ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The National Association of Chain Drug Stores released a study last week entitled "How Targeted Collaboration Between Retailers and Manufacturers Promotes the Success of New Product Launches." The study, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, New York, is designed to help retailers and manufacturers improve the chances of profit when bringing a new product to market. "Both manufacturers and retailers rely on new product launches to drive growth and help them stand out in a crowded market. Yet launches are often hindered by misunderstandings regarding each partner's expectations, abilities and timetables, threatening revenue generation and profitability," said Lisa Feigen Dugal, partner and leader of the North American Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods Advisory practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. The four steps identified by the report include: Understand by eliminating preconceived notions of each trading partner, and establish a joint definition of launch success beyond just sales/volume targets; commit and collaborate by establishing detailed milestones and success criteria, and assign specific responsibility and accountability for each element; execute by providing transparency to potential launch issues, and develop contingency planning in advance; and review by doing post-launch analysis. A detailed presentation of this study will be made at the upcoming NACDS Supply Chain and Logistics Conference in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday, March 27.
