3 Building Blocks Of Optimized Price & Promotion Strategies

Transcription

1 3 Bilding Blocks Of Optimized Price & Promotion Strategies Boosting Brand Loyalty And Profits With Visal Analytics Sponsored by E-book

2 Table of contents Introdction... 3 Consolidate And Analyze Data From All Channels To Define The Wants And Needs Of Yor Target Cstomers... 5 Use Visal Analytics To Maximize The Vale Of Data... 7 Define And Execte The Pricing Strategy... 8 Define And Execte The Promotional Strategy Conclsion Abot Retail TochPoints Abot SAS

3 Today s rapidly changing omnichannel retail environment is dramatically affecting the way merchants approach prodct Top Operation Challenges in Setting Prices pricing and promotions. Shoppers are accessing prodct, promotion and pricing information in real time via their mobile Forecasting the impact of potential pricing decisions 48% devices, allowing them to compare competitive information while on yor site or in yor store and make a decision to prchase on the spot, sometimes from the competitor. Measring the impact of exected pricing decisions Maintaining visibility into promotional profitability 37% 45% Making sre that stores change prices accrately and timely 35% This consmer digital savvy is motivating retailers to deliver more freqent pricing changes and initiate more creative promotional programs. A recent stdy condcted by Retail Systems Research (RSR) confirms the trends: Getting access to robst competitive price data Coordinating with marketing on promotions and offers Inability to effectively manage all pricing rles and/or nderstand impact of rle violations 20% 24% 27% Managing promotions across channels 19% 76% of retailers are contining to increase the nmber of pricing changes sent to stores; Keeping p with pricing and packaging changes by manfactrers Keeping p with promotional deals between byers & manfactrers 15% 17% 67% of retailers report consmer price sensitivity as a top-three bsiness challenge; and Sorce: RSR Research, April % of retailers said they are not able to execte at the level of granlarity that pricing soltions provide. 3

4 This new pricing directive prompts a nmber of qestions, sch as: How do we get to know or best cstomers across all toch points? What price points are or cstomers willing to bear? How do we deliver a seamless pricing strategy across channels? Are consmers fatiged by certain promotions? Which data sorces do we need to analyze in order to deliver the most sccessfl pricing and promotion campaigns? Possibly the most all-encompassing qestion is: How can advanced analytics help s apply consmer insights across the bsiness in order to deliver on or goals? Greg Girard, Program Director of Merchandise Strategies for IDC Retail Insights, offered his take on the importance of sccessfl pricing and promotional strategies in a recent Merchandise Strategies report: Retailers mst remain on the jorney toward advanced capabilities in prodctcentric Price Optimization there s money to be made along the way. He added: the soltions serving each side of the revene management eqation prodct prices and cstomer offers drive high single-digit improvement in revene, prodct margins, and same-shopper sales. This E-book will examine the key factors affecting merchants plans for improved pricing and promotions, with a focs on how to consolidate and analyze the disparate data sorces. By nderstanding the components of the bilding blocks otlined in this report, retail organizations will be poised to deliver on the promise of optimm pricing and promotions. Retailers mst remain on the jorney toward advanced capabilities in prodct-centric price optimization there s money to be made along the way. - Greg Girard IDC 4

5 The 3 Bilding Blocks Of Advanced Price & Promotion Optimization 1. Consolidate And Analyze Data From All Channels To Define The Wants And Needs Of Yor Target Cstomers Today s disparate sorces of data present significant hrdles for retailers looking to properly price and promote prodcts to reach target cstomers. In an effort to achieve that goal, retailers mst be sre to collect and analyze consmer information from a nmber of sorces inclding: Mobile phones and tablets; Social media (inclding direct feedback as well as otside cstomer-to-cstomer commnications); (inbond and otbond); In-person, in-store interactions; My nmber-one recommendation is to think throgh how to get a complete view of every cstomer, throgh as many different toch points as possible, noted Katherine Bsey, Vice President of Bsiness Development for the International Institte for Analytics (IIA). Then pt that information together to be analyzed in order to segment pricing or promotions so they are relevant to a specific cstomer grop. Optimally yo will achieve the sometimes-elsive strategy of one. For example, following an offer sent ot via Twitter, a retail company cold coordinate Nielsen cstomer data with Twitter data to determine the sccess of that promotion among a specific set of potential cstomers. A recent IIA report on Omnichannel Analytics in Retail stated the charge for retailers clearly: Retailers mst se analytics to better nderstand consmer behaviors and create a sperior cstomer experience. Omnichannel analytics can improve targeting, messaging and pricing, and can enable retailers to deliver more cstomized service. Segment pricing or promotions so they are relevant to a specific cstomer grop. Optimally yo will achieve the sometimes-elsive strategy of one. - Katherine Bsey International Institte for Analytics (IIA) Call center discorse; and Internet activity. 5

