What is the background?
As a big value and volume own label supplier to major multiples we are increasingly challenged on margin in negotiations, profit was eroding through numerous tenders, if we grew sales we’d have another supplier base restructure. Our factories were brow beaten trying to deliver efficiencies to keep up with the demand for margin. Our sales driving initiatives didn’t always work. Meanwhile our relationship with the retailer drifted further apart under such a negative back drop.
What happened?
We embarked on a project with the aim of improving the relationship to reduce the focus on pure margin and add value to us as a supplier. In the process we managed to:
- Up weight the capability of the team especially in the ability to use consumer data to identify opportunities to drive growth outside of tenders.
- Restructured the team to be here and now (tactical) and future facing (strategic). This enabled the team to focus on driving growth and margin alongside the day to day challenges of inflation and tenders that divert attention
- Became proactive and able to focus on delivering opportunities for our customer which drove our share of category organically (for free)
What was the result?
- Delivered Sales £8m incrementally to the account over a 12 month period.
- Awarded Category Partner status by retailer.
- Relationship now preferred during tenders for our ability to manage its performance and in turn the retailers share of trade across their market.
- Better Availability and SKU level performance management (ahead of competitors).
- Business wins.
- Projects over delivered expectations in sales and margin.
- This put us in a stronger position to defend incumbent business during tenders and even secured our position in tenders through our ability to deliver better performance that our competition.
