It is easy for Retailers to view enviously the success of some of their larger suppliers. Is this a reasonable view, or is the success of their suppliers an asset?
Profitable suppliers can benefit retailers in a number of ways:
- Quality Assurance and the ongoing supply of great tasting products that drive shopper loyalty.
- Competitive pricing and trade support. Suppliers understand the price elasticity of their brands and therefore enable Retailers to maximise category value.
- Efficient and sustainable logistics. Sustainable logistics is vital to enable retailers achieve their ‘green’ targets.
- Strong relationships. If retailers truly engage with their suppliers’ then supplier’s research and insights can add value to their offer. It can also result in the delivery on instore exclusives that drives footfall to their stores.
- Access to customer focused product ranges. Great suppliers are at the forefront of research and development and are constantly monitoring shopper / consumer trends to help retailers to be ‘future proofed’.
- Most retailers rely on supplier investment to be profitable, without profitable suppliers this vital revenue stream would be put under enormous pressure.
- Own Label development. Without the innovation that suppliers research, product development and investment drives product categories would become ‘stale’ and quickly lose shopper interaction. Retailers would also find it extremely more expensive to develop and maintain their own label ranges that currently follows the lead set by leading suppliers.
- Promotions. Suppliers invest billions every year with retailer to promote their products in store. If suppliers were not able to support promotions with the investment they currently provide then the existing retail model would be unsustainable. Kantar (Kantar market report Nov ’25) estimates that promotions represent 28% of total grocery spending!
Success for retailers is not to undermine the profitability of their supply base but rather to explore how they can partner with their suppliers to maximise the category growth potential for both parties.
Maintaining balance in the relationship between suppliers and retailers has never been more important. To support suppliers in achieving this the British Brands group provides a range of functional training to help you the courses cover Competition law and compliance, GSCOP and Trading with Amazon. All feature a strong commercial bias, being about both understanding and application in the trading world.
This training is available as either face-to-face or online offerings. Open courses or courses tailored to your specific needs. The British Brands Group is also very open to discuss your specific needs, should you want to run an in-house course exclusively for your team.
Feel free to contact us to discuss tailoring training for your needs.