribution center. Such knowledge creates much more predictability for arrival times, which in turn produces better scheduling options for the loading dock. It also means faster turnaround times. And, stores will know what they’re getting, and when.
By taking over the trucking, Wal-Mart is turning conventional just-in-time inventory on its head. Instead of being at the mercy of suppliers to deliver whatever shows up on the truck, Wal-Mart is literally going after it.

That reverses conventional wisdom, which says to leave things like delivery from suppliers and other non-core functions for the business, to someone else. But Wal-Mart has never shied away from being a contrarian. After all, this is the company that started out by putting stores in tiny rural towns where no other chain retailer would go.

Sending its trucks to pick up the goods lets Wal-Mart’s inventory systems reach all the way to its suppliers–not just figuratively, but physically. That gives Wal-Mart better inventory accuracy, visibility and predictability. And that, in turn, makes those trucks part of a core function.

So much for diesel and rubber.

Newly Published Microsoft DDSN and DSR White Paper

Getting the Intelligence to Build Demand Driven Supply Networks

Introduction

Building an effective Demand-Driven Supply Network (DDSN) presents an ongoing challenge. Most companies remain in the early phases of developing this business capability. The necessary information on which strategies are based is very complex and can change quickly. Businesses must not only respond quickly to market requirements such as demand, supply variables, and seasonal trends, but also maintain a balance between high levels of customer service and manageable inventory levels.

This paper identifies the challenges of building a Demand-Driven Supply Network, explains how to use near-real-time data in an integrated Demand Signal Repository (DSR), and shares examples of current successes and ideal states.

The Challenges of Building a Demand-Driven Supply Network

A Demand-Driven Supply Network (DDSN) is designed to improve the responsiveness of a company’s value chain. Some of the challenges of building an effective DDSN include an improper understanding of consumer consumption, not enough IT resources, and outmoded business practices around the tracking and use of Point of Sale (POS) scan data. A primary objective is to use real-time POS consumption data to build a better DDSN.

Aligning Demand and Supply with Consumer-Driven Planning

Aligning demand and supply with Consumer-Driven Planning means using real-time consumption data to ascertain what is really happening in the marketplace, and creating an effective and accurate forecast and plan to more accurately manage demand and supply. Consumer-Driven Planning supports organizations in creating realistic and achievable sales targets, developing detailed market intelligence, managing promotions more effectively, and establishing optimal inventory levels for a maximum return on investment at stores and in distribution across the value chain. In other words, it enables a company to establish a clear and unified vision of current and future demand, so that it can develop an execution plan that aligns all supply and sales processes around that vision.

Consumer-Driven Planning can help companies:
- Eliminate Out-of-Stock (OOS) conditions.
- Reduce safety stocks and remainders.
- Decrease stock levels and inventory costs.
- Cut unnecessarily long lead times.
- Improve promotion effectiveness.
- Increase customer service.
- Drive down costs.

Good demand planning requires communication among stakeholders across the organization, particularly in the areas of marketing, sales, and supply chain management. Consumer-Driven Planning enables effective collaboration between key individuals and departments, and helps maintain the security of confidential information.

Building Business Efficiency with a Demand Signal Repository (DSR)

A Demand Signal Repository (DSR) is a powerful enterprise data warehouse that stores large volumes of external and internal data that has been harmonized to provide visibility up and down the supply network. It can also be used to feed line-of-business applications that support DDSNs. A DSR stores retailer data, third-party data, and internal data in order to drive demand-driven business insights across the value chain of stakeholders. The following outlines some examples of these enterprise data sources.

