ECRA Convention

This year’s Annual Efficient Consumer Response Australasia Supplier and Retailer Convention was held at the Crown Conference Centre in Melbourne on 23-24 October 2014. Over 150 delegates took the opportunity to view presentations from local and international fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry experts and to network with colleagues, peers and business partners.

With Australia and New Zealand’s leaders from retailer, supplier and manufacturing organisations along with key industry stakeholders in attendance the event welcomed a great array of world class speakers sharing their insights into “Connecting with the Consumer”.  The Convention provided a perfect opportunity to get inspired by real leaders, discuss the hot topics of the day and to take advantage of the numerous networking opportunities.

Whether you were able to attend or not the Convention Report for 2014 provides a summary of the essential key takeaways and insights into the passion to do well that was evident to all of those who attended. 

Click here to download the Convention Report.

Winning in January - Are you prepared?

As highlighted in the August edition of ECR Extra, January, and the summer period generally, remains a huge opportunity for sales and availability growth for retailers and suppliers alike. By now, discussions between trading partners will have taken place and plans be prepared for execution.

How will the industry fare this summer?...

ECRA will once again recount the key outcomes in our annual Winning in January report which will be release next February and include learnings from specific collaborative initiatives between trading partners via a series of mini case studies.

For perspective on previous year results and a wealth of information, tools and guidance relating to improving on-shelf availability, readers are encouraged to review the broad range of resources available free of charge on the ECRA website by clicking here.

                                                    

ECRA Effectiveness Survey - Tell us what you think?

ECR Extra readers are encouraged to complete this year's ECR Effectiveness survey if you receive an inviation to do so.  The survey will be undertaken in november and will assist ECRA in identifying levels of knowledge, implementation and benefits from our programmes and advice in relation to our current and future work plan.

Thank you to those who take the time to complete this brief survey.

Order to Receipt Excellence: New Guide!

ECRA’s Order to Receipt Excellence Working Group, consisting experts from major retailers, FMCG suppliers and GS1 Australia, have released a new guidance document for industry focused on broadening the use of the operational aspects of B2B E-Commerce – specifically SSCC Labels and Advance Shipping Notices (ASNs).

The Operational B2B Roadmap is intended to be a ‘common language’ catalyst and thought starter aiming to focus attention on the broader use of B2B E-commerce capabilities beyond the Supplier – Major Retailer interface. This could include expansion into other areas of opportunity such as internal stock transactions; ‘upstream’ suppliers of raw and packaging materials; and with smaller trading partners such as (i.e. non-Major) retailers, distributors and wholesalers.

The Roadmap document also provides links to technical advice, tools and resource guides where more detailed information is provided.

Click here to access the toolkit.

Display Pallet Toolkit - New Guide

This ECRA Toolkit provides guidance to businesses considering the use of display pallets for off-location and aisle end applications. The move to display pallets is not a standalone best practice and it can impact numerous elements of the supply chain. If not implemented with due consideration to these impacts it has the potential to increase costs and reduce efficiencies.

ECRA has been pivotal in delivering aligned positioning between major retail organisations, which in itself will not mitigate costs and complexity but should assist suppliers in avoiding costly duplication of effort. The Toolkit provides the basis for industry standards and should be supplemented by trading partner discussions and product/category considerations.

As the industry matures in its adoption and use of display pallets, ECRA will continue to provide advice and guidance to the industry through additional toolkits, case studies and best practice guides.

Click here to download your free copy of the Toolkit.