Efficient Consumer Response Reloaded Guest Series Part 1

By Oliver Voßhenrich, certified category manager, POS Tuning

From the very beginning retail and manufacturers have sought to meet the needs of their customers. But what exactly are these needs? What are shoppers looking for? Do they feel comfortable in our store? Does it offer what they need and can items be easily found on the shelf?

Thousands of efficient consumer response (ECR) projects have tried to answer these questions. Nevertheless out of stock (or should I say "out of shelf") rates are still 8% and more on average — globally! Imagine you have just seen the latest advertisement on TV for a new product. It is carried by a retailer 20 miles away. So you get into your car, drive there, and storm into the outlet, anticipating the joys of this great new product — and then... the promoted item is out of stock. With more than 75% of out of stock situations the problem lies in retail, not in the supply chain.