Retailer Data Sources
 Point of Sale (POS) Scan Data - EDI, AS2, Retail Link, Partners OnLine, Workbench, VendorPulse, etc.
 Store and DCs Inventories
 Planograms
 Store Clusters
 Retail Item Hierarchies
 Events

Internal Data Sources
 Sales
 Promotions
 Events
 Item Hierarchies and Attributes
 Store/Location Hierarchies
 Forecasts
 Shipments

Third-Party Data Sources
 Syndicated Data - Nielsen, IRI, NPD
 Weather Data
 Map/Spatial Data

A DSR is an important building block of an efficient DDSN for the following reasons:

 It is the central database for all demand data.
 It harmonizes external data with internal line-of-business data to support multidimensional analytics across the organization.
 It supports cross-functional reporting and analysis with integrated demand analytics embedded into critical spend areas such as trade promotion management.
 It can be used to support business monitoring and trigger alerts for impending business issues (for example, Retail Out of Stock).


An effective DSR is extremely useful in gathering data from disparate sources. A DSR provides item, location, and calendar harmonization for disparate data types—for example, POS data from stores, warehouse withdrawal data, and syndicated data. It is the source of retail-specific information for retail forecasts, store withdrawals, shipments, and planograms, providing demand insight data on what customers bought within a category, and who they bought it from.


.......


Conclusion

A Demand Signal Repository (DSR) –based Demand-Driven Supply Network (DDSN) can transform the way a company negotiates the demand and supply chain. Integrating good business strategy with effective technology can have a significant impact on a company’s financial performance.

Building a successful DDSN can help businesses:
 Increase business efficiency through the use of DSR data.
 Optimize demand and supply cycles.
 Deliver integrated analytics for use in decision making.
 Reduce operational complexity.

Authors
David Kane
Consumer Goods Industry Market Development Manager
Microsoft Corporation
David Rice
Consumer Goods Industry Technology Strategist
Microsoft Corporation

For the full report, go to http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/5/5/E554F0BC-41D5-4641-AF2D-4DD23A995BC3/GettingtheIntelligencetoBuildDemandDrivenSupplyNetworks.pdf

Sales down, profits up at Wal-Mart

Sales down, profits up at Wal-Mart

Sales at Wal-Mart declined 0.6% to $93.5 billion during the first quarter, as currency exchange rates negatively affected international growth, while strength at the U.S. stores division enabled the company to achieve earnings per share at the high end of its guidance.

Total U.S. sales increased 3.8% to $61.2 billion primarily due to a 3.6% same-store sales increase. Operating income grew at a slightly slower pace, advancing 3.3% to approximately $4.5 billion. International sales declined 11.1% to $21.3 billion and operating income declined 16.2% to $880 million. However, if sales and profits are calculated on exchange rates in effect during the prior year first quarter sales would have increased 9.1% and profits grew7.8%. Exchange rates were not a factor at Sam’s Club where sales declined 1.4% to $10.9 billion although same-store sales including fuel increased 4.2%. Overall sales were also negatively affected by the loss of one selling day since 2008 was a leap year.

Despite a challenging sales environment, president and CEO Mike Duke said a per share profit of 77 cents, a penny higher than the prior year period, was a very good start to the year in light of a very challenging global economy. The company’s guidance at the beginning of the quarter was for earning per share in a range of 72 cents to 77 cents.

“When economic conditions improve, we believe customers who shop Wal-Mart today will stay with us, because of the business improvements we’re making and continue to make,” said Wal-Mart president and CEO Mike Duke. “Across the company, we are building our brand by reducing costs, sharpening our merchandising and updating our stores. Customers trust Wal-Mart. As a result of the increasing shift to value, they have long term loyalty to the Wal-Mart brand because we save them money.”

Looking ahead to the second quarter, CFO Tom Schoewe said the company expects earnings per share to be in a range of 83 cents to 88 cents. Earnings per share in the second quarter of last year were 86 cents.

“Our guidance takes into account Wal-Marts’ strong underlying performance and the difficult economic environment. Plus, our U.S. businesses will be up against the economic stimulus checks in the second quarter last year.”

Is Amazon the New Wal-Mart?

Is Amazon the New Wal-Mart?

