DPP the Forerunner to Today's Models
s 1987, SN was covering one of the first efforts at applying sophisticated cost-accounting techniques to the realm of merchandise retailing. A three-week, in-depth series that started on Sept. 21 of that year presented a comprehensive discussion of DPP [Direct Product Profit] initiatives. DPP was an early approach that sought to assign actual costs to the total effort required to move products from a manufacturer's loading dock to a supermarket's gondolas.
Retailers and experts in the late 1980s were already hailing the advances in DPP as doing nothing less than changing the way supermarkets were doing business. Combining more in-depth calculations in product procurement and the "street smarts" acquired from years of buying and merchandising, retailers were redefining their relationships with vendors and manufacturers.
DPP paved the way for even more sophisticated models. Many industry observers now say that DPP segued later into the Efficient Consumer Response movement, portions of which have found expression in current category management initiatives.
