David Friedler
Managing Partner
Mike Russell
Senior Partner
Today’s Consumer Products Commercial Leaders have never managed more complexity. A Chief Commercial Officer recently told us that they find themselves repeating the Steven Covey mantra, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” to his team. Wise words, indeed! Many problems are not easily solved but can be well managed if there is focus on the top priorities.
So, how should leaders define the “main thing?”
Well for sure, “Winning with Walmart” should be a “main thing” and universal rallying cry. Simpactful Senior Partner, Mike Russell, had the pleasure and honor of leading all parts of Procter & Gamble’s Walmart Global team over his 27 years working and living in Northwest Arkansas.
He emphasizes, the math simply does not add up if Walmart is not one of your company’s “main thing.”
Walmart now has 230MM shoppers weekly across a growing network of physical stores located within 10 miles of 90% of the US population. Another 387MM shoppers visit Walmart.com monthly and Walmart Connect is rapidly expanding and improving the company’s targeted Retailer media opportunities. It does not matter if you are a startup company or a global CPG giant. The chance of Mass brands winning long-term with consumers without Walmart is at ‘‘extremely challenging” and at worst not feasible.”
However, winning today requires far more than success with Walmart. Boston-based CPG market research firm, Edge by Ascential, predicts Amazon will surpass Walmart’s US Retail Market Share by 2024, and Walmart Connect is still catching up to Amazon Advertising. BJ’s and Costco posted growth of 19.5% and 16.3% last quarter and Dollar General and Dollar Tree also posted same-store sales increases. The upcoming Kroger and Albertsons merger will create new challenges and opportunities as suppliers renegotiate COGS and ensure operations run smoothly through the transition. And Target is winning with curated assortment, same-day fulfillment and hardwiring Roundel asks into suppler terms agreements.”
Simpactful Managing Partner, David Friedler, has been speaking with Commercial leaders daily. “These channel dynamics can make it challenging for leaders to focus effort because of the combined pressure on brand profitability, competing “How to Win” requirements, new capability requirements, and automated Retailer chargeback systems. It is a real complexity, capacity, and capability challenge.”
So how can Simpactful help you and your Commercial teams stay focused on the “main thing,” whether it is a retailer-specific opportunity or a broader channel challenge?
- Benchmarking Insights: Understanding where you are out of tolerance versus peer norms can help you identify big opportunities.
- Sound Retailer Strategies: Our practitioners have decades of experience on the buying and selling side at Walmart, Amazon, Target, Costco, Walgreens, Kroger, CVS and more. Whether you looking to secure new distribution, or even elevate a Joint Business Plan, we can ensure you have a sound business and retailer partnership strategy.
- Uncovering Profit Windfalls:
- Our Revenue Growth Management (RGM or NRM) and pricing teams used data-driven modeling approaches identify optimization opportunities.
- The Simpactful Chargebacks Recovery process has recovered millions of dollars in fines and fees for a growing list of major CPG companies.
- Our OSA team uses Retailer data to spot operational issues that are preventing inventory turns on-shelf.
- Our Amazon and eCommerce audits spot item set-up and Product Detail Page issues that, when fixed, can generate returns in under 30 days.
- Marketing: Our practitioners have managed all aspects of Marketing from brand strategy to in-store promotions. We have deep expertise in Retailer Media – including experience on both the Amazon Advertising, Brand and Agency sides of the desk. We have been called upon to train Sales and Marketing teams on the evolving landscape, benchmark investments, audit plans, and even develop investment or targeting strategies.
- Capability: From Negotiations and Brand Building best practices to Retailer Media and eCommerce, we can help to upskill you and your organization to increase efficiency and reduce mistakes.
- Capacity: Our multi-functional practitioners are available on a project or fractional basis to step in to help teams focus and make rapid progress.
- Structure: Complexity is born inside organizations as often as it comes from outside. Clear roles and responsibilities, as well as effective work and governance systems within and between functions can help teams stay focused.
Keeping the main thing as the main thing is achievable. Simpactful can help. To learn more about our capabilities and how SIMPACTFUL can help you, contact the team today at contact@simpactful.com or 925-234-6384.
Visit www.simpactful.com