BY Clay DillowTue Jun 30, 2009 at 2:56 PM

Egos at Amazon must be riding high this month. The retailer sold out of its flagship product, the Kindle DX, not once but twice. Then, to cap it all off, this morning investment research and banking firm Cowen and Company called Amazon a "next generation Wal-Mart."
Analyst Jim Friedland wrote in a research note: "In our view, Amazon is a next-generation Wal-Mart, and we believe the company's focus on lower prices and a superior shopping experience versus online and offline competitors will result in substantial share gains over time."

The reasons for Cowen's vote of confidence are numerous, citing greater penetration in non-media categories, more orders per customer resulting from Amazon Prime (a discount shopping program) and the ability to reinvest profits (a la Wal-Mart) from higher margin revenue sources into lower prices across the board. The report notes that Wal-Mart has 7.7% of U.S. retail share, while Amazon owns only 0.3%. That's a lot of room to grow.
Friedland was particularly impressed by Amazon's positioning as a result of the Kindle's success. The company estimates Amazon will sell 900,000 this year and 1.4 million next year. By 2013, Kindle penetration could reach 10% of Amazon's customer base, or 2% of the U.S. population, the report says.

So is Amazon on the way to Wal-Mart-like highs? Much like Wal-Mart, Amazon's growth potential stems from its ability to sell everything from Kindles and MP3s to patio furniture and kitchenware, and to do so at very competitive prices. A recent push into private label products suggests Amazon has its eye on those non-media categories, and the immediate availability of many Amazon products, its easy searchability, and its investment in customer service lend it a competitive advantage over both online and brick-and-mortar rivals. Much as Wal-Mart redefined the retail model over the past three decades, Amazon may rewrite the book for the Internet age.

U.S. consumer spending rises 0.2 percent

U.S. consumer spending rises 0.2 percent
Fri Mar 27, 8:41 AM EDT

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending rose for a second straight month in February, while incomes reversed the previous month's gains, government data showed on Friday.
The Commerce Department said spending increased by 0.2 percent, after rising by a revised 1 percent in January, previously reported as a 0.6 percent increase. However, after adjusting for inflation, consumer spending in February fell 0.2 percent.

Incomes fell by 0.2 percent after January's revised 0.2 percent rise. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast spending to rise by 0.2 percent and incomes to fall 0.1 percent.

Savings fell slightly to an annual rate of $450.7 billion. The savings rate was at 4.2 percent in February, indicating that households were still remaining frugal.

Prices edged up in February, with the overall personal consumption expenditures price index rising 1 percent on a year-over-year basis from 0.8 percent in January. Excluding food and energy, the index rose 1.8 percent after gaining 1.7 percent in January.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Neil Stempleman)(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

Major CPGs Partner with Food Lion To Optimize Shopper Card Data

Major CPGs Partner with Food Lion To Optimize Shopper Card Data
By John Karolefski

http://www.cpgmatters.com/loyaltymarketing0508.html

Major CPG manufacturers are partnering with Food Lion in a new program that involves sharing and optimizing data obtained through the chain’s frequent shopper cards. The vendor collaboration program aims to maximize and optimize the data by more thorough analysis and a coordinated approach to targeted marketing.

“We want to leverage our database in partnership with our vendors in a data sharing and optimization way, while totally respecting the privacy that we value so greatly around that data,” said Carol Herndon, Executive Vice President of Accounting & Analysis, Chief Accounting Officer and Information Technology for the supermarket chain operating in the southeast.

About 8 million households actively use the chain’s MVP loyalty card. Through the program, Food Lion offers discounts on some 2,400 items each week and sends coupons and product promotions directly to shoppers’ homes.
According to company officials, marketing data collected from MVP Card transactions helps Food Lion know more about and better serve its customers. By tracking their shopping preferences, the retailer can manage more efficiently the product selection and quantity of items in its stores to ensure that the items shoppers want most
are available.

The marketing data, officials added, also enables Food Lion to target coupons and promotions based on customer needs and preferences. For example, MVP customers who make regular purchases of dog food receive coupons for dog food and other pet products. MVP customers who begin purchasing diapers receive coupons for diapers and other baby products.

