research

P&G, Walmart Ranked Tops By Trading Partners

Procter & Gamble and Walmart continue to head the lists of manufacturers and retailers that perform best in the estimation of their trading partners, according to the just-released 2010 "PoweRanking" study from Kantar Retail.

The annual study asks leading retailers to rank manufacturers, and leading manufacturers to rank retailers, in eight key areas related to the working relationships among trading partners. Customized questionnaires are sent each spring to retailers and wholesalers in food, drug, mass merchandiser and convenience channels, and to manufacturers in food, general merchandise and HBC. These are used to calculate composite scores for each manufacturer/retailer studied. To provide trending information, the rankings are calculated on a rolling two-year basis.

Manufaturer-Chart

Manufacturers were rated on the following metrics relating to their interfaces with retailers: clearest company strategy; most important consumer brands for retailers; best combination of growth and profitability; best sales force/customer teams; most innovative marketing programs; most helpful consumer/ shopper insights and category management; best supply chain management; and best shopper marketing programs.

advertisement

advertisement

P&G maintained its #1 ranking among manufacturers this year, despite a slight decrease in its composite score (-1.2 points, for a score of 41.7%). Kraft also retained its #2 ranking, with an unchanged composite score of 33.3%.

General Mills' score declined slightly (-0.2), but its composite of 26.3% moved it up to #3, surpassing PepsiCo, which saw a 2.9-point decline in its score to 24%.

Unilever saw the largest rise: 5.1 points, bringing its score to 19.1%. That pushed Unilever up from sixth to fifth in the rankings, switching places with Nestle (which saw a 4.9-point decline, for a score of 13.2%).

Manufacturers rounding out the top 10 are Coca-Cola and Kellogg (each with scores of 8.6%), ConAgra (7.7%) and Campbell (which reentered the top 10 in this year's study, with a score of 5.1%).

Manufacturers ranked highest this year are notable for driving superior performance through vehicles and structures that enable "continuous, proactive communication," both internally and with trading partners, said Kantar Retailer Americas CEO Ken Harris, in the release summarizing the results. Harris cited Unilever as an example of a manufacturer that has excelled at communication in supply chain and shopper insights/solutions.

Retailers-Chart

Retailers were ranked on the following criteria: clearest company strategy; best at-store branding; projected "power retailers"; best retailers with which to do business; best category management/buying teams; most innovative consumer marketing/merchandising; best supply chain management; and best practice category management/CMAR.

Walmart retained its #1 ranking, with by far the highest composite score: 62.3%. However, that score was down by 2.7 points, and other retailers are closing the gap, noted Kantar.

Kroger and Target retained their respective #2 and #3 rankings. Kroger's score rose 0.6 points to 42.6%, and Target saw the largest gain -- up 3.3 points, to 41.2%.

Costco remained at #4 (-0.7 points, to 19.6%). Wegmans' score also declined by 0.7 points to 15.3%, but it grabbed the fifth-place ranking from Publix, which lost 3.2 points, for a score of 14.7%.

Rounding out the top 10, in order, are HEB (up 0.8 points, to 13.9%), Safeway (down 4.1 points, to 13.4%), CVS (up 3.1 points, to 11.7%) and Walgreens (up 1.6 points, to 7.1%).

In the current economic environment, "value is the new hallmark" for retailers, noted Harris. For example, Target was recognized for its consumer-relevant programs, consistent strategy and collaboration with manufacturer partners, while CVS and Walgreens improved their rankings because of clear shopper strategies and smaller-store positioning.

Overall, the manufacturers and retailers ranked most successful are distinguished not only by relevant initiatives driven by customer insights and analytics, but by outstanding implementation of these, stressed Harris. "Once strategies are aligned, execution is everything," he commented. "All elements must be in place at retail to positively influence the shopper to purchase."

Next story loading loading..