By Christoph Knoke, Managing Director Germany, IRI and Philippe Humbert, Senior Director, Retail & Manufacturer, IRI

Since its founding in 1828, German retail chain Globus has expanded to include 47 hypermarkets, 91 DIY stores and six consumer electronics stores in Germany. Additionally, it is represented in Russia, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. In the past two years, Globus has completely shifted the way it does category management to now include big data, which has become a best practice the company. At Globus, category management now means leveraging data for joint business planning, creating one version of the truth and having a common language for its more than 200 suppliers. As a result, it’s been able to deliver mutual revenue growth up to 10%.

More often than not, retailers and FMCG manufacturers are not speaking the same language. During negotiations, they often have a different understanding of the category and different perspectives on KPIs. As a result, decisions around listing and delisting products, as well as selecting the most effective promotional activities, are often made by considering the wrong information. To help suppliers and retailers get on the same page, IRI worked with Globus to create the Globus Supplier Cockpit, an intuitive collaborative gateway that has more than 200 suppliers and focuses on integrating Globus’, IRI’s and its supplier partners’ unique offerings on a singular platform. Through the gateway, Globus and its supplier partners can share ticket data at a single store level and loyalty card data, which will allow them access to information such as basket size and composition, shopper development, promotion’s effect on new shoppers and shopper frequency.

Improving Category Management Through Retailer/Supplier Collaboration

Larger and more agile retailers can easily test insights from IRIs Collaborative Gateway Solutions and adjust their programs accordingly. For retailers and manufacturers who are looking to take their category management and joint business planning to the next level, collaborative gateways offer three key benefits:

• Deeper granularity on promotions – In order to pull the right levers with manufacturers and categories, retailers can get better insights into the best performing promotions and their expected impact.
• Enrichment of loyalty card information – Loyalty card data can provide a retailer and its suppliers with more granular insights than ever before. Insights gleaned from loyalty card data can identify assortment opportunities, differentiate between the types of shoppers (whether they are new or shop exclusively at the retailer) and how delisting products can affect a shopper’s basket size. This includes access to social demographic data, which will allow retailers to identify how different groups are shopping at the store.
• Supply chain data – Retailers and their suppliers can gain a competitive advantage with supply chain analytics capabilities, enabling them to understand where the risks lie in the supply chain and how to optimize every link. The availability of supply chain data can help limit losses from empty shelves, helping the retailer and its suppliers maximize every part along the supply chain.

Leveraging integrated big data for joint business planning helps both retailers and manufacturers. Companies that participate in collaborative gateway programs achieve up to 10% growth versus those who don’t.

Want to learn more?
Contact us at Philippe.Humbert@IRIworldwide.com and Christoph.Knoke@IRIworldwide.com and we’d be happy to share additional success stories and best practices for your business growth.