According to Herndon, the vendor collaboration program is part of the way Food Lion is improving its relationship with shoppers. One goal is to enhance targeted offers to customers and build the supporting technology. Overall, the idea is to be more customized in an effort to drive item count and sales.

“The CPG companies have mounds of data on consumer buying habits and purchasing trends,” said Herndon. “To be able to merge all of that information in a collaborative way is a very powerful. Not just summarizing the data, but understanding what it says and what it doesn’t say and having collective insights around that data. It absolutely supports the work that we’re been doing around segmentation and clustering.”

At first, the program is open only to major vendors which collectively account for 80% of the volume at Food Lion. Ultimately, it will be open to all vendors. “The challenging thing for us is that once you get beyond {major CPGs}, you have thousands of vendors that are not necessarily prepared from a technology perspective. We want to be sure not to avoid or ignore those folks. We have to be sure we modify our approach to vendor collaboration to allow them to participate.”

Whether the vendors are large or small, Food Lion will apply metrics against the program to measure its progress. “We’ll be very deliberate in identifying expectations in that regard,” she said, “coming up with metrics and measurements against which to judge our performance and using that to help modify, expand and accelerate the program going forward.”

With its loyalty marketing programs, Food Lion takes great care to protect the privacy of its shoppers. The company does not sell, rent or lease customer information. All card data, including names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and other identifiable information, is secured. Customers who do not wish to provide such information can still obtain an MVP Card and take advantage of the additional discounts. However, they do not receive coupon mailings and other offers.

Tracking Sales Promotions

This response to a question was on a Yahoo blog and it relevant especially in regards to leveraging a Demand Signal Repository (DSR) to track the various promotion types. Of the 12 promotion types listed, only a few are easily tracked and reported. But if the manufacturer, retailer and/or promotional company have very good methods for tracking the promotions and correlating them back to either the store or region for integrating within the DSR, the benefits would be monumental for tracking the ROI for these investments.

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Several sales promotion techniques are highly effective in exposing customers to products for the first time and can serve as key promotional components in the early stages of new product introduction. Additionally, as part of the effort to build product awareness, several sales promotion techniques possess the added advantage of capturing customer information at the time of exposure to the promotion. In this way, sales promotion can act as an effective customer information gathering tool (i.e., sales lead generation), which can then be used as part of follow-up marketing efforts.



Why is the value of Sales Promotion?

* Creating Interest – Marketers find that sales promotions are very effective in creating interest in a product. In fact, creating interest is often considered the most important use of sales promotion. In the retail industry, an appealing sales promotion can significantly increase customer traffic to retail outlets. Internet marketers can use similar approaches to bolster the number of website visitors. Another important way to create interest is to move customers to experience a product. Several sales promotion techniques offer the opportunity for customers to try products for free or at low cost.

* Providing Information – Generally sales promotion techniques are designed to move customers to some action and are rarely simply informational in nature. However, some sales promotions do offer customers access to product information. For instance, a promotion may allow customers to try a fee-based online service for free for several days. This free access may include receiving product information via email.

* Stimulating Demand – Next to building initial product awareness, the most important use of sales promotion is to build demand by convincing customers to make a purchase. Special promotions, especially those that lower the cost of ownership to the customer (e.g., price reduction), can be employed to stimulate sales.

* Reinforcing the Brand – Once customers have made a purchase sales promotion can be used to both encourage additional purchasing and also as a reward for purchase loyalty (see loyalty programs below). Many companies, including airlines and retail stores, reward good or “preferred” customers with special promotions, such as email “special deals” and surprise price reductions at the cash register.

Sales Promotion Forms and Objectives

There are many sales promotional techniques (and the number is still growing with the development of new ways to reach consumers), but they can apparently be reduced to 12 classical and widely used. The rest of the techniques usually include some kind of combination of these 12 most used techniques of sales promotion.