6 For retailers that are jst beginning the process of collecting and analyzing segmented cstomer data, Bsey sggests taking a step back to determine a realistic go-forward plan. If an organization has never thoght throgh segmentation, or tried to apply data to it, then forming 57 different pricing segments probably isn t realistic, she noted. Look at what makes sense in yor ability to operationalize those analytics. The vale is in being able to deploy strategies. Additionally, in order to realize the sccesses that can be achieved with advanced pricing and promotional data analysis, retailers mst be in step with the competition. When talking abot the ecosystem of competitors retailers want to think abot where they want to be relative to their competitors: Do yo want to be within 5% of pricing with specific prodcts? Bsey qeried. Perhaps that 5% pricing limit will be the key to maintaining brand loyalty, if other aspects of the cstomer experience are delighting shoppers. Market Basket Analysis Helps To Gide Pricing Strategies Pricing strategies are not jst abot the cstomer; they also are abot the prodcts. For example, if paper towels and plastic forks are typically prchased together, does it make sense to discont the forks if they will be prchased anyway? Market basket analysis can answer that qestion and save retailers potentially lost revene. By identifying prodcts that are prchased together, retailers can drive incremental revene. Some indstry segments will benefit from a keen focs on market basket analysis more than others. Grocers, for example, are starting to work more closely with their consmer prodct goods (CPG) partners to maximize the efficacy of pricing and promotional activities, said Bsey. It s still emerging, thogh. The leaders are doing it bt there is a long way to go ntil it is a seamless process across the indstry. One of the barriers, she added, may be that legacy systems were not set p to seamlessly share data, in addition to the fact that retailers and CPG companies did not see a bsiness need for sharing the data. Bt today that data is becoming sch a valable asset that in order to see higher profitability and improve promotions, they are realizing they will have better otcomes if they work together. 6

7 Use Visal Analytics To Maximize The Vale Of Data Retailers have massive amonts of data and great ideas, bt the qestion is: How do we start leveraging the data? Becase the IT staff often is stressed and bsy with other bsiness tasks, and retailers don t have qantitative staff available, the best way to start sing the data is to tap into Visal Analytics in the clod. Visal Analytics allow retailers to explore cstomer data from every channel to ncover hidden insights in order to: Create more granlar cstomer segments; Spark innovative ideas for retaining valable cstomers and growing wallet share; and Personalize offers, and localize pricing and assortments. With Visal Analytics, retailers can examine the vast amonts of data coming in from internal and external sorces sales transactions, loyalty programs, demographic information, social media, external market analysis, etc. across brands, channels and time to qickly ncover insights and relationships that can direct ftre strategies. This ser-friendly soltion encorages collaboration among bsiness sers while freeing IT resorces. By harnessing the ability to evalate data coming in from disparate sorces and channels, retailers can expect a nmber of benefits, inclding: Drive innovation: Visally explore data to identify previosly nseen correlations and patterns that can spark innovative ideas for attracting new cstomers, growing existing cstomers market basket or wallet share, and retaining valable cstomers. Big data is not jst abot the colmns, rows or size. It s abot getting closer to how the hman mind thinks abot data. - Rajeeve Kal Senior Vice President, OfficeMax, dring the SAS Global Form Exective Conference Localize offers, pricing and assortments: Explore sales, demographic and cstomer loyalty data to ncover hidden insights that can help reach individals with localized pricing and assortments. Enhance the cstomer experience: Share analytical insights with store managers and associates and those who can se the information to offer personalized experiences to cstomers via preferred channels. Identify and solve spply chain isses: Find hidden problems in the spply chain vendor qality, error repetition, etc. by visalizing spply chain data, sales transactions, call center complaints, and more. Prevent losses: Qickly identify sspected loss areas employee theft, fradlent refnds, misse of copons, nathorized disconts and persistent behavior patterns in order to develop effective programs to prevent ftre losses. Easy analytics. Better data visalization. A world of possibilities, now available in the SAS Clod. 7

