Success Stories* by Our Associates

(7)*  Consistent Planogram Compliance, New Item Speed to Shelf, during High SKU Count, Complex Reset Work (Cosmetics).  Results Were So Strong, Program Was Repeated 8 Times.  Key Was Getting It Right With Minimum of Manufacturer's Time*:  Associate led programs for Planogram compliance for entire new marketing efforts for the manufacturer.  Work involved extremely high sku count, complex racking, heavy resets, 20-24 hours per section.   Included videos to train reps, practice sets, 5-6 month planning and coordination cycle and working side by side with manufacturer. 

·         Chosen by Wal*Mart to coordinate all manufacturers for the changeover of an entire cosmetics department

·         Chosen by L'Oreal and Procter as exclusive merchandising company for 4 years running.

·         Consistently met seasonal deadlines.  (LC)  Category:  Cosmetics

(22)*   20% Improvement in New Item Speed to Shelf.  Shared Merchandising Teams (Broker Coverage) Not Getting Job Done.  Established Dedicated Team Program for Fortune 500 Health and Beauty Manufacturer in Mass Merchandising (Wal*Mart) and Drug Channels*.  Syndicated model being used was falling short in out of stocks, void fills and display compliance.  Also provided greater flexibility for manufacturer's seasonal needs.  New Item improvements were measured by ACV against non-covered stores.  (PL)  Categories:  HBC, Suncare, Footcare, Over The Counter Drugs

(26)*   Promotion Compliance:  Developed Program at Wal*Mart for  Auditing Stores for Compliance with Promotions*.  Marketing department had no history or baseline to judge promotions from.  Current effort is to establish the baseline.    (PL)   Category:  Wal*Mart

(27)*   Manufacturer Saves $10 Million, Compliance Improves 135% by Outsourcing In-House Merchandising Team.  Immediate Savings Of 32% Per Visit. Employees Reduced from 400 to 40*.  Associate led effort to reduce internal merchandising staff of 400, which called on 8,000 locations servicing high sku count products.  The in-house team was not performing for a number of reasons, including the rep’s inability to be effective in two different chains at the same time.  (E.g. Wal*mart and Macy’s.)  (JF)  Categories:  HBC, Intimate Apparel

(33)*   $1.7 Million+ Savings On Merchandising Work.  425,000 Hours of Merchandising Services Provided at 20%+ Cost Savings Through Data-Driven Merchandising.   Demonstrated that targeted project work produced a better ROI for manufacturers and retailers than generic continuity work.  Had to become good at dealing with a fluctuating work load, using part time work force.*  Grew base of business from 72,340 hours per year to 425,531 hours per year over five years.  Growth came by transitioning from continuity work to project work.  Included Hair Care Resets for 6 years running, cosmetics resets at one mass merchandiser and becoming the preferred provider at another mass merchandiser.  Discovered that Project work was often 20% to 25% more cost-efficient than continuity work because of significantly less drive time.  Had to become good at dealing with a fluctuating work load.  Transitioned to part time work force.  (JV)  Categories:  HBC, Cosmetics

(49)*  International Brand Introduced in U.S.: $0 to $70 Million Year Sales in One Year – Just In Wal*Mart!  Got to 90% ACV Distribution in 3 days in Wal*Mart and in 5 days nationwide!

Manufacturer:  Fortune 25 HBC Firm

Problem: Normal product launches were taking 8-10 weeks to get 90% ACV distribution.  In addition to delayed sales, slow launches waste TV ad dollars and waste inventory dollars because product is just sitting.  This was launch of new men’s body spray / cleansing gel line.  New product line had “no functional value – all about belief in self.” 

Solutions Notes:   Used little advertising – went to viral marketing instead.  Launched in Men’s Clothing department, near Skateboards, and near Computer Games.  Went to entirely new launch program based on quality improvement and other cycle time reduction techniques 

Category:  HBC  (PP)

(55)*  Helped Fortune 500 Manufacturer Penetrate Drug Channel and Mass Merchandising / Wal*Mart Channel.  Manufacturer Had Been Unable to Penetrate On Their Own*.  Associate led effort based on existing relationships,  “fact based selling” and showing retailer how shelf space could be better used.    (ML)    Category:  Drug, Wal*Mart

