EXECUTIVE VIEW
our success going forward. Of course, we are always going to have some supply issues, really, that’s the nature of the industry. But through Covid we have definitely worked closer and have become closer with our supply chain. It’s the relationship that you’ve got with Suppliers which, hopefully, will balance out issues. If we go into any kind of allocation situation, we try to manage that in house within the CMTs.
RN: I think the allocation thing is an interesting point. There have been a few Suppliers where we’ve worked with them, to help create the allocations. Instead of just complaining and arguing about it, it’s so much better if you actually help them. You know, instead of just being the loudest voice in the room, it’s more productive to say to them, “okay, how do we help you deal with this?” That’s been a quite important conversation. It can’t be about the argument anymore. It has to be about finding a solution. Together.
JM: Over the course of a number of years we’ve probably devolved a lot of the decision making. So, if you look at how the buying group has evolved, and we’re probably not alone in this, as independents we all wanted to buy collectively and we all wanted to have our say. So back in the day, you know, you would have 15 or 16 people meeting the Supplier, because again, we all wanted to have a hand in that decision. Since then, we have matured a lot more. So, we’ve got really strong CMTs, we have a Trading Board, made up of the Category Management Chairs that meets separately from the Executive Board. We now get most of our decisions done by those teams, and those teams have got smaller as well. Now, it’s typically three or four people representing each category when they’re negotiating with Suppliers. So, by allowing that devolved decision making, it means the decisions are being made by the people who are close to the customer, closer to the sharp end of merchanting.
KO: From an Executive Board point of view, we always are going to look to grow and are always looking for new Partners to bring something to the group. There are some things in the frying pan, for example, which are bubbling up quite nicely at the moment. We’ve got some exciting projects on the go in the background, which we’re releasing next year for the Partners. I think we’ve got a very strong board as well, with very diverse experiences,
January 2021
strengths and opinions, all steering it in the right direction.
RN: Merchants’ use of technology has really sped up this year. Anyone with a transactional website has seen their website sales increase naturally, because no one had anywhere else to go. Now, we have to try to support that growth. This time last year we introduced the PIM project, aiming to get all Suppliers to provide their data in the same format to help the group as a whole and Partners and Suppliers move forward into a more digital age. In hindsight, had we done it a year or so earlier, it would have been a hell of a lot easier going through Covid.
The amount of learning that that we’ve had for that project has been amazing and will help us to bring it to fruition properly. We had a few issues where we had to be able to change tack a little bit, but now it’s back on course. As a project to help steer the future of the group, it’s really showing its importance. The move to the digital age has accelerated massively. As we move on and bring in new Suppliers, we will be requiring them to have their data in our preferred format. It’s the classic adage, the more people get on the train, the faster the train can go. We have changed things as well since the launch. Initially, we were trying to prepare a very structured kind of template in terms of how we wanted Suppliers to present their data, we’ve now found different changes in technology, so it doesn’t have to be so structured. So, when a Supplier sends the team details of what we require, their team can see that, yes, they can actually work with this. That’s a big change that we’ve had quite recently. So, the more we work with our Suppliers the more we realise that we can actually make it easier for them.
JS: Sharing information is vital. We’ve seen this with the WhatsApp groups that we set up, just the ability to chat to other merchants about the little things, the situations that arise every day and seeing how those others handle situations and what their own problems are. Being able to talk and communicate with fellow merchants has been a great help this year. Even now, we still have messages going round about supply issues, and it’s great, being able to see different ways of doing things.
JM: The interesting thing is that at the start of the lockdown we ensured that all our
Merchants’ use of technology has really sped up this year. Anyone with a transactional website has seen their website sales increase naturally, because no one had anywhere else to go.
customers pre-booked, pre-ordered, and collected their materials in in fairly defined time slots. We had a structured way of doing it. And a number of those customers recognised there was a huge advantage to that, because they were in and out more efficiently. But, as the lockdown has eased, those same customers have reverted back to what they used to do. They want to come in, they want to talk to somebody on the counter, and they want that interaction with us. Now, I’m not naive enough to say that the industry isn’t going to change, because there’s a whole generation of customers who shop online, and the ones that are shopping online aren’t necessarily buying from us anyway. But I think there’s always going to be a need for that relationship. And, you know, my personal view is, the high street has suffered massively during lockdown. But I think there’ll be a recognition amongst the shoppers that actually they do value going out shopping. It’s not just about clicking on something and getting it delivered by DPD. It is going out and experiencing things. So, we need to make sure that we are relevant as an industry by offering our customers what they want, which is a mixture of click and collect, online ordering and the bricks and mortar side of things. And I think that will apply as well to manufacturers.
RN: The really big issue coming through though is stock. It seems like it’s a monster that’s actually getting bigger and bigger. It feels that sometimes people are brushing it under a carpet. This isn’t an issue that is going to go away. Moving in to 2021, that’s going to continue to be a bigger struggle than some people have realised.
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