8 2. Define And Execte The Pricing Strategy When working to define a go-forward pricing strategy, merchants mst determine whether they plan to provide one price across all channels, and how deep pricing mst be optimized across the entire enterprise, per region and/or to the store-sku level. Other key strategy decisions involve: Personalized vs. zone pricing; Channel-specific vs. cross-channel pricing; and Short- vs. long-lifecycle prodcts. Analytics For Lifecycle Pricing Strategies An overall pricing strategy incldes a continm of decisions arond initial pricing, reglar everyday pricing, promotional pricing and markdown pricing. Each step in the cycle is valable in terms of overall bsiness profitability. In the example of markdown pricing, analytics can play a key role in determining pricing down to the store and prodct level. A retailer s markdown strategy can be optimized by having a separate markdown strategy for each store and pdating pricing recommendations dynamically dring the day, reported Dr. Barry Leventhal, Retail Analytics Concil Faclty for IIA, in a report, titled: Leveraging Analytics for Markdown Pricing. A retailer s markdown strategy can be optimized by having a separate markdown strategy for each store and pdating pricing recommendations dynamically dring the day. - Dr. Barry Leventhal IIA These are the things yo need to be looking at when setting pricing strategies, and Visal Analytics can help, said Bsey. She shared a for-part explanation of how to benefit from the se of Visal Analytics: Look at the data and thereliability of the data within internal systems and elements (inventory, spply chain, marketing, sales) Determine what other data will help nderstand pricing inflencers (economy, competitor actions, ecosystem of competitors, Manfactrer/CPG disconts and trade promotions, socio-economics, vale in terms of market yo work within, etc.) Think throgh how to dealwith all the channels: What are the channels yo re working within and how do yo deal with pricing across channels? Ask one final qestion: Are there any other niqe factors to consider? 8

9 Leventhal also noted that with an advanced analytics soltion in place, retailers can enhance overall markdown pricing sing a nmber of strategies, sch as: Localized markdowns per store or region; Dynamic markdowns pdated throghot each selling day; and Link between loyalty data and markdowns to find ot how the most loyal shoppers react to the crrent markdown strategy. Markdown projects typically improve margins and prodce better inventory sell-throgh or trns. It s abot keeping p with today s shopper, added Bsey. Retailers will have to speed p their ability to adjst their pricing strategy, find new ways for cstomers to interact with shoppers who are walking in the door with their cellphone, online, or accessing Facebook, she said. They will have to keep p with the expectations of their cstomer base. Any retailer ot there needs to be looking at that and what makes sense for them and what their cstomers are looking for. It won t be the same for a retailer competing against Best By compared to a retailer selling prodcts that are niqe and esoteric. Bsey contined: Vale is different at different price points. For example, an item at Nordstrom may be considered a vale at $500, while an item at Target cold be considered a vale at 50 cents. Even thogh it may not be well made and long lasting; it may be disposable, trendy and cte. Shoppers are looking for something completely different from one retail experience to the next. Advanced Price Optimization sing Visal Analytics can help define this strategy effectively. In a recent report, IDC noted that retailers are finding sccess with SAS optimization tools: The total economic vale retrn on SAS pricing projects is high 93% of retail cstomers overall renew their SAS software. SAS reports that reglar price deployments have prodced vale in fewer than five months and positive project vale within the first year. Retailers will have to speed p their ability to adjst their pricing strategy, find new ways for cstomers to interact with shoppers who are walking in the door with their cellphone, online, or accessing Facebook. - Katherine Bsey IIA 9

