NARMS

Apollo Retail Specialists of Canada Announces New Leadership Team

2012-02-03T14:57:57Z

Apollo Retail Specialists of Canada is pleased to announce its’ new leadership team. Based in Toronto, Ontario the team is lead by Kim Cordeiro, Vice-President of Operations. Cordeiro was most recently President of her own merchandising company, Revive, Inc.

“Beyond numbers, beyond performance and beyond communication, our greatest asset is the relationship we have built with our customers and vendors.” says Cordeiro. “By joining with Apollo Retail, we further strengthen our position in Canada as our retail clients’ ‘go to’ solution partner and can now offer the same quality services throughout all of Canada as well as the United States and Mexico.”

Joining Cordeiro will be Project Manager Dan Harris, Project Manager Wendi Rau and Resourcing and Administrative Coordinator Elle Gallagher. Together this team has over 60 years of collective retail experience.

Apollo Retail Specialists of Canada is a division of Apollo Retail Specialists, headquartered in Tampa, FL. The company provides a full range of merchandising and construction services in Canada, the USA and Mexico for retail chains and consumer product companies.

The main phone line for the Toronto office is 1-888-395-0274. Cordeiro’s e-mail is kim.cordeiro@apolloretail.com.

* Apollo Retail Specialists of Canada and Apollo Retail Specialists is a wholly owned subsidiary of DDP Holdings, LLC, a portfolio company of Palm Beach Capital.

Merchandising as the Value Platform

2012-02-02T19:58:20Z

In a week that saw Wal-Mart move the U.S. marketing team under the direction of their chief merchandising officer, SymphonyIRI Group released the latest edition of Times & Trends which calls merchandising the platform to communicate value to the consumer. For members of the at-retail merchandising and marketing services industry, this is more evidence that the importance of in-store is ever increasing in the minds of brand marketers and retailers.

Wal-Mart says that their move is designed to better coordinate communication between the merchandising and marketing groups. They see the two previously separate functions as transforming due to the Internet, social media and mobile technology. SymphonyIRI defines merchandising as displays, feature ads, feature and display combined and price promotion. Their findings may have something to do with the Wal-Mart move. Here are a few of the positive trends:

-Merchandising support is increasing in 47% of categories across CPG channels. Drug channel merchandising activity is outpacing the grocery channel and the industry.

-CPG marketers are focusing their support toward home-based food rituals.

-Merchandising support of private label remains below that of national brands, but the gap is closing.

- Categories seeing the highest lift across merchandising tactics are well-represented by those that cater to recession-driven behaviors.

Times and Trends goes on to reinforce that shopper marketing, an individual level 360 degree view of the consumer, is the most effective current marketing program. Merchandising tactics that have been around for a long time have found new life as a way to support the shopper marketing approach.

The members of NARMS are well positioned to help retailers and manufacturers fully usher in this new age. Price promotions do not work if consumers do not find the products on-shelf. Displays are not effective in the back room. Feature ads need to be met in the store with an equally well executed and consistent message. Great plans can fall apart in the last three feet. You can download the latest Times & Trends report by SymphonyIRI by clicking here.

Register for The NEW Retail Merchandising & Marketing Conference

2012-01-31T18:42:37Z

Late last year, NARMS International made the announcement that it was changing the name of its annual spring conference to The Retail Merchandising & Marketing Conference. Registration and a new set of details are now available for the largest gathering for retail merchandising and marketing industry players across North America. The showcase event will be held April 14-17, 2012 at Saddlebrook Resort, north of Tampa, FL.

The agenda, now available at the Conference Center on www.narms.com, promises to challenge, educate and update each and every attendee and their staff. The dynamic program is headlined by keynote speakers Daniel Shapiro, Vince Lombardi, Jr. and Art Turock. Educational sessions focusing on running your business, developing a top notch staff and dealing with modern technology challenges and opportunities will bolster your networking experience with NARMS members, manufacturers and retailers. The very popular Manufacturer/Retailer Connection Session is back for its third consecutive year to allow you to hear directly from key industry players about their at-retail plans.

