Gain insight into the key drivers behind your Category Manager’s decisions, and the ways that non-merchandising functions interact with your Category Manager.  You will learn to identify and leverage the key performance indicators that drive your customer's behavior.  We provide a framework for mapping the decision process at your retail customer.  Also, you will gain insight into key metrics of the five critical functions within the retailer.

Gain insight into the dynamic US drugstore industry, a growing industry with a unique and challenging business model. Learn about Walgreens and CVS, the leading retailers driving growth in the channel, gaining insight into their respective competitive positioning, retail growth strategies, and initiatives. Upon completion of this course, you will: understand the rapidly changing competitive landscape; be able to explain the drugstore economic, operating, and promotional model and the implications for suppliers; and have insight into Walgreens’ and CVS key strategies, challenges and opportunities.

Explore the evolution of selling consumables and how these products now cross channel lines in a unified “food continuum.”  Understand the drivers behind channel convergence through the Shopper Decision Tree and the concept of New Convenience.  Realize the implications on supermarkets and how you can apply the DESIGN model to react to these changes. 

Gain an understanding of conditional trading, and how to use it effectively. You will learn about trading groups of variables, understand how to be creative in a negotiation, and gain insight into customer satisfaction at the end of a negotiation.

Effective customer business planning is critical to driving success with retail customers, and this course provides a framework and process for doing so.  Learn how to assess  the situation, and what information you need to create an effective customer business plan.  We cover both a process for creating your customer business plan, as well as insight into developing strategies and tactical objectives to deliver your plan.

Explore the evolution of the typical shopper path to purchase caused by disruption and growth in the digital space.  The course helps learners understand why digital is important and explain how this space assists the shopper.  Then learn the impact and scope of the growth of this channel - particularly from Amazon - and its affect on the bricks and mortar stores so you can address this critical change in your future strategy. 

Identify key margin management strategies used by leading European retailers, and apply this knowledge to the joint business planning process. You will learn key components of European retailers’ financial statements, gain insight into why these margin measurements are critical to European retailers, understand gross profit and gross margin percentage calculations – including front and back margin management – and understand how different types of retailers manage margin.

Gain a comprehensive point of view on the keys to capitalizing on growth opportunities in this fast-growing channel. Learn about the different types of discounters, the core aspects of their value proposition, the role of national brands in this channel, and the success factors for creating a relevant offer.

Gain insight into evaluating a retailer's approach to finance, brand strategy, and operations to help grow and develop your business.  We outline how the interplay between finance and operations gives rise to specific retailer business model, and focus on the implications of working with different types of retailers.  You will learn to complete a score card for a given retailer using the concepts of brand, finance, operations, business model, pricing, and service and execution.

Learn the fundamentals of the three financial statements and key economic drivers for retail customers.

Gain insight into how Kroger’s scale, organizational complexity, acquisition history and market position affect how it does business with suppliers. Learn about Kroger’s multi-format approach, shopper data analysis and pricing strategies, and insight into its key strengths and weaknesses.

Learn about its growth strategies, merchandising initiatives, the role of brands and Lidl’s financial model to maximize your business with this key retailer

Gain an understanding of the Global (non US) cash and carry business, and the role of Metro.  Learn about Metro’s approach as it enters new markets, and its financial and operational metrics to understand the success factors involved in making an offer to Metro

In the first of 3 selling skills courses, you will learn to understand your customer’s needs more effectively and to convert features into benefits for your customer that address their specific needs. 

Learn a framework and a step by step process that will help you to plan effectively for negotiations.  You will understand the factors that drive success in a negotiation, and learn the fundamentals of planning for a negotiation, including your commercial sales proposition, analyzing power in a negotiation, and the trading of variables.