Retail Analysis
REDEFINING SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS:
THE IMPORTANCE OF ANALYSIS AND AUTOMATION IN RETAIL
Ed Betts, SVP general manager of Retail Express, discusses the potential for retailers to lose sight of their supplier interactions – and argues that it is time for a change of perspective and technique.
R 6 | March/April 2024
etailers sit between the economic forces of supply and demand. Profit is found in the
balance between the pull of customers’ needs and the push of supplier priorities. But getting there is a chaotic, difficult process with many moving parts. Successful promotional activity demands the ability to discover and act upon new category opportunities, the foresight to predict the position of the market when supplier deals come into effect, and the accuracy to ensure that all pieces are in place when promotions land - all while maintaining clear,
professional and consistent relationships with suppliers. Keeping up with these demands can
be a monumental task for retailers, particularly given the complexity of supplier relationships and the busy nature of retail as a whole. Many retailers are reticent to change despite knowing that their systems are not perfect and require significant amounts of management time to work. Yet the truth is that the human element is fallible, and these systems often do not work. Sometimes planned promotions do fail or poor communication leads to
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