50|Retail News|February 2021|www.retailnews.ie
Data and FMCG
Collaboration the key to getting value from data
Sharing your data with your supply chain partners can really maximise its effectiveness, according to a recent webinar that analysed FMCG brands’ and retailers’ relationships with big data. BUSINESS analysts RecommenderX is hosting a series of webinars featuring industry experts to help break down big data. The first in the series covered FMCG Brands & Retailer Relationships with Data. The discussion featured Declan Carolan, GM of ECR Ireland and Co-Chair of ECR Community; Hash Alsadi, UK Head of Business Development with RecommenderX; Stephen O’Neill, Head of Category, O’Brien Fine Foods; Roger Jackson, CEO, Shopper Intelligence; and Kevin McCarthy, CEO of RecommenderX. The Q&A format provided a lively platform for debate and discussion to explore the sometimes overwhelming nature of big data and what to do with it. What do people think about data? Roger: “What we find for a lot of the retailers that we work with is that they see more and more data sources each year, and often more cost associated with collecting and interpreting it.
The first RecommenderX webinar on FMCG Brands and Retailer Relationships with Data proved a lively debate. The reality is that it is a challenge to understand what data says and how to use it effectively. To some retailers, data is something like a necessary evil rather than a valuable resource.” Stephen: “As retailers who have gone on a journey to make data work for us, we see it as a resource. But that is how we see it now, at the end of a long and involved process. We have brought ourselves to a position where we have made data an effective tool to help build our brand and business. There are very large costs associated with data collection, cleaning, storage, etc. Like any part of our business, we have invested in data and we must see a return on that investment.” Declan: “There can be a perception with some retailers, suppliers and
manufacturers that data belongs to them. Roger and Stephen, as data providers and consumers, have already mentioned the cost associated with data. Of course, you own the data you invest in, but the companies we see getting the most value from their investment are those who are willing to share it with their partners in the supply chain. When all the partners bringing a product to a consumer share their data, they can add value at each part of the chain and help to deliver a return on the investment they made in gathering that data. While you own your data, you need to share to see its full value.” Getting the truth from data often depends on the question being asked, or even how it is asked. Can we use data to find the one source of the truth? Hash: “Getting the ‘truth’ out of data
