Shrinkage Group Honored At The ECR Europe Awards 2014

ECR Shrink & On-Shelf Availability Group Helps European Retailers Save Over €1.3B

The Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) Shrink & On-Shelf Availability Group, supported by Checkpoint Systems, the merchandise availability solutions supplier for the retail industry, has been honored with a prestigious award at The ECR Europe Awards, held at the Annual ECR European Leaders Forum in Brussels.

The special ECR award, which was introduced to this year’s event to celebrate the work of the ECR Shrink & On-Shelf Availability Group and its achievements, recognizes the positive impact the Group has had on the industry.

Presenting the award on the night, Thomas Hübner, Executive Director for Europe, Carrefour, and Jan Zijderzeld, President, Unilever Europe, paid tribute to the hard work of its members and the instrumental role the Group has had in improving industry knowledge and understanding on a wide range of retail loss related issues.

As one of the ECR’s most successful and long-standing programs, the ECR Shrink & On-Shelf Availability Group is credited with saving European retailers and manufacturers over €1.3 B through the adoption of a new approach to managing loss prevention, characterized by developing best practice processes to improve customer satisfaction and retail profitability.

In the 15 years since its inception, the Group has overseen and developed a number of research projects, providing retailers and manufacturers with tools and techniques to enhance loss prevention strategies. These focus on a range of topics led by members including shrinkage, self-scan check-outs, RFID and the role of technology. The Group received support from leading academic experts from the University of Leicester and the Cranfield School of Management.

Colin Peacock, ECR Shrink & On-Shelf Availability Group co-chair and Director, Shrink & Store Operations Improvement, Procter & Gamble, said: “The ECR Shrinkage Group’s commitment over the years has been focused on improving collaboration between retailers and manufacturers in order to address the challenge of total loss and discover new ways to reduce its impact on retail profitability. We are delighted that the Group’s research and results are being recognized with this special ECR award.”

John Fonteijn, Fellow co-chair and Head of Group Asset Protection at ROYAL AHOLD, added: “Being recognized by the ECR means that we’re getting our message across to the wider retail industry and not just loss prevention (LP) professionals. We know that loss prevention is not just the responsibility of dedicated LP staff, it requires a commitment from the whole organization so it is a real honor for us and for all the members of the Group to receive this award.”

Neil Matthews, Vice President, Global Product Management, Checkpoint Systems UK, added: “We are proud to support the ECR Shrink & On-Shelf Availability Group and be a part of the successful impact the Group is having on the European retail industry. We are very much looking forward to continuing to help the Group as it endeavors to understand and minimize the impact of total loss for the benefit of manufacturers, retailers and ultimately, consumers.”

The ECR Leaders’ Forum also celebrated and recognised the hard work of ECR members across three categories, including ECR Achievement Award, Best ECR Activation Award and finally, Young Leaders Award 2014. Waitrose and Diageo took home the Best Activation Award for special excellence on ECR collaboration for its program ‘mentoring across customer-supplier boundaries.’ The Young Leader’s Award went to Tony Holmberg of ICA for his driving role in the recent module of the ECR LaB Programme. Nikos Veropoulous, CEO of Veropoulous Bros, was awarded the ECR Achievement Award for his unwavering commitment to the ECR Europe and the principles of collaboration.

The ECR Shrink & On-Shelf Availability Group is supported by Checkpoint Systems, the merchandise availability solutions supplier for the retail industry, and Oliver Wyman, a leading global management consulting firm.

The next (free) meeting of the Group will take place on June, 24, in Brussels. Agenda and registration details can be found at http://ecr-shrink-group.com/files/Agenda-24th-June-2014.pdf.

About the ECR Shrink & On-Shelf Availability Group:
The ECR Europe Shrink & On-Shelf Availability Group has been active since 1999, producing numerous Blue Books, White Papers and tools, organizing specialist seminars and regular team meetings.

ECR Europe (Efficient Consumer Response Europe) is a joint organization of National ECR Initiatives and companies from trade and manufacturing in Europe. Its purpose is to promote collaborative processes as fundamental business principle in the consumer goods value chain in Europe to fulfill consumer wishes better, faster and at less cost in a more sustainable way. ECR Europe builds on more than 20 National ECR Initiatives that gather over 1,800 leading companies and have issued more than 250 Best Practices Blue Books covering the different areas of ECR strategy (in particular supply chain and demand management) and optimizing other interface topics between manufacturers and retailers.

About Checkpoint Systems, Inc.
Checkpoint Systems is a global leader in merchandise availability solutions for the retail industry, encompassing loss prevention and merchandise visibility. Checkpoint provides end-to-end solutions enabling retailers to achieve accurate real-time inventory, accelerate the replenishment cycle, prevent out-of-stocks and reduce theft, thus improving merchandise availability and the shopper’s experience. Checkpoint's solutions are built upon 45 years of radio frequency technology expertise, innovative high-theft and loss-prevention solutions, market-leading RFID hardware, software, and comprehensive labeling capabilities, to brand, secure and track merchandise from source to shelf. Checkpoint's customers benefit from increased sales and profits by implementing merchandise availability solutions, to ensure the right merchandise is available at the right place and time when consumers are ready to buy. Listed on the NYSE, Checkpoint operates in every major geographic market and employs 4,700 people worldwide.

About Oliver Wyman
With offices in 50+ cities across 25 countries, Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting that combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. Oliver Wyman is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies.