IBA TRADE WORKSHOP: IBA IS BUILDING A NETWORK OF THE FUTURE

IBA is building the Network of the Future

Independent Brands Australia gave members an insight into how it is building its Network of the Future at its 2023 Trade Workshop in Cairns.

Independent Brands Australia (IBA) 2023 Trade Workshop was held in Cairns last month, with an underlying theme of building a ‘Network of the Future’.

Metcash Group CEO Doug Jones welcomed the group of more than 570 IBA retailer members and supplier partners on day one of business sessions and spoke about Australia’s thriving independent retail sector.

“I’m not sure that everybody appreciates just how wonderful the independent retail sector in Australia is. I think it’s a national treasure, and I don’t say that lightly. I think that it should be protected and afforded the respect and admiration that it deserves.

“Independent retailers in this country are as good as anywhere in the world. I have been fortunate enough to travel around the world and see lots of different retail formats and I can tell you that you guys stack up and, in many cases, surpass the rest of the world.”

Jones then went on to speak about IBA’s purpose of championing successful independents and highlighted some of the strengths of the IBA network.

He said: “Our purpose is championing successful independents, and that’s also our strategy. There really are four key areas where you can make a difference as an independent retailer. You can win on range, you can win on service, you can win through price, and you can win through convenience. You can’t win on all four, but you can make some strong choices about where you’re able to win.

“In the IBA network we have 1,300 stores, that’s more than any of our competitors. Our retailers are local, so we can have a range tailored for that local community, and we can have a service offering that is for locals, by locals. So, I do think that we have some incredibly strong assets, and reason to believe that we have a firm and sustainable route to win.”

Celebrating success

John Barakat, General Manager Merchandise & Operations, ALM, provided an update on the successes of the past four years since IBA last gathered for a national Trade Workshop. He also spoke about IBA’s ambition to become the best liquor retail network in Australia and the steps the business is taking to get there.

“A lot has happened over the last four years,” he said. “Who would have thought in early 2020, everybody’s life was going to change. It’s been crazy times, but we got through it.

“What has evolved in our business and what we’ve developed, launched, and executed over the last four years, has been quite significant. And that’s allowed us to add value back into your stores to obviously drive foot traffic.

“We have done this by driving growth through brand awareness, and shopper value. We’ve launched e-commerce, and we’ve launched loyalty over the last four years. We’ve developed our own exclusive portfolio. We’ve partnered with suppliers to build other exclusives, so that portfolio will continue to grow.”

Barakat said that since 2019, the business has worked to enhance the quality of its network by investing in store upgrades and cool room relays, with more than 530 of those having been completed over this time, delivering around five to 15 per cent growth back into those stores.

He continued: “We’ve also developed, launched, and executed an in-store excellence program. In the last few years that has delivered $1.7m back to our members and is driving incremental foot traffic back into your stores.

“We continue to launch brand campaigns, driving awareness and appeal, and conversion into your stores. Off the back of that, we’ve been able to build stronger promotional programs and be competitive in market.”

Barakat also highlighted the launch of ALM Connect and the impending launch of ALM One-Stop-Shop, which are creating a frictionless environment for its retailers.

He concluded: “It feels good to reflect on the past, and we really should celebrate the giant leap we’ve made. But, in our minds, it is just another forward step in a longterm journey of becoming the best liquor network in Australia. That’s our ambition, and ties back into our theme of Network of the Future.”

Network of the Future

The theme of the Trade Workshop was building the ‘Network of the Future’, as outlined by Rod Pritchard, General Manager, Strategy & Transformation. With emphasis on the development of IBA’s digital and data capability. The focus for IBA and its retail network is one of continuous improvement, rather than a destination.

Highlighting the pace of change across the market in recent years, Pritchard encouraged commitment from the retailers to embrace the opportunity with some urgency, “as the future is now”.

In referencing IBA’s scale as its competitive advantage, Pritchard also identified the work that IBA has done over the past few years to ensure they have the ‘retail fitness’ to enable the Network of the Future strategy. By leveraging data and insights through shopper, basket scan, loyalty and e-commerce, IBA is focused on generating consistent and sustainable growth for its members, attracting shoppers through their doors and online.

“It’s time to face into some of the challenges of our model. The reality is that scale is absolutely our key strength, but it’s also a challenge. The reality is our network is not created equally. Our 1,500 stores are not created equally, and nor are the retailers operating each of those stores. The store standards vary store to store and store delivery changes store to store. Our model has largely been a ‘one-size-fits-most’ solution before now. We aim to utilise the data to bring a more tailored approach,” Pritchard explained.

