A new study has suggested that FMCG suppliers need to adopt a new strategy to develop new, mutually beneficial relationships with retailers in a rapidly changing industry.
The study, Are You Match Fit To Win With Retailers?, developed by Bridgethorne, outlines how FMCG suppliers need to build capability that allows them to put their own distinctive stamp on how their business addresses retailers' requirements.
“FMCG suppliers are struggling for growth and profitability,” said Paul Weiss, director of capability development at the Bridgethorne Training Academy.
“Against this background, they need to start thinking more like a retailer. This is more than just understanding the retailer’s business, but also being able to interpret it and come out with differentiated solutions,” Weiss added.
Self-Assessment
Weiss believes that suppliers need to “honestly assess and address” whether they have the capabilities in place to forge new relationships with retailers, and, if so, “whether those skills have been properly embedded and leveraged within the business”.
Suppliers that succeed, the paper argues, will be those that have a well-resourced, multifunctional team of the right calibre, much like the teams heading off to next month's World Cup in Russia.
“The most successful teams at this summer’s World Cup will be those who not only trust in the individual brilliance of their players, but have them playing within a strategic plan and with supporting tactics,” Weiss explained.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
