Breakout sessions
Breakout sessions are grouped into five subject areas:
Shopper
Sustainability
Supply chain
Enabling technologies
Business strategies
Breakout sessions 1
Wed 9 May - 11.30 - 12.45
BO 1.1 - Profit by working together to prevent supply chain waste
Retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers will share real-life case studies and help you work with your trading partners and colleagues to root out supply chain waste, reduce costs and increase sales.
Find out how leading retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers are increasing profits, minimising greenhouse gases and combating poverty by rooting out waste between factory in-gate and till and by ensuring the consumption of any material unfit for normal sale.
Learn how cross-functional and trading partner teams have built waste prevention and redistribution into their management of merchandising, pricing, promotions, ranging, ordering, handling, selling, stocking, labelling, packaging, manufacturing and product formulation.
Hear real-life case studies and apply the learnings to align responsibilities in your own business and drive trading partner engagement. Meet the practitioners who are making things happen and discuss details during the breakout and at the IGD stand in the Marketplace.
Gavin Chappell, Asda Walmart; Peter Mileham, Brakes; James Tupper, IGD; Paul Nutten, Mars Petcare UK; Andrew Davenport, Nestlé; Gerhard Steiner, SOMA Austria; Nick Jelly, Tesco; Simon Bailey, Unilever; Christina Holweg, Vienna University
Facilitated by IGD.
BO 1.2 – Maximising multichannel opportunities
Shoppers are demanding more online solutions for their grocery shopping. This session explores what shoppers expect, how it impacts the retail model and how suppliers can establish a more effective trading relationship online.
Through digital technology, shoppers are becoming increasingly informed, connected and savvy. Whether in terms of product reviews, recipe finders, price transparency, promotions or ordering, shoppers are demanding more online solutions for their grocery shopping.
This session will bring delegates up-to-date with the latest developments in online grocery shopping. It will explore shopper expectations, examine retail best practice and advise on how suppliers can optimise their trading relationships online.
Be the first to hear exclusive, pan-European IGD shopper research on ‘The connected shopper’. Find out how to take advantage of mobile and digital technology at every stage of the shopping journey.
Get the answers to questions such as:
- Who are the early adopters and what are they saying about the experience?
- What are shoppers asking for online to make life easier?
- How do expectations differ across European markets?
Then hear from industry experts on the latest retail innovations and how to establish an effective trading relationship online.
Kalle Koutajoki,
Foodie.fm; Cecile Riverain, Tim Maton,
IGD (
PDF presentation 
); Paul Crétier,
Kelloggs
Facilitated by IGD.
BO 1.3 - Using innovative technology in-store to drive demand: a shopper approach - Part One
Speakers will showcase existing and emerging technologies that play to the five shopper senses in-store – sight, sound, smell, touch and taste.
One of the major barriers to in-store growth is shoppers’ automatic de-selection of most products on shelf. Routine auto-pilot shopping is the enemy of category engagement, and without engagement it can be difficult to ensure shopper marketing strategies work.
This session – the first of two – will present technological solutions for both shopper insight and engagement, using the shopper’s five senses as the framework. The focus is on attaining positive shopper disruption – engaging the shopper and adding to their experience as opposed to simply shouting louder at them.
The session will consider:
Sight – Mobile eye-tracking technology and how it can shape in-store shopper marketing effectiveness.
Smell – While we rely on vision (pack design, category theatre) to attract attention in-store, the power of scent has been proved to be significantly more emotive. Point-of-purchase scent marketing technologies will be showcased, and in-store application outlined through a case study.
Ken Hughes, Glacier Consulting; Sabrina O’Leary, Kraft Foods Ireland; Aristeidis Theotokis, Leeds University; Caemin O’Connor, Visualise
Facilitated by Glacier Consulting.
BO 1.4 – Delivering ECR principles through great people
How often do we talk about attracting and retaining talent? Hear how the ECR UK board is embracing the people agenda and working collaboratively to promote and improve FMCG supply chain careers and why investment in people creates industry and consumer benefits.
We all recognise the value of great people, but how often do we talk about attracting and retaining talent? And how often do we signpost the skills we value and those we will need in the future? How do we prepare our high- potential future leaders to have those skills in order to lead our companies and achieve sustainable growth?