1. Sampling - the use of various distribution methods to deliver actual or trail size products to consumers with the purpose to initiate trial

2. Coupons - A promotional device that provides a price-off to consumer upon redeeming the coupon

3. Trade incentives - incentives that are given to retail managers and sales people for performing tasks such as displaying merchandise or selling certain lines of merchandise

4. Trade allowances - deals that are offered to retailers for performing activities in support of manufacturer brand

5. Price-offs - promotion which entails a reduction in the brand's regular price

6. In, on, and near-packs (and reusable containers) - specially designed pieces that retailers give to consumers who purchase the promoted product

7. Free-in the mail premiums - a promotion in which consumers receive premium item from the sponsoring manufacturer in return for submitting a required number of proofs of purchase

8. Self-liquidating premiums - a method where the consumer mails in a stipulated number of proofs of a purchase along with the fee to cover manufacturer's costs of shipping and handling of premium item. From manufacturer's point of view, this form of promotion is cost free, and therefore the name is self-litigating

9. Contests and sweepstakes - a form of consumer oriented promotion in which winners receive prizes, cash, or merchandise

10. Refund offers - A cash reimbursement to the consumer by the manufacturer whose product the consumer has purchased

11. Bonus packs - Extra-quantities of a product that company gives to consumers at a regular price

12. Stamp plans and continuity premiums - type of promotion where the consumer is getting rewarded for continuos use or repetitive purchase of a product or service, such as a frequent flyer programs.These techniques can be trade or consumer oriented.Because sales promotional tools are so varied in form, no single unified objective can be identified for them

There are three major contributions of sales promotions that have practical influence of the objectives of promotion: (Kotler 1988)

1. Communication - promotions gain attention and usually provide information that may lead the consumer to the product

2. Incentive - they incorporate some concession, inducement or contribution designed to represent value to the receiver.

3.Invitation - promotions include a distinct invitation to engage in the transaction now.

Source: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070602104110AANfRTs

New Product Introductions' Success Rates

According to a new study by The Nielsen Company, there were more than 122,000 new SKUs rolled out in 2007 but only 3,701 or 3% reached the million dollars a year in sales mark. Only 206 or 0.2% earned more than $10 millioin in sales, and 10 or 0.01% made it to the $50 million in sales level. The full article from Phil Lempert-Facts, Figures & The Future is below but one of the key takeaways should be the need to micro-manage your product launches from factory to shelf. What isn't stated in this article is the average cost to launch a new product.

Study findings include:
* The failure rate for new product introduction in the retail grocery industry is 70-80 percent.
* The U.S. Top 20 enjoy a 76 percent success rate for new product introductions.
* The "Bottom 20,000" U.S. food companies have an 11.6 percent success rate for new product introductions.

A major difference between Top 20 new product introductions and Bottom 20,000 introductions is the apparent lack of research and strategic marketing done by the Bottom 20,000.
* The new product introduction cost for retail grocery stores averages $270 per product, per store. (Approximately 5,000 new products are introduced into a supermarket annually).
* Each year, retail grocery stores spend an average $956,800 per store to introduce new products that will fail.
* Market research and strategic marketing can increase new product success rate and save money for manufacturers


New Products May Be Plentiful, But Success Remains Fleeting

http://app.subscribermail.com/dspcd.cfm?ec=c1e545a420754899b69af53c33025f7a&email=58c6042b1a6448cabd21b19ce2d9ad9c

from Phil Lempert-Facts, Figures & The Future

As usual, there was a plethora of new products arriving on store shelves last year...and as usual, the vast majority of them were unsuccessful. According to a new study produced by The Nielsen Company, there were more than 122,000 new SKUs introduced by manufacturers last year, and yet only 3,701 of them, or three percent, managed to achieve more than a million dollars a year in sales; just 206 of them, or 0.2 percent, generated more than $10 million in sales; and 10 of them, or 0.01 percent, managed to ring up more than $50 million in sales.This means, of course, that more than 118,000 of the new items introduced weren't even able to hit the million-dollar sales threshold.With that being said, if you start adding up the numbers on the products that were successful - whether marginally or wildly popular - it may actually be true that new products are the life blood of the industry.

