Now that Point Of Sale systems collect more and more information about the customers, retailers are able to optimize their marketing and inventory in ways that were not possible before. But the collected data is not only helpful for the retailer; manufacturers love to get access to shop-level data as well. eWeek published an article about a report conducted by Forrester:
“Syndicated POS data supports strategic marketing, not field execution. Traditional syndicated data has defined data hierarchies like account or channel that facilitate strategic planning and reporting,” the report said. “This data can take days or weeks to prepare, and manufacturers can’t easily use it to make ‘in-flight’ adjustments to trade promotion and replenishment activities.”
Manufacturers “haven’t gotten this information back from the retailers,” Overby said. Why? Ahhhhh, that’s where things get a wee bit political.
Some of the reasoning is indeed technical, with the expected difficulties in associating so much additional data with customers and products. But a more significant issue has been a political hesitation to share too much information with a supplier that is also sharing data with direct rivals. The retail-manufacturer relationship is not exactly overflowing with blind trust.