MINNEAPOLIS & BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- As retailers search for ways to better pick and position store merchandise, manufacturers are taking active roles in providing movement data by making reporting tools and educational videos accessible on the web.
Last August, Minneapolis-based General Mills Convenience launched a new website, www.generalmillsconvenience.com, to educate retailers about category management and provide reporting applications they could populate with their own sales data.
"We've built an objective tool that empowers retailers to make decisions," said Drew Helmey, associate channel marketing manager for General Mills. "Our product might be No. 5, and that's OK. It's up to us to make that better. We first want to contribute to the health of category."
Other manufacturers offer reporting tools as well. The "Grow My Store" section of www.kelloggsconvenience.com offers plan-o-grams based on category and space needs, said Lisa Costigan, business unit manager for convenience, The Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, Mich. Additionally, profit calculators allow retailers to input their store's velocity for each Kellogg product and see potential weekly, monthly and annual profit.
"In addition to these online tools, our sales force also works with our category management team to provide custom plan-o-grams to the retailers," she said.
For Kellogg, Costigan said plan-o-grams are designed to be shopped by daypart, with breakfast items normally placed on the top shelf, followed by morning snacks on a lower shelf, then lunch and so forth.
Taking a holistic approach, Helmey of General Mills said his website offers tools that can bring geographic and competitive metrics into play, assessing unit and dollar sales and turns.
Using category management techniques, Kelly Fulford, category development manager for General Mills said she thinks of two separate areas. One is around movement data, making the best choices for shelf assortment. The other is setting product in the right places. "We have a dedicated consumer-insights team, so we can better understand how the consumer is shopping the store."
The General Mills site also spends time educating retailers on the fundamentals of category management, reviewing what numbers mean and how to navigate certain reports. At the end of the day, "it's the expertise on how to stock your shelves with the right product, products that turn faster, and getting a better sense of what to have on your shelves," said Helmey.
After four years of developing the website, Helmey and his team hope it helps chains of all sizes. "You don't have to have the technology," he said. "You can, of course, and if you've invested in it, we can still share what we've built. We can give [the retailer] a better line of sight."
General Mills is one of the world's leading food companies, operating in more than 100 countries. Its consumer brands include Cheerios, Haagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Progresso and Old El Paso. It had fiscal 2011 net sales of $14.9 billion.
Kellogg, with 2010 sales of more than $12 billion, is a leading producer of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles and veggie foods. It brands, which are manufactured in 18 countries and marketed in more than 180 countries, include Kellogg's, Keebler, Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Cheez-It, All-Bran , Mini-Wheats, Nutri-Grain, Rice Krispies, Special K, Chips Deluxe, Famous Amos, Sandies, Austin, Club, Murray, Kashi, Bear Naked, Morningstar Farm, Gardenburger and Stretch Island.
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