World of Heineken 42 summer 2010
show that we do not only lead in terms of volume, but also in terms
of category knowledge and insight. At Heineken, we've developed a
programme that has proven it can increase our customer's profit and
the growth of the beer industry as a whole.
What lies at the heart of the programme?
It's about a joint effort with our customer to effectively identify the
areas that offer potential for the retailers' beer sales. Many retailers
benefit from additional time or resources to analyse how they could
increase their profit in the beer category, and we are working hard to
fill that gap for them. In just one example, we found that, compared
to other retailers, one particular customer was giving much less
shelf space to the highly profitable premium beer segment, and
more space to lower-margin segments. By increasing the shelf space
for high-margin brands, retailers could significantly improve their
category and overall profitability.
Do you offer an individual solution for each customer?
Yes. Each of our customers operates in a unique sales environment,
and this difference requires a custom-made analysis and set of
recommendations. Furthermore, the programme is led by local
Heineken teams in the participating market. And it's not just a one-off
project; it's the new way of working for our local customer teams.
How do you identify customers' opportunities?
We use shopper research, market data, comparisons against other
retailers, the customer's own sales data and much more. If an issue
jumps out, we will do a deep dive to identify the root cause of that
issue and recommend the way to fix it. To give one example, consider
shopping habits: of all the people who shop at store A, how many
of them buy beer? Do they purchase their beer in store A regularly?
How much do they purchase? We then compare this with our
industry performance data. For example, we found out that a certain
customer stocked an enormous range in the specialty beer segment
in comparison with other retailers, although this didn't pay out in
terms of their market share. Through a joint review for this segment
we defined an optimised range, significantly improving our customers'
performance with fewer products.
Sometimes, less is more...
Indeed! And it's not the only time this conclusion has been reached.
For example, for one customer we carried out an in-depth analysis of
a previous promotion and found that the sales uplift achieved wasn't
any higher than the same promotion done a few months earlier,
although a higher discount level was applied this time. Through our
advice, the customer could determine the optimum discount level
for each type of promotion - satisfying shoppers' needs without
damaging the retailer's profitability.
You're talking about the beer category as a whole, but what are the
benefits for Heineken?
We are strong believers in the strength of our brands and are
convinced that if the category grows, our brands will grow as well.
And we believe that consumers' preference for our brands will play
an important part in driving category growth. We believe that by
showing our professionalism, we can enhance the relationship with
our customers and jointly grow the category in a sustainable way.
How do you measure the success of the programme?
It has been a big investment from our side, but we believe it is
well worth it. Helping our customers increase their beer sales is a
key indication of success. A more qualitative indicator will be the
recognition from our customers that the quality of our employees,
our category management support, our logistical performance, and
our overall relationship with the customer are valued. Our goal is to
become the preferred supplier in every respect!
In-depth analysis and industry comparisons highlight unique
opportunities for large retailers at a local level
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