Buying and supply management in retail

Chapter 16Buying and supply management in retail

Program Definitions Role and importance of purchasing in trading and

retail business. Structure and organization of the purchasing process Developments in trading and retail companies Trends in sourcing and supply chain strategies

Definitions

Trade and retail companies: Characterized by the absence of a production process Value added is low compared to manufacturing companies Existence is primarily based on the exchange of values Time between the purchase and sale is very short

Category management: because of a short time between purchase and sale, buying and selling are sometimes integrated into one function.

Category management: because of a short time between purchase and sale, buying and selling are sometimes integrated into one function.

Inboundlogistics

Outboundlogistics

Merchandising/ commodity management

Facilities buying

Human resources management

Technology

Infrastructure

The value chain in trade companies (Adapted from Porter, 1985)

Definitions

Definitions

Trade companies can be divided into two levels: Wholesale level (B2B) Retail level (B2C)

Companies that operate on wholesale level deliver their products to other companies. Customers are retail, industrial and service companies. Wholesale companies devote less effort to promotion, shop layout and

selection of location. Further wholesalers make large transactions with a limited number of

companies.

Manufacturer

Consumer

Wholesaler

Retailer

Wholesale and trade in the business chain

Definitions

Trade companies fulfill the intermediary betweenproducer and end user. Their added value lies inthe following activities:

Sales and promotion Buying and building up a product assortment Bulk breaking Storage Transportation Carrying the risk Market information Management and marketing services

Purchasing in trade and retail companies

Regarding the retail trade, various types of stores can bedistinguished in the area of consumer products:

Specialty store Department store Supermarket Convenience store Combination store, superstore and hypermarket Service business

Purchasing in trade and retail companies

Organization of the purchasing process

Stages in the buying-selling cycle: Estimating demand Determining product assortment and distribution strategy Selection of most suitable supplier Contractual agreements Ordering Automatic replenishment Expediting and evaluation

Retail buyers pay more attention to marketing and sales aspects than industrial buyers. The function of retail buyer evolves from straight buying to commodity or category management.

Cross-functional structure Teams are responsible for all aspects of a category in order to

generate a maximum return for the retail company Buying, styling, visual merchandising and distribution functions

operate in one organizational entity. (‘category management’)

Functional purchasing structure Purchasing is important and reports directly to top management Ordering and purchasing often separate activities. Purchasing and Category Management are conducted central and

ordering is carried out decentral as much as possible. Planning is more and more delegated to the suppliers (i.e. VMI)

Organization of the purchasing process

Developments in trade and retail companies

Changing consumer behavior in European countries: Ageing population, ongoing individualism, more men shopping Increasing income gap between population groups Growing number of earning couples Increased exposure to other cultures and integration of ethnic

minorities Increased concern for the environment Increased attention to healthier living

This means that the commodity manager/ retail-buyer must constantly tailor his product assortment to more specific

and often smaller groups.

This means that the commodity manager/ retail-buyer must constantly tailor his product assortment to more specific

and often smaller groups.

Other developments…. Concentration: Globalization of competition and concentration

through mergers and acquisitions. International co-operation: Due to the concentration of power

on the suppliers’ side, trade companies are searching for internationalization as an option to counterbalance this development.

Private labels: Private labels support retailer identity and image. Finding suitable suppliers for private label products will become increasingly difficult.

Developments in trade and retail companies

More developments… Space management: based on detailed cost information retailers

decide on the most profitable display lay out. ‘Green’ issues: ecological considerations are growing in

importance (e.g. natural ingredients, biodegradable packaging) Information: Some developments in information technology have

an immediate impact on consumers. Others are less visible to the consumer. For example:

Electronic banking Bar coding Tele shopping

Developments in trade and retail companies

Supply chain strategy trends

Modern supply chain management retail is based on the following concepts: Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) Electronic marketplaces Radio frequency Identification Detection (RFID)

Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI)

VMI is a continuous replenishment program in which the retailer provides the supplier with detailed information to allow the supplier to manage and replenish product at the store or warehouse level Typically the activities of forecasting, scheduling, requisitioning and

ordering are performed by the supplier. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)s an integral part of the VMI process

Benefits of VMI Solidified customer-vendor relationships Reduced shipping costs and lead time Fewer human errors Improved service levels

Efficient Consumer Response (ECR)

ECR is a grocery industry supply chain management strategy aimed at eliminating inefficiencies, and non-value-added costs, thus delivering better value to the end customers

It is designed to re-engineer the grocery supply chain from a “push” system into a “pull” system by using e-commerce information technology

ECR attempts to eliminate inefficiencies by introducing strategic initiatives in four areas: Efficient store assortment Efficient product information Efficient promotion Efficient product replenishment

Efficient Consumer Response (ECR)

Programs that companies need to have in place are: Category management (i.e. managing a group of products as strategic

business units within each store) Continuous replenishment program (CRP)

Further support is needed of the following technologies: Barcodes / Scanners Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Computer aided ordering (CAO) Cross docking / direct store delivery Activity based costing

The main obstacle is not technical but managerial, with managers reluctant to transform their adversarial trading relationships into open partnerships

The main obstacle is not technical but managerial, with managers reluctant to transform their adversarial trading relationships into open partnerships

Efficient Consumer Response (ECR)

Kurnia et al, (2002) 

Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR)

CPFR allows cooperation across the supply chain, using a set of processes and technology models.

Providing dynamic information sharing and integrating both demand and supply side processes, for effectively planning, forecasting and replenishing customer needs through the total supply chain.

Advantages of CPFR: Increased responsiveness Product availability assurance Optimized inventory and associated costs Increased revenues and earnings Improved relationships with trading partners

Electronic marketplaces

A distinction can be made between Open exchanges (accessible for everyone) and Private exchanges (only for members)

An e-marketplace can provide a platform for: Core commerce transactions which can automate and streamline the

entire requisition-to-payment online A collaborative network for production design, supply chain planning,

optimization and fulfillment process Industry wide product information that is aggregated into a common

classification and catalogue structure An environment in which sourcing, negotiations and auctions can take

place in real-time An online community for publishing and exchanging industry news,

information and events

Radio frequency Identification Detection

RFID is a term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify.

Auto-ID Center is developing an open global network (a layer on top of internet) that can identify anything, anywhere, automatically.

This network will give companies near perfect supply chain visibility Also, if widely adopted the network could:

eliminate human error from data collection reduce inventories keep product in stock reduce loss and waste free up staff to perform more value added functions improve safety and security

Supply chain strategy trends

The four major developments show how the landscape of the traditional retail buyer has changed

Advanced systems will allow them to optimize their supply chain operations

Future competition in retail will no longer be between individual companies, rather it will be among clusters of companies

As research shows the development towards this kind of collaboration can be troublesome

Trust between the partners, a long term commitment and a balanced sharing of risks and rewards is required to be successful

Conclusions

The buying function plays a very important role in trade companies.

In retail companies buying policy is much more integrated with sales and marketing policy,

Company policy is primarily focused on improving turnover and margin whilst reducing working capital.

Retail today is a truly international business. Advanced information systems allow the application of

new logistics concepts such as VMI, ECR, CPFR and electronic marketplaces.