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75% of Retailers and 58% of Consumer Products Manufacturers Rank Consumer Centricity Among Top 3 Keys to Success

^{Published on 2009-02-19 11:52:51, Last Modified on 2009-02-19 11:54:39 - Market Wire}
 

SAN CARLOS, Calif. & TORONTO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--DemandTec, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMAN), a leading provider of on-demand optimization solutions for retailers and consumer products manufacturers, and Precima, Inc., an advanced analytics firm that translates retail customer data into critical insights, today released the findings of a survey measuring how retailers and consumer products manufacturers use consumer-centric data and analysis to drive their businesses.

The survey, conducted by IDC Global Retail Insights and titled "Being Consumer-Centric: A Retailer and Manufacturer Update", shows companies are seeing benefits from the concept, but more opportunities are available. Consumer centricity was defined in the survey as any strategy for which an organization uses shopper data to develop insight as a driver for decision-making.

"This survey confirms that retailers and consumer products manufacturers have become more consumer-centric for several years and are serious about committing to this type of initiative," said Marc Dietz, vice president of marketing at DemandTec. "Given the difference between top-performing retailers and the rest of the pack, it is interesting to see the tremendous opportunity for additional investment and improvement."

Among the key findings of the IDC Global Retail Insights survey are:

• Most retailers (75%) and consumer products manufacturers (58%) rank consumer centricity as a top 3 success factor
• 80% of retailers and 67% of manufacturers expect an increased focus on consumer centricity in 2009
• Manufacturers need to work on leveraging consumer insights across the organization with only 43% indicating their ability is better than satisfactory, compared to 64% of retailers
• The limited availability of team resources is the largest impediment to consumer-centric success for both retailers (37%) and manufacturers (43%)
• Lack of support and executive sponsorship is no longer a significant barrier for retailers (16%) with more than 75% retailers appointing a senior consumer-centricity role

"As expected, this research clearly demonstrates a continued trend toward consumer-centricity as a critical business strategy. What is surprising, however, is that we find that many of the core obstacles – such as limited team resources – are unsolved as barriers to success," said Brian Ross, general manager, Precima. "This is a clear call to both retailers and manufacturers that getting the fundamentals in place, including the right data, the right people and the right tools is critical to a winning consumer-centric strategy."

"Overall, the research shows that while both retailers and manufacturers have taken steps to incorporate consumer centricity into their strategic and tactical activities, there are still many untapped opportunities. By dedicating the appropriate people and technical resources, retailers and manufacturers will create points of differentiation in their product offering that will retain existing consumers and attract new ones," said Leslie Hand, research director, IDC Global Retail Insights.

Additional key insights for Retailers and Manufacturers:

• Manufacturer high performers clearly use consumer insights more frequently for demand planning/forecasting (80%) compared to the norm (49%)
• Retailer high performers use consumer insights more frequently in sales/merchandising (80%) compared to the norm (60%)
• High performer retailers are motivated to share data to strengthen trading partner relationships (53%) compared to the norm (24%)

Survey Methodology:

The sample consisted of 120 respondents, including 55 retailers and 65 consumer products manufacturers. Respondent roles were director level and above. The survey was conducted through online and telephone interviews. Top performers in each group were defined as those having annual same store sales growth of at least 7% (for retailers) and those within the top ten in the survey based on percent annual revenue growth (for consumer products and pharmaceuticals). Outliers were discarded to maintain data integrity. Data is accurate within 90% confidence level and 10% confidence interval.

Note to editors: The executive summary of the survey is available at [ www.demandtec.com/retailsurvey ] or [ www.precima.com/centricity ].

About IDC Global Retail Insights

Global Retail Insights, a worldwide advisory services and market research firm, assists retail industry executives, and vendors serving retailers, in achieving competitive differentiation and market success thru business-driven technology investments. Our fact-based research and merchant-centric strategies enable better offerings from vendors and more effective technology investment by retailers.

About Precima

Precima is an advanced analytics firm that translates retail customer data into critical insights to better align marketing, merchandising and operations strategies with shopper needs. Precima helps retailers and manufacturers grow sales, improve profitability and build customer loyalty. As the in-house analytics arm of LoyaltyOne, an Alliance Data company, Precima worked with many of the leading retail partners of the AIR MILES Reward Program over 16 years to help make the program North America's coalition loyalty marketing leader. Additionally, Precima has worked with numerous customer-focused retailers and manufacturers across North America. Precima is recognized for delivering measurable results tailored to each retailer's unique needs. For more information visit [ www.precima.com ].

About DemandTec

DemandTec (NASDAQ: DMAN) enables retailers and consumer products companies to optimize merchandising and marketing decisions, individually or collaboratively, to achieve their sales volume, revenue, and profitability objectives. DemandTec software services utilize DemandTec's science-based software platform to model and understand consumer behavior. DemandTec customers include more than 165 leading retail and consumer products manufacturers such as Advance Auto Parts, Best Buy, Circle K Stores, ConAgra Foods, Delhaize America, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, General Mills, Giant-Carlisle, H-E-B Grocery Co., Hormel Foods, Monoprix, Safeway and Sara Lee. Connected via the DemandTec TradePoint Network™, DemandTec customers have collaborated online on more than 2 million trade deals. For more information, please visit [ www.demandtec.com ].

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