Technological and digital revolutions are starting to transform, and in some cases even disrupt, the value chain as we have known it.  This is leading to an unprecedented pace of innovation and change, impacting how, where and when we shop, how we engage with shoppers and how consumers engage with our products, and the ways in which we work with trading partners to develop responsive, agile and flexible supply chains to meet shopper demands.  The 2014 ECRA Supplier and Retailer Convention will explore these themes and much more.  This is a must attend event for decision-makers within your organisation.

                     

Five great reasons to attend Obtain first hand insight and clarity on the key issues and challenges facing the industry in 2014 and beyond from leading international and local subject matter experts. Benefit from understanding best practices in the real world through the experience of others via insightful, relevant case studies and presentations. Network and expand your insight to the Australasian FMCG business environment.  Catch up with trading partners and industry peers in an energised environment. Participate in the debate surrounding the key current and emerging trends which will form key pillars of your internal and external business strategies for the years ahead. Take actionable insights back to your business for operating in a consumer led world in which innovation and collaboration are critical.

The Annual Efficient Consumer Response Australasia (ECRA) Supplier and Retailer Convention has become a highlight for executives working in the fast moving consumer goods retail industry. Equally applicable to suppliers, manufacturers and retailers the program brings together global and local industry experts, thought leaders, and practitioners to deliver the latest facts, information and opportunities specific to our market.

                        

Winning in January 2015 - Are you prepared?

With many year's data now available, comprehensive industry improvements in service level and on-shelf availability during the January period have yet to materialise.  The headway made in January 2010 has not been repeated calling into question the sustainability of process improvements made over the past years.  ECRA Board remains committed to working with the industry to drive this issue and deliver significant and repeatable improvements.

Reports detailing product and category results; industry toolkits; case studies; global OSA insights; and thought leadership are available for free download.  The reports provide a wealth of information that can easily be applied to plans for 2015.

Seven key focus areas to deliver excellent service level and satisfy shoppers have been comprehensively outlined in the How to Win in January Guide, also available for free download.

How to Win in January Plan, plan plan and plan again Focus on one number Daily responsiveness Understand your trading partner Operational flexibility Communication plan Contingency planning

In the lead up to 2015 leading Australian retailers are broadening the approach to include the summer period with five key discussion topics having been identified.  These include:

• Hot weather/Temperature
• Facility Opening Hours
• Transport Availability
• Manufacturing Maintenance/Changes
• VRP Coverage

Make sure your business is on board.

Loss Prevention Seminars a huge success

Around 150 industry executives gathered at the 2014 ECRA seminars "Sell More, Lose Less", in Melbourne and Sydney in early August and took the opportunity to gain valuable insight from globally recognised Retail Loss Prevention expert, Professor Adrian Beck, Head of the Department of Criminology, University of Leicester (UK).

Investigating the future of loss prevention, Adrian described the ways in which thinking and approaches to Loss Prevention are changing, how retailers need to increasingly think about the problem in more coherent and cross-functional way, and what the future might hold.  Insight included the findings from a new global research project focussed on staff engagement and loss, and the key role engaged staff can play in helping to minimise a range of store-based losses.

 

Adrian then provided delegates the latest thinking on the emerging hot topic surrounding the impact of mobile technologies on retail losses, presenting findings from an ongoing global research project reviewing what the impact of introducing mobile technologies might be on retail loss prevention.  Based upon case studies in the UK and USA, as well as feedback from in-depth interviews from three of the largest UK retailers who are currently exploring the introduction of mobile selection and payment technology, this presentation provided delegates access to the most recent insight on this topic.

In a third session, focussed on benchmarking businesses on loss management, Adrian led delegates in a highly interactive session, providing delegates the opportunity to experience a newly developed benchmarking tool to guide their thinking about business priorities and best practice.

Delegates also enjoyed the opportunity to hear directly from senior executives from Coles and Woolworths who opened the seminars in Melbourne and Sydney respectively, and from Myer's Wendy Marshall who took delegates on Myer's journey over the past 6 years as the retailer embarked on a holistic approach to establishing a sustainable program which has seen Myer achieve international benchmarks for shrinkage results which have been maintained.  This case study provided a clear demonstration to delegates that shrinkage is everyone's business at Myer, led from the top by CEO Bernie Brooks and filtering down to the stores, support office and distribution centres.

ECRA sincerely thanks all delegates who attended and our generous event sponsors:

Major Sponsor                                            Support Sponsors

Display Pallets Toolkit - To be launched at 2014 ECRA Convention

Display pallets is the term used to describe stock delivered to store on a pallet that is then placed on the shop floor without shelf/display re-stocking requirements.

Display pallets can be used at end of aisle or as an off location display.

Having common industry-agreed standards and design principles which are used by the whole industry is essential to broad scale implementation.  In a market Australia's size, it makes no sense to have a proliferationof alternate formats as a result of minor differences between competing retail organisations.

ECRA has worked with leading Australian and New Zealand retailers, suppliers and pallet providers to develop a high level toolkit and guidance document that goes some ways to addressing this issue.  The document will be launched at this year's ECRA Annual Convention.

Information Available - Free of Charge

On-shelf availability (OSA) has been on the ECR agenda locally and globally for many years. A wealth of knowledge, best practice guides, methodologies and tools aimed at assisting companies to implement OSA programmes are available to the industry.