The fact is that new products in total did manage to generate in excess of $20 billion in sales during 2007, with food and beverage items bringing in more than $9.2 billion in sales, general merchandise generating in excess of $4.2 billion, HBC items generating more than $3.4 billion and nonfood/grocery bringing in more than $3.2 billion in sales.Then again, it all depends on what your definition of "new" is.

Of the top 10 new brands introduced during 2007, nine of them were actually brand extensions - only one was a completely new product. Ironically, experts say that the best way to launch a new product is to create the image of an item that is specifically differentiated from others in the category, and yet to do so from a strong foundation - which ideally means being a brand extension that builds on a brand's core and fundamental value proposition.During 2007, the categories with the most new items were cosmetics and candy, each with close to 5,000 new SKUs available for store shelves; the categories most driven by new items, generating the highest amount of new market share, were women's fragrances (with 32.1 percent of its category) and men's toiletries (with 26.8 percent of its category).

Nielsen notes that shorter life-cycle categories such as fragrances tend to be new-product-driven, in part because they are fueled by heavy levels of co-branding and celebrity licensing that capitalize on trends; high turn, variety-driven categories like snacks and cereal, which often see high levels of new product activity, are geared to satisfy consumer needs for something different. On the other hand, the categories with the least new item impact were flour, frozen juices and drinks (each with new products generating just 0.1 percent of their categories), canned seafood and fresh eggs (with 0.2 percent of category share apiece), and ice (in which, amazingly enough, new products actually generated 0.3 percent of category share).Still, the release of new products is a near universal phenomenon - with 104 of the 105 categories reported by Nielsen having new product introductions last year. There was only one that did not - refrigerated yeast.

Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Wal-Mart Basket

The latest victim in the shelf space wars is now Cott Beverages. It is estimated that 38% of Cott's sales are from Wal-Mart. Many companies, especially with large offices in Bentonville, have high exposure to this risk with average WM % of business estimated at 25-30%. With one buyer change, they could be at risk for substantial losses as evidenced below. What was the reason for this cut in space? Was it replaced with other soda products or did another category grow and gain space? It just goes to show that you aren't just competing for space with people within your category but everyone in the store. Micro-managing your accounts at store-level with category management processes and demand signal repositories (DSR) help keep your eye on the pulse of what is going inside and outside your company.

Cott Shares Sink on Wal-Mart Shelf Space

Tuesday February 26, 2:58 pm ET Cott Shares Fall After Company Confirms Wal-Mart Will Cut Shelf Space for Its Sodas

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Cott Corp. sank Tuesday after the private-label soda maker confirmed that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was reducing the amount of shelf space in its stores for Cott-made sodas. UBS analyst Kaumil S. Gajrawala responded by downgrading the shares to "Neutral" from "Buy." Shares fell $1.53, or 37.8 percent, to $2.52 in afternoon trading. The shares earlier bottomed out at $2.42, their lowest point since the stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 2002. The stock previously traded between $3.81 and $17.33 in the past year. Trading soared to nearly 12 times normal volume as investors sold off the shares. Cott confirmed the news after rumors that Wal-Mart was cutting space for Cott's private-label carbonated soft drinks brought shares down 23 percent Monday before they rebounded slightly. Wal-Mart is Cott's biggest customer. Cott makes Sam's Choice sodas and waters for the world's largest retailer.

In a statement before the market opened, the company said it is still "actively negotiating" with Wal-Mart to determine space allocation and other merchandising support for the brands, which include Sam's Choice. Cott also said there was no indication that Wal-Mart would cut shelf space for Sam's Choice water. Gajrawala slashed his profit estimate for 2008 to 7 cents per share from 19 cents per share -- which was a penny below the average estimate, according to Thomson Financial. He also lowered his price target to $4.50 from $8, calling the shelf space loss "cause for concern."

The analyst estimated that Wal-Mart makes up about 38 percent of Cott's sales, and said the Toronto-based company could lose as much as $70 million this year, about 10 percent of Cott's Wal-Mart revenue. Lehman Brothers analyst Michael Branca cut his price target to $3 from $6 on the news, calling it "a significant blow." He added in note to clients he believes Cott will need to scale back its new-product investments "in light of the frontal attack on their core business."

