The Line of Sight to Winning in Urban Markets!
The perspective of CPG veteran and Urban market expert John DiFalco
These are exciting times at National Retail Solutions!
I spent 42 years in Sales with Procter & Gamble. The majority of that time was focused on Urban High Frequency Stores (HFS) and Independent Convenience Stores and in that capacity, I have worked closely with National Retail Solutions for most of the past 8 years. The Urban Markets in the US are comprised of hundreds of thousands of Independent Retailers. The ability to leverage National Retail Solutions to bring line of sight, analytics and action to these highly fragmented channels is truly inspiring!
National Retail Solutions, with breakthrough Scan Data and Digital Marketing Capabilities is now providing Manufacturers and their Distributor and Broker partners with visibility to the Urban Independent Markets and the Independent Retailers that serve Urban Consumers. Store Level/SKU Level Scan data for 24,000+ Independent Retailers provides NRS with a robust data set which enables deep analysis. Traditionally, the only market measurements in this space were based on Manufacturer Direct Shipments to the Distributors who supply these stores (not the complete story). With the advent of NRS Total Store Scan Data Capture of consumer purchases, the Urban Market is now open for analysis and action by Manufacturers, Distributors and Brokers that subscribe to the NRS Scan Data!
Most Manufacturers have a stated goal of winning with Multicultural Consumers. In order to win with Multicultural Consumers in the US, you must win in Urban Markets! The Urban Independent HFS Store is typically operated by a highly entrepreneurial owner, who values the personal relationship with each of the Consumers who shop in their store. The HFS Store Owner also values the relationships built by the Manufacturer Sales Representatives, Brokers and Jobbers who call on their store. All of these Sales Representatives have the ability to educate the Store Owner on how to leverage their Categories and Brands to help the Store Owner better meet the needs of their Shoppers. Better meeting the needs of their Shoppers leads to happy and loyal Shoppers and also leads to long term sales growth for the Urban Independent Store Owner.
CPG Manufacturers need to care about Urban Stores and the Urban Multicultural Consumers who shop in these stores. Like most important things in life, “showing up” is the first step in showing that you care. Leveraging the NRS Data, Manufacturers can more readily choose to make the investment in Retail Sales Coverage in Urban Independent Stores. The Store Level/SKU Level NRS Data tells you where to go to fix and grow your business. This data can guide the Manufacturer and/or Broker to add high potential stores to coverage and to delete lower productivity stores from coverage, enabling the optimization of Sales Coverage Budgets. The NRS Data also enables the Manufacturer to conduct ROI analysis as to the long term value of Retail Sales Coverage as measured by New Points of Distribution Sold and $$ Sales Per Point of Distribution. Manufacturers that do show up with Urban Retail Sales Coverage are winning disproportionately with Urban Retailers and Urban Consumers. Urban Sales Coverage Brokers have developed Sales Coverage Models to efficiently and effectively sell in New Points of Distribution at Retail. Brokers are able to use the NRS Data to plan and execute coverage and then measure the sales results of the New Points of Distribution Sold in the subset of stores that are in coverage and are also NRS Stores. The metrics from the NRS Stores can be reapplied and projected to other similar stores that are in coverage but are not NRS Stores. A little bit of data goes a long way in developing and executing Urban Retail Sales Coverage best practices.
This unique combination of Scan Data and Marketing Capability from NRS allows Manufacturers to conduct “Test and Learn” in-store activities in stores in sales coverage while also providing the unique measurement capabilities provided by the data. Learning laboratories can be created on a store level or neighborhood basis as well as at the market and national level. The granular NRS Data enables Size of Prize analysis with a higher degree of accuracy. The NRS capabilities allow Manufacturers to learn fast and act fast. NRS helps to remove the risk of not knowing the impact of investments in Urban Markets, providing CPG company senior leaders with the confidence to invest in Urban Markets.
The NRS Scan Data and Digital Marketing Capabilities are valuable resources to Manufacturers looking to grow their business in Urban Markets. Interested in “showing up” and showing that you care about Urban Consumers? Please contact us:
John DiFalco john.difalco@idt.net m: 513-383-7635 https://nrsplus.com/our-story/