Everything you need for four terrific days in Florida can be found at the Conference Center. Here you can register, make hotel reservations, sign-up for the golf event and access sponsorship opportunities. Those interested in exhibiting can also find links to the floor plan and registration for the trade show. You can also go mobile and carry the agenda with you in your pocket by scanning the QR code with your smart phone.

The Retail Merchandising & Marketing Conference is a chance for you and your staff to get away for a few days, relax and focus on your business and industry while networking with peers, attending educational sessions and high energy motivational speakers. You will come away refreshed, energized and ready to take your place as a leader in the industry. Click here to access the Conference Center and to register. #RMMC561

Jan 27, 2012 IRI/Morning NewsBeat

2012-01-30T18:26:43Z

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 1/27/12 edition of Retail Industry News.

- Dollar Stores Keep Growing, But Prices May Not Be Main Driver
- Wegmans, Whole Foods, Publix Make Annual List Of Best Workplaces
- Walmart Makes Major Executive Changes, Names 1st Woman To Run Sam’s
- Trader Joe’s Looks To Mile-High State
- Bottom Dollar Schedules 14 Pittsburgh Openings
- Office Depot To Test PayPal’s New In-Store System
- Sansolo Speaks: Life’s a Niche
- Hy-Vee Launches New Smartphone App
- Kroger Expands Pet Prescription Business
- Supervalu Gets New Chief Marketing Officer
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch
- Executive Suite

Click here to read Retail Industry News

The Evolving Store

2012-01-26T18:53:33Z

Today we turn our focus to new survey from Deloitte as reported on by DSN Retailing Today. The survey and the subsequent report listens to what retail executives expect to happen in the next five years both in their physical stores and on-line. As members of the at-retail merchandising and marketing industry, it is imperative that we are in-touch with these views because they represent huge opportunities to be of service to our manufacturer and retailer customers.

These executives say that e-commerce will increase three-fold over the next few years, but most still believe the store will remain the primary point-of-purchase. The increase in on-line sales will change the way retailers use their talent, physical space and store operations to keep pace with increasingly personal customer demands. The study surveyed 39 retail executives in September 2011.

As a result of the study findings, Deloitte offers four recommendations to retailers. The first is to refresh strategy to enable operating models to respond quickly to marketplace changes. The next is to realize that there in nothing more important than the in-store experience. The third is to revisit talent management to allow store associates to deliver the more tailored experience. The fourth is to connect and integrate customers from the store to a multi-channel experience.

All four of these recommendations advocate loudly for the use of the at-retail merchandising and marketing service companies of NARMS. These merchandisers, professional installers, event marketers, national and independent brokers are all about mobilizing quickly and tailoring the customer experience to changes in the marketplace and resulting strategic shifts. Outsourcing key shelf level initiatives can maximize store assets and allow sales associates to focus on their core competency, taking care of the customer.

As the report suggests, the physical store will still be at the epicenter of this multi-channel world. You can download your copy of the Deloitte report by clicking here.

Field Workforce Management: US-UK Distribution Agreement Announced by Natural Insight and CACI Ltd.

2012-01-26T15:08:36Z

Leading Workforce Management Solutions Offered in Mutual Markets; Optimisation Technology Provides Retail and Service Organizations with Unparalleled Verification, Accountability and Accuracy

STERLING, Va. & LONDON — Two leading workforce management firms, Natural Insight and CACI Ltd., today announced an agreement to mutually distribute solutions already providing significant cost efficiencies in their respective markets. The Natural Insight platform and CACI’s InSite FieldForce and CallSmart products have become recognized as productivity leaders with respected brands and high-volume retail and service organizations. The complementary distribution agreement allows even greater, expanded capabilities for customers.

The Natural Insight platform is used by leading retail organizations to manage tens of millions of points of data for daily verification, accountability and accuracy, while CACI’s InSite FieldForce product is designed to ensure that field sales, support or merchandising personnel are deployed to their best effect through territory planning and optimisation. CACI’s CallSmart software significantly increases field force productivity by creating efficient day-to-day call plans.

In making the joint announcement, Stefan Midford, President and CEO of Natural Insight stated that “as the demand for workforce management solutions accelerates internationally, this is an agreement that provides powerful benefits to customers in both geographies. We have high respect for CACI, their solutions and the quality clients they have attracted.”