10 3. Define And Execte The Promotional Strategy The promotional strategy fnctions hand-in-hand with the pricing strategy. Once the pricing strategy is defined, promotions can be aligned to deliver a complementary program. Bt retailers shold be wary abot overdoing their promotional strategies. In a recent report, RSR noted: Those who overperform on year-over-year comparable sales are far more likely to stay the corse in their pricing strategy than their competitors. Their competitors contine to p the promotions ante, yet as we ll see, they don t get the sales or margin kick that they crave. The data is clear. Even as Laggards contined to ramp p their promotional activities, for at least half, their margins have declined, and their sales have failed to improve. Using the tools provided by advanced Promotion Optimization sing Visal Analytics, merchants can design promotional programs that coordinate with sccessfl pricing strategies, feed brand image and loyalty, and drive incremental revene. With real-time cross-channel shopper data in hand, retailers can now cstomize promotions based on: Schedled holidays, seasons and nplanned events; Trade/vendor collaboration; Individalized offers; and Freqent pricing changes. Retailers achieving sccess with Promotion Optimization are coordinating those efforts across mltiple bsiness nits and channels, and they are measring the impact of promotion decisions. RSR s retailers defined as Winners are embracing these scenarios and finding sccess: üü 43% of Winners feel confident in their promotional effectiveness vs. 25% of Laggards. Additionally, as many as 47% of Winners have a process in place to coordinate promotions across internal organizations vs. 20% of Laggards. üü 50% of Winners vs. 38% of Laggards are confident that they can respond qickly to competitors price changes. üü Winners and average performers are three times more confident in their ability to target promotions (32% to 38% vs. 13% of Laggards). Those who overperform on year-overyear comparable sales are far more likely to stay the corse in their pricing strategy than their competitors. - Retail Systems Research 10

11 The biggest challenge with promotions is breaking corporate While grocers live and breathe via promotions and want myths, RSR reported. Retailers think they are good at cstomers to be actely aware of them specialty apparel promotions becase mass promotions have worked so well in retailers are more apt to play down the pricing aspect of their the past, and becase yo can see the lift after a promotion strategy in favor of promoting the lifestyle and experience of their rns. Bt in today s fragmented marketing world, where brands. The following chart shows examples of how different mass becomes more and more difficlt to achieve, and the segments se each type of price and promotion strategy. retail indstry is growing less and less dependent on store traffic over time, the idea of what a promotion is and what it s spposed to accomplish is ltimately going to have to change. Segment-Specific Price and Promotion Strategies For any retailer, regardless of prodct, maximizing margins and revene while maintaining a competitive price point is the name Pricing Considerations Apparel Grocery Vendor Trade Fnds Competitive Prices Private Label Mltiple Cstomer Trips Hyper Promotional of the game. Each sector of retail manages pricing strategies a bit differently based on several key factors, inclding: Vendor trade fnds; Mass Merchants Drg Stores Competitive prices; Private label considerations; Mltiple cstomer trips; Hyper-promotional strategies; and Lifecycle pricing. Convenience Stores Not a consideration Key consideration Sorce: SAS,

12 Vendor Trade Fnds: Grocers, Mass Merchants, Drg Stores and Convenience Stores (C Stores) all work closely with their CPG trading partners to optimize event plans and align strategic pricing objectives. Trade Fnd and Promotion Optimization can maximize promotion plans and pinpoint pricing sweet spots that maximize event lift and brand share and help retailers bild bigger baskets. A large percentage of retailers profits, revene and market share are predicated on the sccessfl selection and implementation of trade fnds. Trade fnds are proven traffic drivers and a key pricing determinant for these retail segments. Competitive Pricing: Grocers, Mass Merchants, Drg Stores and C Stores are ssceptible to the effects of the pricing strategies of their major competitors. The leading retailers in these sectors tilize a plethora of data to help them create pricing strategies that conteract the effects of their competitors in each market; that data ranges from Nielsen/IRI market share, other thirdparty service providers and competitive pricing services. Private Label Considerations: The decision regarding when to create and promote store brands verss national brands provides all retailers (except C Stores) with the ability to trly differentiate themselves from their competitors. Private Label prodcts can provide a clear alternative to higher priced national brands, bt retailers mst ensre private label prodcts are perceived as jst as high qality as nationally advertised brands that may have millions of dollars of marketing spend behind them. Grocers and Mass Merchants have long known that promoting private label brands to some of their cstomer segments ensres higher traffic and larger margins. Apparel retailers also promote private label merchandise both within department and specialty stores as a means to bild margin within several departments. Bilding Mltiple Cstomer Trips: Long a staple of the Grocery sector, Mass Merchants and C Stores now target all cstomer segments for a larger share of wallet by creating promotions and prodct categories that entice mltiple trips per cstomer. The goal of bilding bigger baskets over a sstained period of time prodces the margin and revene that all retailers crave. A large percentage of retailers profits, revene and market share are predicated on the sccessfl selection and implementation of trade fnds. 12

