The prevailing reaction to our economic malaise has been to cut costs - or at least not add new expenses. There is wisdom to that. We are engaged in those initiatives ourselves.
At the same time, certain companies are convinced that there has never been a more important time to proactively seek the right initiatives. As you would expect, we see retail analytics as one those important activities.
If you are engaged in such activities, we urge you not to reduce that effort. If you are not deeply engaged in such activities, we urge you to start or deepen that effort - including door level analysis. More and more buyers realize they do not have the time to optimize the flow of inventory across each door of their retail chain. They have come to appreciate those vendors who offer to help them manage the business. It has come to be a competitive advantage - just like a unique product or brand, superior delivery or a great price.
We have enabled or witnessed impressive results in this tepid retail environment, such as:
- Our software's detailed view of store level inventory and sales enabled a client to outline how under planned a program was, convincing the buyer of a top 5 retailer to write a million dollar reorder within the first 2 weeks of program.
- We helped a client increase its Instock level at Wal-Mart from 85% to 98%, generating $1.5 million in additional business.
- We enabled our client to effectively participate in a collaborative forecasting initiative, helping reduce the retailer's week's of supply by two thirds and increasing sales about 12,000 units or $360,000 at cost dollars. Additionally, properly flowing out the receipts will save $10,000 in freight, warehouse and handling costs.
We are discussing this strategy in a free webinar sponsored by DirectEDI, Inc.: "Who's Minding The Store: The Importance To Vendors Managing The Business At Retail". DirectEDI offers affordable, Web-based EDI Solutions, Supply Chain EDI Solutions, Managed Services, and EDI Integration. In addition to their vendor client base, they work closely with many large retailers and we have been most gratified that many prominent retailers have signed up for this webinar, indicating a strong interest in such collaborative efforts. If interested, please click here to register.
Jim Lewis
Founder and CEO
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