David Jones, Director of Field Force Planning for CACI Ltd., noted that “the complexity of merchandising today demands automated solutions such as Natural Insight that can drive execution intelligence all the way to the consumer. In fact, effective workforce management has now become a prerequisite in attracting new customers and retaining brand loyalty.”

The agreement authorizes CACI Ltd. to resell Natural Insight in the UK and Ireland, while Natural Insight offers the InSite Field Force and CallSmart products throughout North America.

About Natural Insight
Natural Insight is a retail technology company providing an innovative, cloud-based platform that significantly improves sales, reduces overhead and provides real-time workforce activity feedback. Through an integrated suite of solutions focused on task management, scheduling, data reporting and timekeeping, managers are empowered to coordinate a larger number of workers with significantly less effort. Rapid work verification, improved accountability and increased accuracy are all benefits of Natural Insight solutions. Customer organizations such as Sony, Kraft Foods, WalMart, Loblaw’s and Sears have all gained a newfound ability to make superior business decisions with the confidence of in-store execution intelligence. www.naturalinsight.com

About CACI Ltd.
CACI was founded in 1975 in the UK and operates from several offices across the country. Headquartered in London, CACI Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CACI International Inc. CACI International Inc. is a publicly listed company on the NYSE with an annual revenue in excess of US $3.6bn and approx 14,000 people worldwide.

The company offers an unrivalled range of marketing solutions and information systems to local and central government and to businesses from most industry sectors. www.caci.co.uk/fieldforceplanning

Contacts
Natural Insight
Stefan Midford, 800-961-5203
smidford@naturalinsight.com

CACI Ltd.
David Jones, 0044 (0)121 788 5930
djones@caci.co.uk

Getting on the Scorecard

2012-01-24T19:13:21Z

Growing sales and expanding margins. This is how most retail executives define success and how most of them are measured. Certainly any successful business needs to be mindful of these metrics. However, using them solely as the basis for merchandising and operational decisions has some downfalls. That is the key message of the latest Competitive Edge newsletter by Willard Bishop Consulting.

As the author points out, by these measures alone, maintaining operating margins can cause retailers and brand marketers to over-invest, over-promote or under-invest in areas that might be the only real competitive advantage they have. The example is cutting back on in-store labor to maintain the bottom line at the cost of excellent service. The result is lost store traffic and eventually market share. It often takes aggressive price promotion to regain lost territory. As margin erodes, the downward cycle begins.

Competitive Edge uses some graphic examples of scorecards where everything looks great on the surface, but fails to account for what is certainly to come. They also advise the use of an improved scorecard which accounts for new shoppers, how much the new shoppers spend and how many shoppers are trading down as a result of price increases or perceived bad service.

Retailers using this revised approach take into consideration the results of excellent in-store execution. The members of the at-retail merchandising and marketing services community help provide high marks on this type of report card because their services directly lead to an enhanced shopping experience. NARMS members also help to gather the shelf-level data involved in compiling such a scorecard in the first place.

Take few minutes and download the Bishop report by clicking here. An effective measure for real growth takes the value of at-retail service providers into account.

Continental Logistics Solutions Acquires ISO 9001 Certification

2012-01-26T22:50:25Z

Northlake, IL. – Continental Logistics Solutions (a CTL Global, Inc. company) is proud to announce another step in its commitment to continual improvement and customer service with the certification of its Quality Management System to ISO 9001:2008 standard.

Continental Logistics Solutions underwent a stringent evaluation process that included quality management system development, documentation review, gap analysis, internal audits, pre-assessment and clearance of non-conformances, all of which work to identify corrective action and eliminate non-conformance to the quality management standard. According to CEO and President, Sharon Dalenberg, “ISO certification validates our strategic commitment to surmounting the challenges in the current business environment.”

The comprehensive registration audit was given by BSI Group America, Inc., which issued the certificate of registration on January 9, 2012.

The certification of compliance with ISO 9001:2008 recognizes that the policies, practices and procedures of our company ensure consistent quality in the product and services we provide our clients. With this certification, our clients can be confident that CLS is dedicated to maintaining the highest efficiency and responsiveness in achieving our ultimate goal – exceeding client satisfaction and expectations.

