It’s that time of year again when your suppliers are knocking on your door to review contracts and negotiate new terms for 2022. This year, however, is a little different. Price inflation has skyrocketed and, as a result, some prices have increased more this year than they have in the last 5 years combined. Due to the uncertain future, many c-store operators are looking for new tools that will give them an edge at the negotiating table.
Taiga’s Business Intelligence platform, StoreKeep, can be installed at a store in 15 minutes. Once installed, all of your sales data is automatically cataloged into the NACS category standards and you have access to a comprehensive set of real-time category management tools. While StoreKeep provides many tools, I wanted to share some specific examples of how our clients are using StoreKeep to gain leverage when negotiating with their suppliers. Imagine StoreKeep open on the monitor in your conference room as a supplier walks in to discuss your contract– All of your data, easily accessible in real-time. Think about how the conversation will change with these new tools at your fingertips:
Compare a supplier’s report to your actual sales data, “apples to apples”. Most of the time, suppliers will bring along a hefty market analysis report to back up their proposed changes to your contract. The problem with this report is that they often use a data sample that will position their products in the most favorable light. Within a few clicks, StoreKeep will recreate their charts and reports exactly while using your actual sales data. You can even drill down and view the report at an individual store and see the unique variations at each location.
As the conversation moves from brand to brand, you can quickly select each product set to see which labels are selling, which ones are sitting and whether they are gaining or losing momentum. Take a popular brand like White Claw for example– there are dozens of different labels under this brand. While your supplier may be pushing for you to increase the space allocated to one of their new flavors, your actual sales data may show that the item has not performed well and its sales are trending downward.
Don’t forget to take the entire basket into consideration. With another click, you can see the full market basket detail for an item including the average basket size and margin. This screen also shows you product affinities and which promotions are the most effective. This information is crucial when making decisions about pricing, product placement, promotions and space allocation.
Before you wrap up the conversation, you should review the Stockout Analysis of the supplier’s product set. This capability tracks when their products have been out of stock and quantifies the losses that you have incurred. This should be a key part of the discussion especially this year with Supply Chain Disruptions.
This year, StoreKeep users are negotiating with their suppliers from a stronger position than ever before. There is no doubt that 2021 will be remembered as one of the most turbulent years thanks to disruptions like the ongoing pandemic, the labor shortage, supply chain issues and rapid price inflation. Here at Taiga, our mission is to help our clients adapt and thrive despite changing market conditions. The capabilities discussed above are just a small piece of the Business Intelligence Pie.
Please contact us for a 30 minute demonstration and we will be happy to show you many more ways that we can partner together and help your business grow.