(59)*  Outsourcing In-house Merchandising Team

• $100 Million+ Sales Gain over Multiple Years
• Phase 1 Cost Savings of $1,700,000 Per Year (Approx.)
• Reduced Average Hourly Cost (including overhead) from $38 per hour to $26 per hour for 76 people.
• RIGHT FIELD MERCHANDISER IN RIGHT PLACE, WHEN NEEDED:  Increased Store Visits by 25% for Same Budget Dollars (Approx.)
• BIG BENEFITS FROM LONG TERM PROGRAM:  Manufacturer Was Acquired, but Director of Retail Merchandising Continued Running Program for Acquirer, Continuously Improving Results Over the Years.  See additional success stories for same program:

• Comprehensive Training Makes The Difference.
• Ultimately Reduced Full Time Staff by 50%. (DY MH)

Category:  HBC, Near-HBC

Details:  XYZ

 (60)*  Outsourcing In-house Merchandising Team

• Cost Savings of $7,000,000+ Per Year (Approx.)**
• $38.5 Million Sales Increase Per Year from 5.5% Market Share Gain (Taken from #1 Competitor! – Approx.**)

• New Product Cut-In Rate Raised from 70% to 99%+

• Fixed Costs Moved to Variable Costs, Shared With Other Manufacturers
• 65% Full Time / 35% Part Time Work Force Changed to 30% Full Time / 70% Part Time  (DY MH)

Details:  XYZ

 (66.1)*   Outsourcing Cost Savings – Where to Look

• “How We Found $7 Million In Annual Savings”

• Follow Up to Previous Outsourcing Success Story:  Outsourcing an In-House Merchandising Team:  Success Story* #2  http://tomingraminc.sharepointsite.net/PublicWebSite/Shared%20Documents/OutsourcingInHouseMerchTeam2.pdf

• Internal Cost Estimates Often Do Not Include Everything

(DY MH)

Details:  XYZ

(84)*   17% increase in sales over the past 4 weeks in WalMart [4th Qtr]

Mature Product Increases from 40% Share to 57% Share in 4 Weeks

• “Compliance on Holiday displays has been outstanding. This is the best I have seen in my 5 years on the team.  Wave 2 is 18 percent ahead of last year at this time.” 

• No doubt this compliance is responsible for the 17% increase in sales over the past 4 weeks.
  Congratulations to … the ... merchandising team!”

• We really appreciate your support and partnership!”

• … thanks to your team ... for another stellar year!”

Details:  XYZ

Category:  Near-HBC, (DY)

(88)*  Grew Wal*Mart Consumer Health from $890 million to $1 Billion+ in One Year Through "One Point of Responsibility" Program.  Grew at Twice the Market Growth of 6%.  Accomplished by leading a team of 28 sales people (across 4 business units and 25+ major brands) as single point of responsibility for promotions, new products, packaging, deliveries, etc.  Resulted in multiple awards, including Wal*Mart  supplier of the year.  Wal*Mart requested that other manufacturers duplicate this model.  CONTRAST THIS MODEL TO A MAJOR COMPETITOR WITH 230 AUTONOMOUS BUSINESS UNITS.

Category:  HBC, Prescription to Over the Counter, Prescription Drugs, Contact Lens / Eye Care Solutions, Gastro-Intestinal, Cough/Cold, Analgesics, Anti-Fungal (VM)

(112)*  International Brand Introduced in U.S.: $0 to $10 Million Year One, $75 Million+ by Year Three.  Accomplished With Less Than $10 Million Spent on Introduction

Manufacturer:  European HBC Manufacturer, Acquired by U.S. Manufacturer

Solutions Notes:   Associate assisted with product introduction in Northeast U.S.  Success keys included:

• Positioned product as "European / Hip"

• Slow, deliberate, methodical, inexpensive approach to gaining new retailers and new sales.  Sold product to CVS, Walgreen, and a Grocery retailer BEFORE APPROACHING WAL*MART

• Product was so successful that problems were in Supply, not in sales (as is usually the case)

Category:  HBC, Cosmetics  (DK)

(402.1)* Learned from International Success - How to Launch New Product For Less Than $10 Million - $0 to $180 Million in Three Years.  Manufacturer) was losing money, losing share.  Needed help launching new product concept

Solution Notes:  Associate put together entire program:

• Slow, deliberate, methodical, inexpensive approach to gaining new retailers and new sales.

• Sales plan, marketing and merchandising plan to support launch.   

• Manufacturer could not afford slotting fee of $100,000 per SKU at the dominant retailer.  Solution was to surround retailer with product in competing retailers. 

• Three years later, Associate got product into dominant retailer for slotting fee of $5,000 per SKU.  Gained distribution at Wal*Mart, and multiple other retailers. 

• Owner then sold company for $185 million after successful launch

Category:  Similar to HBC (?) (DK)