Continental Logistics Solutions is certified as meeting the requirements of ISO 9001:2008 for the following activities:
“Third Party Logistics including order fulfillment, kitting, inventory management, procurement and shipping of various industries.”

Michelle Keske, Vice President of Logistics Operations, says, “Our clients can be confident that Continental Logistics Solutions will continue to provide the high quality products and services they have come to expect well into the future. We believe that our decision to become certified is a proactive one that not only anticipates the needs of our customers, but also demonstrates our commitment to providing quality services to all of our customers.”

ABOUT CONTINENTAL LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS
Continental Logistics Solutions is a leading fulfillment organization that you can ‘count on’ for promotional kitting and assembly, rebate and sweepstakes fulfillment, event marketing fulfillment, e-commerce, order fulfillment and virtual business intelligence. Continental Logistics Solutions is located in the heart of the Midwest in the Chicago region. We are 5 miles south of O’Hare International Airport, with major hubs to FedEx, UPS and the USPS. Our facilities, totaling over 200,000 square feet of space, have leading edge security systems and have been certified by both the DEA and FDA.

ABOUT CTL GLOBAL, INC.
Founded in 1978 by President and Chief Executive Officer Sharon Dalenberg, CTL Global is a privately held, woman-owned corporation. Beginning as a banking courier, CTL Global has evolved to become a premier global transportation, logistics and technology company that works with over 300 clients, including 41 of the Fortune 500 companies. For more information visit http://www.ctlglobalsolutions.com or contact Josh Miller, Sales Director at jmiller@ctlglobalsolutions.com.

Contact:
Jake Klein
Marketing Manager
CTL Global, Inc.
708-223-1174
jklein@CTLGlobalSolutions.com

Jan 20, 2012 IRI/Morning NewsBeat

2012-01-25T13:35:15Z

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 1/20/12 edition of Retail Industry News.

- NRF Forecasts Retail Industry Sales Growth of 3.4 Percent in 2012
- Lynch Stepping Down As Winn-Dixie CEO
- Target To Focus On Competing With Online Retailers In 2012
- Marketing To A Food Stamp Environment
- Sansolo Speaks: Who You Calling Old?
- Starbucks Pre-Paid Card Generating More Than A Quarter Of Its U.S. Revenue
- Walgreen’s In-Store Health Clinics To Allow People To Make Appointments
- Dollar Stores Keep Growing, But Prices May Not Be Main Driver
- Wegmans, Whole Foods, Publix Make Annual List Of Best Workplaces
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch
- Executive Suite

Click here to read Retail Industry News

Survey Seeks to Sharpen Services

2012-01-19T19:07:47Z

One of the big takeaways from the 2011 NARMS Spring Conference was how much our manufacturer and retail customers value field representative background screening and certification. They want to know that the people who are going into the store environment to provide at-retail merchandising and marketing services are good ambassadors of their brands. The leadership at NARMS is looking for your participation in a very brief on-line survey designed to help us get a clear picture of member needs in our Background Check and NARMScertifyU program. Click on the link here to participate in the survey. Only one person per company is asked to reply.

In 2005, NARMS teamed with USIS to provide affordable pre-employment screening services. For $8.00 per screening, the USIS/NARMS package included: A criminal records search via the USIS Widescreen National Criminal records database including sex offender data as provided by the various state sex offender files, social security number verification, search of the USMA National Retail Theft Database, wanted persons security screen and a terrorist watch list. USIS is now part of HireRight. USIS will conduct background screening for government accounts and HireRight for commercial accounts including NARMS.

NARMScertifyU is an online learning center offering career-building courses. Developed by industry experts for marketing service representatives, NARMScertifyU provides a valuable learning experience. Online courses can be accessed anywhere and anytime, so the reps can learn at their own pace. It is an opportunity to become an industry expert by earning course certificates. Each certificate earned leads to more exposure and credibility. The increased retail knowledge improves job satisfaction and overall success for all stakeholders.

It is only through your continued involvement as members that we can continuously improve our services, and together, raise the profile and professionalism of what it means to be a member of NARMS. Please take a few minutes of your busy day to take the survey. The data will be used to evaluate and evolve these tools.