Page 47 - RetailWorld-May2021-Tobacco-Updated

SALES & MARKETING THE IMPORTANCE OF DATA There’s no question that reliance on analytics to target and retain customers is increasing, with Woolworths Group seeking to take control of data analytics firm Quantium by raising its stake in the company to 75 per cent from 47 per cent. Woolworths, which benefited from Covid-induced stockpiling in 2020, warned in February this year that sales growth would likely slow in the months ahead as travel restrictions eased and vaccinations increased. “Advanced analytics is key to improving the experiences, ranges and services we provide to our customers and the support we provide to our teams and suppliers,” CEO Brad Banducci said. “The way we gather data, interpret it, and protect it is becoming ever more important.” A new business unit, Q-Retail, will be established to focus on advanced analytics for Woolworths, the company said. switch back to the brand they did enjoy for years’. “The third area in terms of this year is: we’ve noticed far more inquiries from clients that either have never outsourced in the sales and marketing space or have had their own small, in-sourced team. “What they’re doing now is looking at that team as a fixed overhead and thinking, ‘I really should outsource, because I need agility and I need flexibility’. If there were ever outbreaks again, they understand they’d need to be able to move quickly rather than just have that resource sitting on the books. “So that’s presented quite a lot of inquiries for us from those clients that typically would in-source a lot of work but have now decided to go third party. From a third-party sales and marketing contract sales perspective, there’s good growth opportunities for that. “To target the areas where clients are recycling growth, you need a level of insight using precise information and data, and that’s something we spent a lot of time doing in the past 12 months. “It’s not something you can do with a scattergun approach. And if you’ve got that level of insight and the various data sources that you can join together, then you can optimise your effort to tackle the growth that you’ve got to recycle from last year.” Added flexibility Creative Activation is a retail partner organisation focused on accelerating sales and customer engagement. Its 5000 employees work to support retailers in various capacities, including mystery shoppers and auditing, merchandising, sales reps and brand ambassadors. Group Managing Director Gerard Feehan tells us the pandemic led to changes in a number of different areas TO PAGE 46 Smart Media Product content made easy Ingredients and nutritional information How do customers view your brand online? Do they have all the information they need to pick your product? Smart Media’s Content Creation service provides you with everything your customer needs. Country of origin Marketing Messages EMAIL: services@gs1au.org MAY, 2021 RETAIL WORLD 45