IBA’s Network of the Future strategy will adopt a two-speed approach, allowing those retailers who are striving for more to achieve it. A key area of focus is loyalty, which will enable customer personalisation, recommendations, and insights, and IBA knows it will only become more important in coming years. Customers are more willing to share their data with a retailer if it results in discounts on their purchases or a better understanding of them as a shopper. IBA plans to incentivise and reward its most disciplined retailers to raise the level of execution in-store, while maintaining current programs for those retailers who are not ready or capable of taking that next step.

Pritchard flagged the introduction of a loyalty program for their Porters retailers in the new year, replicating the programs that are currently active in Cellarbrations and Bottle-O stores, as well as the inclusion of liquor offers across the IGA grocery store rewards program for IGA+ Liquor retailers.

Pritchard spoke positively of the traction of the Bottle-O and Cellarbrations retailers in the e-commerce space, with Bottle-O receiving 1.1 million online visits and Cellarbrations receiving 1.5 million online visits this year alone. For retailers in the eastern states, the rise of on-demand delivery is another opportunity that ALM is keen to help members to capitalise on.

While Pritchard underlined IBA’s ambition in developing its Network of the Future is to encourage its members to innovate and to raise the quality of execution within the stores to accelerate their growth, he also acknowledged that it may not be for everyone.

“We will continue to support those retailers within the status quo. If they’re happy with the status quo, that’s great. But we really want to challenge and reward our best retailers for stepping up their game. And we also want to challenge the pack to become fitter,” Pritchard concluded.

Striving to be the best

Australian Liquor Marketers (ALM) CEO Chris Baddock reiterated Jones and Barakat’s messages, highlighting that the independent retail trade is “here to stay”.

He said: “Our theme of ‘Network of the Future’ is about striving to do everything in our power to make sure that we bring that future closer and that we bring the consumer through your doors. That we support our suppliers and partner brands, and that we do that together. We’re in the future today.” Baddock referenced a proverb: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’

He said: “We truly believe that partnership will take us much further. It’ll take us together, we’ll do it together, and when you’re doing it with somebody else – that is you the retailer, us Metcash, and of course the suppliers, all focused on the consumer – I truly believe that we can do it better.”

He then went on to also reference ALM and IBA’s core purpose of championing successful independents and spoke to why the word ‘successful’ is such an integral part of that purpose.

“Successful is about this group of people – you’re the true believers and you’re here because you believe in us going together and going far. Successful in my view is those who truly believe in striving to be the best that they can be, and you’ll see throughout these two days, that we want to take those who want to be successful, those who want to be fit, those who want to achieve bigger and better things, and how we’re going to do it.

“We need to ensure that this network is full of individuals who want to be the absolute best that they can be.”

IBA FIVE STAR AWARD WINNERS

STATE BRAND WINNERS

Cellarbrations

NSW-ACT: Cellarbrations Wingham

NT: Cellarbrations Katherine

QLD: Cellarbrations Superstore Narangba Valley Tavern

SA: Cellarbrations at Mannum

TAS: Cellarbrations Kingston

VIC: Cellarbrations at Monbulk

WA: Cellarbrations Denham

The Bottle-O

NSW-ACT: The Bottle-O Hazelbrook

NT: The Bottle-O Pit Lane

QLD: The Bottle-O at Hervey Bay

TAS: The Bottle-O Foreshore Hotel

VIC: The Bottle-O Monacellars, Warragul

WA: The Bottle-O Dongara

IGA Liquor

NSW-ACT: IGA Liquor Sovereign Place

VIC: Waldron’s Fresh on River IGA+ Liquor

Thirsty Camel

NT: Thirsty Camel Cavenagh

QLD: Thirsty Camel at Steampunk Ferny Ave

SA: Thirsty Camel at The Highway

TAS: Thirsty Camel Marquis Hotel

Porters Liquor

NSW: Porters Liquor Lansval

TAS: Porters Liquor Bellerive

WA: Porters Liquor Claremont

OVERALL STATE WINNERS

NSW-ACT: Cellarbrations, Wingham

NT: The Bottle-O Pit Lane

QLD: Cellarbrations Superstore, Narangba Valley Tavern

SA: Cellarbrations at Mannum

TAS: Cellarbrations Kingston

VIC: Cellarbrations at Monbulk

WA: Cellarbrations Denham

STATE BUSINESS

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

NSW-ACT: Kristy Baker

QLD: Ben Lysaght

Southern Region: Nick Martens

Western & Central Region: Vanessa Jennings

NATIONAL WINNERS

National Retailer of the Year: Shane and Tanya Madden and Stephen and Mel Young, Cellarbrations Wingham

National Store Manager of the Year: Will Clarke, Cellarbrations Wingham

National Retail Business Development Manager of the Year: Kristy Baker

National Supplier of the Year

(Large): CUB Premium Beverages

(Small): Samuel Smith & Son / Negociants

HALL OF FAME

Jean Crowley