WHAT'S IN STORE? 1994-04-18

Carlene A. Thissen

I was surprised to see so few manufacturers at the recent Food Marketing Institute MarkeTechnics show in Tampa. Here we are in an industry with an ongoing shift of funds from mass marketing to in-store, and here's a trade show with every piece of leading-edge marketing technology that's being offered to supermarkets, and the manufacturers were truly conspicuous by their absence. I'm surprised that manufacturers didn't want to learn more about what's available to the supermarkets as well as to themselves.

In addition to the systems in which manufacturers legitimately have no interest (credit cards, labor scheduling, etc.), the following, in which manufacturers could and should be interested, were exhibited and demonstrated:

There were idea-exchange workshops on electronic marketing, category management, merchandising ideas, space management and scan data. Other more formal workshops included Efficient Consumer Response core technology infrastructure underpinnings, with speakers from Kraft and Crown, and Brian Woolf talking about what's working and what's not in electronic marketing. Also of interest to manufacturers were "What do shoppers want from private label?" and the role of category management in ECR.

The exhibit floor contained a lot of interesting vendors. Advanced Promotions Technologies showed its Vision Value Network, an electronic marketing system that reaches targeted consumers and has been proven to increase brand loyalty.

The ALH Group demonstrated WinCMS, a complete category-management oriented merchandising information, analysis and reporting system for retailers and suppliers. This system improves merchandising decisions by facilitating access to company and syndicated scan data.

Andersen Consulting had a booth at which it demonstrated breakthrough concepts toward computer-assisted ordering, continuous replenishment, category management, integrated electronic data interchange, physical flow/cross-docking and performance measurement.

Catalina Information Resources showed its Quick Response Scan Network, which delivers store-specific scanner information to manufacturers via Information Resources Inc.'s DataServer by 5 a.m. the next day. System applications enable marketing and sales managers to identify in-store conditions, evaluate product performance and promotional and competitive activity on a store-by-store basis.

Catalina Marketing displayed its new program Checkout Direct, the first in-store marketing program that lets manufacturers target households based on actual purchase history, without the need for retailers to maintain data bases on each consumer.

DCI Cardmarketing demonstrated its data base marketing service that identifies mutually beneficial marketing opportunities for retailers and manufacturers, using its customer-specific purchase data base.

Efficient Market Services demonstrated its information service that collects daily, store-specific information and is provided on an exception basis through its Quick Response Network. EMS and Nielsen Marketing Research also announced their joint agreement at this show.

Gladson & Associates showed its Universal Database for supporting space management. It has a capacity that exceeds 100,000 SKUs, with multiple views.

The reason I'm most surprised at the lack of manufacturer attendance is that there's such an emphasis on "partnering" in the industry today, and this technology trade show is an excellent place for manufacturers to keep abreast of what's going on with their retail "partners." The retailers were there in force. Perhaps we'll see a better turnout of manufacturers next year.

Carlene A. Thissen is president of Retail Systems Consulting, Chicago.