As part of their ongoing commitment to improve supply chain collaboration between retailers and consumer packaged goods companies, Agentrics and Retail Solutions Inc. have announced another successful implementation of their demand signal management system, which allows retailers to provide trading partners with visibility into near real-time point-of-sale and inventory data at the store and item level.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens, the nation's largest pharmacy chain, has implemented the Agentrics Demand Signal Management solution, powered by Retail Solutions, as the platform for its new POS data-sharing program for improved collaborative planning, promotional execution and in-store sales performance.
"Early success with our operational data sharing program proves that better information leads to better decisions," says Patrick Looby, Walgreens Vendor Alliance Services. "By providing suppliers access to store-level data by day and by item, we are now able to collaborate around new ways to better serve customers in each of our 6,200 locations. Suppliers that leverage this valuable information will help our entire supply chain become more customer-demand-driven. Together, we can more effectively identify and respond to sudden shifts in demand. This will result in benefits to Walgreens, our suppliers and, most importantly, our customers."
Walgreens launched its POS data sharing program in December 2007, inviting all key suppliers to participate. Many Walgreens suppliers, both large and small, are already live on the system, with more than 50 expected by mid-year.
"Near real-time visibility at the store-SKU level helps suppliers to work more effectively with their retailer customers, and we applaud the Walgreens initiative," says Cedric Guyot, Retail Solutions vice president of marketing. "Retail Solutions strives to provide suppliers with the retailer data they need, in a format they recognize and faster than they could get it any other way. With this kind of data, ready every morning across some of their major customers, they can focus on how to grow sales and reduce out-of-stocks rather than on how to cleanse, reconcile and load retailer POS files in their own databases."
Visit: www.agentrics.com and www.retailsolutions.com