Our vision at TWC is to enable wholesale to harness data to drive channel growth. We want a thriving and vibrant channel that competes on a level playing field with other routes to market.
In our 20-year journey, one of things that the industry has discussed at length is a Channel read. Being able to see the whole of wholesale’s market performance clearly on one easily accessible dashboard in exactly the way that suppliers have been able to do with retail multiple data for many years.
Covid-19 has highlighted just how pivotal supply chain data is. It enables the Channel to evidence its scale and scope to Government and other stakeholders during a time of national crisis and it also enables suppliers to manage the wholesale route to market more effectively so that stock can reach consumers fast and it also gets its fair share of marketing investment.
So TWC has decided to come at the Channel read from a different angle. Over 90% of wholesalers now release their data to suppliers. The data is already available and, again, most of the main suppliers through wholesale purchase it. The challenge, therefore, is not the data; rather the challenge is getting all that data into one system. By putting all wholesale data into one reporting tool, suppliers can look at individual operator performance in a consistent format and merge data together. By merging data from different operators, suppliers can create their own single read of the total market or segment it to suit their business so, maybe, total delivered wholesale vs cash and carry or foodservice vs retail.
Some of the bigger suppliers do this already but it takes time, specialist resource and investment. Because TWC already takes data from 21 disparate Unitas wholesale members and merges it into a single read, we knew we could take our “know-how” and use it to create a supplier platform for any wholesale shipments data they purchase to produce a single read of wholesale performance.
We have called this product “WholeView”, a data platform that looks like our wholesale platform but adapted to report any wholesaler’s data. TWC WholeView, gives suppliers an unbeatable view of their data, presenting wholesale shipment data clearly on one, really straightforward KPI dashboard.
WholeView means that the data that suppliers buy from wholesalers is reported quickly and easily, giving sight of accurate channel performance in an instant. Even better, it identifies real-time channel opportunities to drive sales and uplift. It’s a feature that is genuinely set to revolutionise suppliers’ ability to make informed decisions fast and drive sales in wholesale.
WholeView is a cloud-based system that has been specially developed so it does all the ‘heavy lifting’ and it does it fast and with agility. The TWC technical team collects data which is then cleansed, enriched and refreshed through fully automated professing and it updates 24/7, meaning absolutely NO work for subscribing suppliers. Put simply, all the data that a supplier buys is continuously uploaded and updated in the background enabling the system to work seamlessly in real-time.
For suppliers, this is a game changer! Through securing easy access to their wholesale shipment data and being able to read it at a glance, is immensely powerful in helping them to realise the full potential of wholesale and potentially gives them an invaluable insight into the formation of their sales strategies. It will show them how their promotions have delivered outputs and the results of their activity based on locations and support, it will show them where opportunities can be seized and conversely where gaps may be falling, so those gaps can be closed fast.
There is no question that the application and availability of data is being taken more seriously by suppliers in aiding their sales strategies. The UK is officially the 3rd largest ecommerce economy in the world (behind China and South Korea – lagging by only 0.1% GDP) and businesses that are getting ahead are using data analytics and artificial intelligence to make decisions and define strategies that anticipate the future.
Suppliers are increasingly looking forwards and rapid shifts in operating environments and human behaviour means that finding new patterns in data and anticipating future decisions – including real-time data from across the value chain – are increasingly coming to the fore.
That’s why we are proud to have levelled the playing field for suppliers in this way by giving them access to wholesale shipment data in a way which will help them realise the full potential of wholesale and give them leading edge and competitive advantage when considering their sales and marketing activity.
Ready to find out more? Click here.