DSN INDUSTRY ISSUES SUMMIT

The Importance of Holistic Supplier, Retailer Partnerships

The final panel of DSN’s annual Industry Issues Summit highlighted supplier and retailer partnerships By Sandra Levy

Drug Store News kicked off the final panel of its three-day annual Industry Issues Summit on Dec. 1 with a panel of retailers and suppliers sharing their views on how to create holistic partnerships.

Moderator Dan Mack, founder of Mack Elevation, started by saying that the nature of partnerships is changing due to a variety of factors.

“We’re seeing a world where there’s increased costs, inflation and limited faceto-face interaction,” Mack said. Every time there’s a disruption, there’s an opportunity “if you’re staying in front of it and ask the right questions,” he continued. “We’re in an age of ideas, knowledge and co-creation. The best partners co-create.”

Jacob Trombino, divisional merchandising manager of HealthHUB at CVS Health, noted that a key in making a change was thinking about the met and unmet needs of consumers.

Trombino emphasized that it’s important for suppliers to take retailers along the journey. “What’s your pipeline, where are you going?” he said. “It’s an openness to innovate together and create something that will be customer relevant. We have to have openness to listen to each other. What is the data and respective customers telling us? Openness to being mostly right versus perfect. Some things won’t work and that is OK. We need to learn what works and what doesn’t. I’ve been walking the store with brand and product development teams, whether small or large companies, looking for gaps and needs in the marketplace, and ultimately watching those products grow and sell and deliver long-term value. The customer of today is not the customer of yesterday.”

Maya Bowie, vice president of health merchandising at Walmart, echoed the sentiments by stating that we will not create true innovation without thinking about the true problems we need to solve.

“How customers shop, for us it’s all about omnichannel,” Bowie said. “One focus we have is looking for innovation in customer experience. The second focus is product innovation. Pushing on the science to solve the problems. How do we continue to innovate there? Third is around marketing and storytelling. How do we take some of the same solutions and be more relevant, and speak to customers with more stories that resonate? We encourage suppliers to think of the broader ecosystem for customers, including how we are managing conditions.”

BUILDING TRUST

Shifting to the topic of ensuring profitability, Jeff Mondelli, vice president of pharmacy, health and beauty at Wakefern, discussed how honesty is still the best policy when it comes to working with certain partners.

“Delivering bad news is part of the job and may not feel good at the moment, but

We have to have openness to listen to each other. What is the data and respective customers telling us? Delivering bad news is part of the job and may not feel good at the moment, but long term it’s the only recipe for success.

— Jacob Trombino, divisional merchandising manager of Health HUB at CVS Health — Maya Bowie, vice president of health merchandising at Walmart

We encourage suppliers to think of the broader ecosystem for customers, including how we are managing conditions.

— Maya Bowie, vice president of health merchandising at Walmart — Jeff Mondelli, vice president of pharmacy, health and beauty at Wakefern

long term it’s the only recipe for success,” Mondelli said. “At the end of the day, this is about relationships and trust. During joint planning sessions, tops to tops, it’s best to be straight partners about delivering bad news.”

Mike Wolf, senior director, divisional merchandise manager of advanced care and home health care at Walgreens, agreed with Mondelli and highlighted another area of importance — finding areas of commonality and growth.

Wolf said that when it gets down to how we solve this problem, innovation is key. “Innovation is taking a customer problem to be solved and solving it in a better way,” he said. “It’s good for us and the manufacturer. It’s a win across the board,” he said.

Lastly, Wolf said being honest is important. “If we see a ‘me too’ product, we’re going to tell you. Maybe you’re lukewarm and we love it. Maybe we’ll have a conversation on that too,” he said.

REAPING BENEFITS

Jessica Donati, vice president of consumer products at AmerisourceBergen, shifted the conversation to discuss how proactive innovation between partners is key, and how modifying expectations in a sustainable way can benefit both parties.

Donati said she expects that delivery options and curbside pickup are not going to disappear, and organizations will need to figure out how to modify expectations. “From a supply chain perspective, investments in supply chain are not going to go away either,” she said. “I’d love to see partners come together and do provocative things together, such as share in costs and reap benefits together.”

When it came to addressing what the future of health and wellness looks like, Trombino noted that having a customer-first lens is vital to figuring out the next steps. He also emphasized the importance of data and how it can help predict what categories will continue to see growth.

“Wellness is all around our store,” Trombino said. “Health is the most obvious. It’s a lifestyle and a journey, through the supplements we take, the products we use on our hair and skin, the things we eat and diagnostic tools we use.”

A HOLISTIC EXPERIENCE

Trombino said we need to ensure that we offer customers a holistic experience in the way we communicate and how we merchandise products in stores and online. Womens’ wellness was among the growth categories, Trombino cited. “We need to broaden that horizon. There are gaps in that space we can solve,” he said. Sleep and immune support categories and cognitive and mental health space also need attention.

“Over the last year and a half, testing, such as OTC COVID testing, has put a spotlight on that category,” Trombino said. “If people get comfortable testing on their own, we’ll learn and see how big this area can grow for us in the years to come. The onus on health is going to be on us. We need to think about how to brand the product.”

Bowie broached the subject of selfcare, stating that it is often driven by a person’s economic status, lifestyle and where they live.

“A lot of trends we’re seeing and focused on have transformed and sped up,” Bowie said. “Proactive engaged health, it’s about how they prevent, diagnose and understand. For us, it’s vitamins, supplements. There’s a huge trend there.”

Bowie said that diagnostic testing is shifting the category story. “We’re making some changes in the next year,” she said. “We’re looking at our whole business, not just in front of the pharmacy but big box. We have a huge food home business working together with our wearable business. How do we help people with the entire lifestyle journey? There’s a binary moment of people shopping online but still coming into stores, engaging in stores. We have to do both.” dsn