In an increasingly globalised retail environment, international service providers such as Epic Partners, Coopernic, and AgeCore, as well as purchasing groups like Eurelec, Everest, and Eureca, have emerged as significant forces.
Moreover, additional groupings continue to form, and membership is constantly evolving. Examples include the newly established Vasco International Trading AG in partnership with Coop Switzerland, Belgium’s Colruyt Group, and the Netherlands’ Superunie.
The two Edeka alliances, Epic and Everest, have separated from Coopérative U and continue to pursue competitive pricing, now also including Aura, the purchasing group representing Auchan, Intermarché, and Casino.
Concordis is another alliance with European ambitions, encompassing Carrefour, RTG, and Coopérative U, which, however, is prohibited from sharing negotiation results previously obtained by Everest!
Against this backdrop, manufacturers need to address several critical questions: How should the management of such alliances be structured and organized internally? How can international and local investment guidelines be defined? What are the key process steps to ensure internal transparency and to establish a defensible pricing and trade terms policy across markets? Finally, which strategic direction should be taken-list price alignment, net-net price harmonization, and/or European floor prices?
CONTENT
Managing International Buying Alliances & Purchasing Groups
- Service provider and purchasing groups specifications
- Retailers' priorities and suppliers' opportunities
- International alliance governance
- Cascaded negotiation approaches
- Folding & shifting opportunities
- Handling of "back to home“ terms
- "Art of the deal" vs. Havard principles
- Retailer sanctions management
- Negotiation strategies and key success factors
- Potential business driver
- The Eurelec "way of working": Practical example
Considerations on European Pricing
- European Pricing in the scope of TSC
- p4p based terms & allowances systems
- Country specific vs. harmonized prices
- European price-lists!?