Visibility is vital. The more information you have on a situation, the better you can understand it, the faster you can react to it, and the more likely it is that you can anticipate what comes next.
Visibility is also hard to achieve, particularly now. From a pandemic that turned global distribution networks upside down, through to a continued international conflict, uncertainty reigns. Add skyrocketing inflation and a growing cost of living crisis into the mix, and you have an environment in which it’s even harder to get a handle on what’s happening.
That lack of visibility carries real consequences for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. Unless CPGs have a clear view of the flow of goods from the supply chain to the shelf, it’s almost impossible to get to the truth about demand. And with consumer behaviours changing fast, particularly in relation to the appetite for national brands, that absence of certainty can be dangerous.
It goes without saying that data plays a critical role here. The right information can help CPGs stay on top of a situation no matter how fast it evolves. That too, is easier said than done, however. The majority of demand data comes direct from retailers themselves, leaving CPGs at the mercy of inconsistent formats and fragmented information that can be days - if not weeks - out of date.
It’s with that in mind that SKUtrak was first developed to offer our customers interactive visual analytics that can instantly answer standard questions using dashboards. With the inclusion of DataShare functionality, SKUtrak users also have direct access to the same data to help perform ad-hoc queries, create bespoke dashboards and feed their data systems. This gives users a clear, current, and comprehensive view of sales and product movement.
Naturally, for SKUtrak to provide the most comprehensive view of the market, it also needs to provide data from as many retailers as possible. That is why I am excited to announce that users can now link their Waitrose data with their SKUtrak account.
All the power of Waitrose Connect, with none of the effort
The addition of Waitrose Connect data to SKUtrak DataShare makes it faster and easier to analyse Waitrose trading data than ever before.
As is the case with all retailers supported by SKUtrak, data is imported straight from Waitrose Connect directly into your SKUtrak account. This high-quality, curated feed brings you all of the information that you’d normally find within Waitrose Connect, without you having to manually source and add it.
This gives you visibility of your flow of goods within the Waitrose ecosystem across two important areas:
Using this information, not only can you gain detailed insight into your performance with Waitrose, but you’ll also have the ability to compare that performance against any other retailers included in your SKUtrak plan. This represents an across-the-board improvement in terms of overall visibility, giving you a better picture of your aggregate performance than has ever been possible before.
Real-time and direct access to daily curated data
As well as helping to drive time savings and deeper insights, DataShare also makes it simple for you to bring data from Waitrose Connect information into other systems. Built on Snowflake, DataShare integrates with a variety of other platforms and includes “out of the box” connectors for the likes of Excel, Power BI, and Tableau. From Waitrose, to SKUtrak, and then on to the application of your choice - effortlessly.
That integration isn’t just limited to Business Intelligence tools, either. With its programmatic interface, DataShare also makes it easy to bring your Waitrose Connect data into other tools too. As a result, no matter whether you’re managing a simple Excel tracker or a global ERP, finance, or planning system, you can provide that application with the high-quality data needed to maximise its effectiveness.
From speaking to SKUtrak customers, I know that Waitrose is a deeply important account for many CPGs. I also know that it’s one that many brands struggle with in terms of visibility and that this functionality has been at the top of many people’s SKUtrak wish lists for some time now.
We’re excited about the impact this new integration between SKUtrak and Waitrose Connect will have on that situation and look forward to hearing how it performs within your organisation.
You can learn more about the launch of Waitrose Connect for SKUtrak DataShare here, and add a Waitrose plan to your account just by getting in touch.