The average out-of-stock rates across the industry have not improved over the last decade.  The 2008 global study by Gruen and Corsten shows that the current average out of stock rate is still 8.3% with notable exceptions in markets where local ECRs or companies have taken the lead in making a difference.

The ECR Australasia Secretariat has put together the following resource document to assit you, your business and your trading partners in examining out of stocks, seeking to understand the causes and establishing best practice solutions based on global practices.

ECR Europe

On-Shelf Availability Reloaded 2011

OSA remains one of the main non-innovation-led growth engines for the industry. Experience by leading companies has indicated that each time we improve OSA by 3%; we can deliver at a minimum an additional 1% growth.

OSA Reloaded is a diagnostic self-assessment tool that reviews the key barriers that exist in addressing OSA. By using this tool and the associated case studies, steps can be taken in your own company to overcome the last remaining barriers to maximising OSA and thereby improving customer satisfaction.

Access the report here.

White paper - Approaches to Measuring On-shelf Availability at the Point of Sale - 2006

There are a number of reasons why on-shelf availability is not, or rarely, measured. Taking measurements is seen as complicated, expensive, and many companies shy away from ongoing out-of-stock (OOS) monitoring because they simply assume that they lack the detailed data to do so.

This white paper outlines a uniform measurement methodology that uses POS data. Based on an out-of-stock index, the methodology permits more accurate comparison of the OOS rate by different categories and sales channels. The method can be leveraged to initiate a continual improvement process that will ultimately increase on-shelf availability, improve the revenues of both manufacturers and retailers, and make customers happier.

Access the report here. 

Optimal Shelf Availability (OSA) - Increasing Shopper Satisfaction at the Moment of Truth - 2003

The ECR guidebook on optimal shelf availability shows retailers and manufacturers the importance of improving product availability and provided an approach to making significant improvements.

A study of seven European countries showed that product on-shelf availability is between just 90 and 93 percent. At the same time, consumer surveys have shown that consumers consider product availability to be a very important factor. Poor availability affects both retailers and manufacturers and can potentially lead to considerable financial losses.

The report describes how a holistic approach can improve on-shelf availability by as much as 50 percent. The approach consists of seven improvement levers to address the specific root causes identified. The report discussed that for any approach to be successful, regular measurement and issue awareness on the part of store management is essential.

Access the report here.  

ECR Asia Pacific

On-Shelf Availability Alignment Project 2011

ECR Asia Pacific’s OSA working group conducted an online survey between July and September 2011 aimed at gaining insights and measuring current attitudes towards OSA across the region. 

The report highlights the growing importance of OSA which is being driven by an increase in competition for sales and demands for service levels. Over 80% of survey respondents believe there is a need for industry initiatives to drive OSA, including standard definitions and measures; sharing best practice process and outcomes; and greater collaboration between suppliers and retailers.

Access the report here.     

ECR United Kingdom

Availability 2007 (and subsequent years)

The 2007 report details research carried out by the ECR UK Availability Workgroup during 2007 and builds on many of the projects which have been completed since 2005.

Driving improved on-shelf availability is a key goal for retailers, not only in the UK, but also globally, however results from ECR UK’s On-Shelf Availability Survey reveal that improvements are hard to achieve, with availability of 95.9% being achieved on average over 2007.

This Availability report demonstrated the need for an availability benchmarking survey in the UK, resulting in an updated product list, the frequency of surveys being increased and the associated reporting tools being enhanced significantly.

Access the report here. 

Promotional On-Shelf Availability – Insights and Best Practice

ECR United Kingdom has developed an online resource with the assistance Cranfield University. Working with representatives from the UK’s leading retailers and manufacturers, the aim of the Cranfield research was to produce a resource that:

• Identifies the weak points across the supply chain that impacted the availability of promoted products in store.
• Highlights best practice processes and activities to enable improved promotional availability.

Access the report here.  

ECR Australasia

On-Shelf Availability Reports

Access reports by clicking highlighted links, or click here. 

In 2001 ECRA developed A Guide to Efficient Replenishment and Reducing Stock Outs. The objective of the guide was to provide a useful reference point for companies to improve replenishment and product availability. 

In 2008 the ECRA Board commissioned a survey of industry aimed at reporting on the current status of On-Shelf Availability (OSA) levels and the adoption of the 2001 report recommendations. The report that followed was entitled The OSA Challenge.

The OSA Challenge Report report acted as a catalyst to further work completed in 2009 providing companies with a framework, both for their organisation and with trading partners, to address out of stocks (OOS), by following The On-Shelf Availability Roadmap.

In 2010 attention was turned to the availability of products on promotion, tagged Winning with Promotions, this project examined the impacts on the value chain of promoted products with the industry working collaboratively to find ways to maximise responsiveness and flexibility across the value chain.  

In the third of the Winning series of reports – Winning at the Shelf: Key Insights into Causes of Out of Stocks at the Shelf the opportunities open to suppliers, manufacturers and retailers to deliver improved on-shelf availability through a focus on the in-store replenishment process is examined. The aim is to understand the key issues faced by store personnel in ensuring that the product existing within the store building is replenished to fixtures - both shelf and display - in a timely fashion to avoid out of stocks. The report details considerations for suppliers, manufacturers and retailers to assist the store replenishment process and ensure stock is available for sale when shoppers wish to purchase.