The Continued Rise of Internet Shopping?

Poor Customer Service and Out-of-Stock Products Driving U.K. Shoppers from Stores to the Internet, Accenture Survey Finds

Source: www.businesswire.com

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Poor customer service and out-of-stock products are driving U.K. shoppers out of shops and onto the Internet, according to an Accenture (NYSE: ACN) survey of nearly 1,000 U.K. consumers released today.

The research into consumer attitudes found that 55 percent of respondents said that shops often did not have enough tills open and nearly half (49 percent) said that stores are frequently out of stock of the products they want.

Worryingly for retailers, the survey results make clear that if consumers do not find what they are looking for in one store, they do not hesitate to go to other stores. This is particularly true of shoppers for entertainment equipment and devices (91 percent) and for furniture (90 percent). “Retailers know that issues such as poor customer service and out-of-stock products frustrate their customers, but what is shocking is that only a small number of successful retailers translate this customer insight into meaningful operational customer service improvements across their retail and product channels,” said Richard Wildman, head of Accenture’s Retail practice in the United Kingdom.

The Internet’s growing influence Internet-savvy retailers appear to be benefiting from these disgruntled consumers. The survey found that more than half of male shoppers (56 percent) said they prefer to buy via the Internet than in traditional bricks-and-mortar stores, and 44 percent of all respondents — both men and women — expressed a preference for online shopping over in-store shopping.

The Internet is also becoming an integral part of the shopping experience for those visiting traditional high street stores. Almost three-quarters (71 percent) of respondents said they use the Internet to compare prices and then go to the store with the lowest price, and nearly half (44 percent) said they go online to determine if a product is in stock before starting their shopping trip. In addition, two-thirds (67 percent) of respondents said they research products via the Internet before shopping in a physical store.

“The Internet has become an extension of the in-store shopping experience,” said Wildman. “UK consumers are making wide use of it to not only buy products, but to check availability and find the best prices. Retailers need to make sure that if their website says they have a product, it really is on their shelves and not out of stock.”

New products not hitting the mark
New products appear to be having only a limited impact on consumers. More than one-third (36 percent) of respondents said that new products were introduced that they do not need, while just over half (51 percent) said that new products were introduced before consumers realize they need them. Only half (50 percent) of all respondents said they are more efficient today than they were two years ago because of new products.

“It’s critical to understand customers’ wants and needs so that new-product launches can be as effective as possible,” said Keith Barringer, managing director of Accenture’s Consumer Goods & Services practice. “A keener understanding of the customer can help manufacturers time new-product launches for maximum impact and help retailers know when to offer promotions to increase revenue and customer loyalty.”

Awareness and loyalty
When asked to identify the factors that have the most powerful influence on purchase decisions, the greatest number of respondents -- 48 percent -- cited word-of-mouth, followed by traditional advertising (31 percent). Nearly half (47 percent) said special promotions are the best way to retain their business, while 40 percent said improved customer service is the key to making them loyal shoppers.

Among the survey’s other findings:

Consumers say price and product selection matter most. The key criteria respondents cited for deciding where to shop are: price (87 percent), product selection (62 percent) and proximity to home or office (53 percent).

The top three places or ways respondents said they would like to learn about new products are: TV, word-of-mouth and Internet search engines, cited by 59 percent, 55 percent and 44 percent of respondents, respectively.

Women are more likely than men to shop at five or more stores for clothing (46 percent vs. 37 percent), while men are more likely than women to shop at five or more stores for consumer electronics (38 percent vs. 27 percent).

About the research

The Web-based survey of 977 U.K. consumers over age 18 was fielded in August 2007.
This research is part of a global study Accenture is conducting of consumers in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan and India, sponsored by Accenture’s Retail and Consumer Goods & Services practices along with the Accenture Customer Innovation Network.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With more than 175,000 people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of USD 19.70 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007. Its home page is http://www.accenture.com/.

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