In pursuit of a changing market - new trends and solutions for trade

The retail sector is undergoing systematic changes, analogous to the differing economic level and macroeconomic situation of a country. In Poland, local retail chains and neighborhood stores gave way in the 1990s to popular hypermarkets. The development of modern trade, and what followed the increase in the number of large-format outlets, contributed enormously to changes in tactics and "rules of the game" in trade. It was inevitable at this time for companies to create specialized, dedicated sales departments, based on networks of sales representatives, spread across the country. Currently, the years of splendor are also being experienced in Poland by discount stores, whose popularity rose again in the period of economic crisis and remains until today.

The expansion of stores whose philosophy does not involve the use of sales representatives and merchandisers (Lidl or Biedronka) makes operations in the fast-moving consumer goods market even more difficult. The changes taking place in the modern and traditional trade sectors, as well as the disproportions accompanying these two models, make it crucial to create and implement more and more effective solutions, enabling manufacturers to reach retail outlets with their offer as widely as possible. This situation makes more and more companies operating on the Polish market decide to use the option of a shared network of sales representatives, ensuring the efficiency of sales activities and allowing to generate additional savings.

The intensifying competitive struggle - resulting in lower selling prices and margins for both stores and suppliers - is forcing cost reductions. It is up to efficiency and attractiveness of the companies' offerings to win this battle.

Cheaper sales network, i.e., it is less expensive for a salesman to reach a customer, is also becoming a response to the decreasing order value of a single store. This is particularly noticeable in the traditional trade market. Stores operating on a daily basis on the basis of this sales model are confronted with expansion of large retail chains, which with their outlets are already present not only in the largest cities, as was the case a few years ago, but practically in every Polish municipality.

Smaller sales potential of small local stores is proportionally higher cost of servicing them by suppliers and at the same time decreasing their profitability. However, the combined network strategy is also a good solution for servicing the growing number of "modern stores," at least those that consider the service of sales representatives or merchandisers as standard.

In what is the secret to the success of a shared sales network?

The idea behind the external shared sales network model is for one sales representative to handle more than a dozen product lines of different customers. Thus, he or she spends more time in shopping centers, making him or her more efficient and spreading the cost of his or her employment over several companies.

The option of an external, shared network of sales representatives, offered by the Cursor company from Outsourcing Experts Group, is currently used - from due to effectiveness and low costs - primarily by FMCG or cell phone manufacturers.

Where to look for market advantages?

The competitive advantage of Cursor company from Outsourcing Experts Group in the discussed area is not only the work procedures and management of sales processes based on ISO standards, implemented at all levels. Cursor's strong point is also the use of the EBI Mobile (Assecco Polska) IT system, which allows ordering and execution of diverse tasks set for sales representatives. Due to the specifics of the market, Cursor has separated the service of traditional trade - where it is currently building a retail network - from cooperation with large chain stores, in which it has been providing this service since 2002. The company's portfolio of clients includes not only well-known FMCG companies, but also manufacturers of industrial goods and specialty products.

Piotr Haman, Vice President, Cursor SA; Outsourcing Experts Group