The battle to secure product listings is becoming overly complicated as more and more people become involved in the buying process.
Research commissioned by The Grocer has revealed that the number of people involved in deciding whether a product should be listed is increasing.
Buyers, buying managers and directors in the head offices of multiple retailers were asked how many people they thought were involved in the decision-making process. Only 8% said it was one person, 46% said two to three and
12% said four to five.
However, 14% said six to 10 people were involved in the buying process and 18% said it was more than 10. This can affect the length of time it takes to get products to shelf, already six months in some cases.
Mark Baillache, partner and head of food at KPMG, said: “You don’t want 10 people making a decision that two people can make. That just creates a bottle neck - and no one wants that.”
In a separate e-mail poll, The Grocer’s latest reader panel found that the majority of buyers agreed that the process was becoming more complex.
However, 81% of the panel disagreed that too many people were involved in the buying process, as most said that there was just one or two decision makers, although they admitted this could stretch to more people for own label products.
The average time the panel said it took to bring new product development to shelf was six weeks for branded products and 16 weeks for own label goods.
One buyer said that a brand new product coming to market with complex packaging usually took six months.
But another said that if a buyer was passionate about a new product, it could get on to the shelf in less than two weeks.
Several buyers said that manufacturers had done more than retailers to make the decision more complex.
One buyer said: “The major issues with NPD can often be attributed to manufacturers insisting on brand marketers, account teams, category planners and others all being involved in related conversations with retailers, rather than giving account teams true accountability.
Another buyer advised: “Manufacturers need to involve retailers earlier to ensure NPD is brought to market with as big a splash as possible.”
>>p32 Too many buyers…
Fiona McLelland & James Durston
Research commissioned by The Grocer has revealed that the number of people involved in deciding whether a product should be listed is increasing.
Buyers, buying managers and directors in the head offices of multiple retailers were asked how many people they thought were involved in the decision-making process. Only 8% said it was one person, 46% said two to three and
12% said four to five.
However, 14% said six to 10 people were involved in the buying process and 18% said it was more than 10. This can affect the length of time it takes to get products to shelf, already six months in some cases.
Mark Baillache, partner and head of food at KPMG, said: “You don’t want 10 people making a decision that two people can make. That just creates a bottle neck - and no one wants that.”
In a separate e-mail poll, The Grocer’s latest reader panel found that the majority of buyers agreed that the process was becoming more complex.
However, 81% of the panel disagreed that too many people were involved in the buying process, as most said that there was just one or two decision makers, although they admitted this could stretch to more people for own label products.
The average time the panel said it took to bring new product development to shelf was six weeks for branded products and 16 weeks for own label goods.
One buyer said that a brand new product coming to market with complex packaging usually took six months.
But another said that if a buyer was passionate about a new product, it could get on to the shelf in less than two weeks.
Several buyers said that manufacturers had done more than retailers to make the decision more complex.
One buyer said: “The major issues with NPD can often be attributed to manufacturers insisting on brand marketers, account teams, category planners and others all being involved in related conversations with retailers, rather than giving account teams true accountability.
Another buyer advised: “Manufacturers need to involve retailers earlier to ensure NPD is brought to market with as big a splash as possible.”
>>p32 Too many buyers…
Fiona McLelland & James Durston
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