13 Grocers, Mass and C Stores drive mltiple trips by offering promotions on different days of the week, often with vendor trade fnds as the basis of the promo. Retailers have always realized that cstomer segments tend to shop differently, bt with advanced analytics and Price Optimization tools, retailers can now help themselves by sggesting additional items for cstomers baskets. Hyper Promotional Strategies: Grocers and C Stores are the most highly promotional retailers with mass merchants and some apparel retailers close behind. Promotions have long sstained the grocery bsiness, with a fll 60% of a typical grocery store s revene being driven throgh promotional pricing. Promotional pricing mst take into accont brand bilding and market share, pls cstomer segment targeting and competitive pressre. Lifecycle Pricing: For long-term sccess, many retailers plan their pricing strategy by engaging the entire prodct lifecycle from initial price throgh promotions and ending with markdown pricing. Leading fashion retailers, for example, are better able to maximize sales, margin and sell-throgh by leveraging integrated Price Optimization systems. Two of the primary benefits of this type of soltion inclde the ability to: Maximize profitability throgh optimal pricing: Set and manage reglar prices; qantify the impact of promotional activities to create optimal promotions; and identify nonperforming or slow-moving items to plan optimal markdown schedles. Improve prodctivity with atomated, exceptionbased pricing: Ease decision-making by responding qickly to prodct performance, market opportnities and competitive actions. For long-term sccess, many retailers plan their pricing strategy by engaging the entire prodct lifecycle from initial price throgh promotions and ending with markdown pricing. 13

14 Conclsion As shoppers become more digitally savvy and demanding, retailers mst rethink traditional pricing and promotional strategies. Decisions arond how and when to price and promote now center arond an expanding set of data coming in from nmeros toch points, inclding social media and mobile technology. Visal Analytics can help make sense ot of it all and gide merchants in their qest for the most effective pricing and promotional programs. This E-book has made the case for advanced pricing and promotional strategies sing Visal Analytics, spported by third-party research and insights from IDC Retail Insights, Retail Systems Research and the International Institte for Analytics. By constrcting a strategy based on the three bilding blocks otlined in this E-book, retailers will be able to move forward into the ftre of omnichannel retail. With the help of Visal Analytics, retailers can se all available data to qickly identify opportnities, as well as improve information sharing and collaboration while liberating the IT department from these day-to-day tasks. With the help of Visal Analytics, retailers can se all available data to qickly identify opportnities, as well as improve information sharing and collaboration while liberating the IT department from these day-to-day tasks. 14

15 Abot SAS World Headqarters SAS Institte Inc. 100 SAS Camps Drive Cary, NC , USA P: SAS helps retailers and grocers spend less time crnching nmbers and more time growing revene with key technologies cstomized for today s mltichannel merchants. Bilt arond a powerfl core of market-leading bsiness analytics, or comprehensive site of retail soltions tackles the indstry s greatest challenges, inclding cstomer insight (cstomer intelligence and social media analytics); price optimization (reglar, promotion and markdown); size optimization (size profiling and pack optimization); assortment planning; integrated merchandise planning (allocation, space management and optimization); forecasting (across the enterprise and across market segments); and loss prevention. With more than 35 years of experience working with leading grocers and retailers, SAS helps retailers make better decisions faster. Learn more at Abot Retail TochPoints 411 State Rote 17 Soth Site 410 Hasbrock Heights, NJ P: F: Retail TochPoints is an online pblishing network for retail exectives, with content focsed on optimizing the cstomer experience across all channels. Tapping into the power of the Web 2.0 environment, the Retail TochPoints network is made p of a weekly e-newsletter, categoryspecific blogs, twice monthly Special Reports, web seminars, benchmark research, virtal events, and a content-rich web site at 15