Speakers will describe how the people agenda is uppermost in promoting and improving FMCG supply chain careers. Hear why we should be dispelling current perceptions of careers, especially in the supply chain disciplines, and be optimistic about attracting talent in the future.
Future Leaders from leading FMCG retailers and suppliers will describe the benefits they and their companies have derived from participation in the ECR Europe FMCG Leadership Programme.
Facilitated by ECR Europe.
Breakout sessions 2
Wed 9 May - 17.00 - 18.15
BO 2.1 – Multimodal transport – The challenges and opportunities
This session will analyse the potential offered by intermodal transport in fast-moving consumer goods and hear from companies with experience of this approach.
Keen attention is currently being paid in the business community to sustainability and competition in transportation, and these are increasingly viewed as key elements in improving business efficiency. The result is a desire to find best practices that include all alternatives to road transportation. The findings of an ECR Italy working group on rail transport will be examined, and Procter & Gamble and Carrefour will share their experiences and approach to intermodal transport.
Group Bel will present its experience of intermodal shift from road to rail. It will describe the strategic reasons for this choice, the results and future goals. Finally, JIT will talk about how multi-modal transport sharing works in practice, focusing on the key benefits of CO2 reduction and collaboration.
Matteo Gasparini, Carrefour; Stefano Bergamin, ECR Italy; Michel Corso, Group Bel; Antonio Malvestio, Procter & Gamble; Peter Jordan, JIT
Facilitated by ECR Italy.
BO 2.2 – Consumer and shopper journey
Speakers will discuss lessons from the Consumer and Shopper Journey implementation work in Greece and France, and answer audience questions in an interactive session designed to help delegates get started on implementation.
In this session James MacNaughton from Kraft, Olaf Gens from Rewe and Bernard Févry from the Coca Cola Company will, with the pilot managers, set out what has been learnt from work on the consumer and shopper journey implementation in Greece between collaborative partners Veropoulos, Kraft and Coca Cola. The session will offer a rare insight into understanding shopper behaviour, leading to superior value for consumer, retailer and manufacturer alike.
In particular delegates will hear how sharing insights between retailer and manufacturer have opened the door to smarter collaboration in a market in deep economic crisis. They will also hear how loyalty has been built through smarter promotion programmes and changing the in-store experience rather than through negotiation-driven promotions.
The session will also show how to overcome segmentation barriers and, for example, successfully work with digital coupons in a world where shoppers risk being overloaded with digital messages.
Katerina Pramatari, Athens University; Bernard Févry, Chrysa Koliou, The Coca Cola Company; James MacNaughton, Kostis Papachristopoulos, Kraft Foods; Olaf Gens, Rewe; Luc Demeulenaere, Veerle Lauwers, ShopTing
Facilitated by ShopTing and the ECR Europe project team.
BO 2.3 – The next generation of shoppers: getting the buzz?
Digital technology, social media and sustainability offer retailers and marketers incredible new ways of connecting with the shopper. What are the drivers and barriers to future shopping behaviour? Results of European shopper research will be revealed.
In this workshop the results of European shopper research on the meaning and role of grocery shopping in everyday life will be presented.
The digital world, social media and online grocery shopping offer retailers and marketers incredible new ways of connecting with the shopper. What works and what doesn’t? What are the drivers and barriers in on line grocery shopping?
Sustainability has become a commonly accepted principle, at the forefront of our minds. But is this the case when people go shopping for fast moving consumer goods? Which sustainability claims have the most value for consumers and for which are they prepared to pay a premium?
This session will explore the results of research across four European countries among a representative mix of different shopper profiles. It is an opportunity to distinguish hype from real trends in shopping behaviour.
Dirk Vanderveken, Lucien Van der Hoeven, GfK Panel Services BNL Belgium
Facilitated by GfK.
BO 2.4 – Using innovative technology in-store to drive demand – Part Two
In this second session examining how technology can aid shopper engagement, using the shopper’s five natural senses, speakers will focus on sound, taste and touch, with examples and case studies of initiatives.
In this second session examining how technology can aid shopper engagement, using the shopper’s five natural senses, speakers will focus on:
Sound – Illustrating the effect of sound and music on shopper behaviour, the audio spotlight will be presented. This is a device targeting in-store communication at the individual shopper level, encouraging category engagement and driving demand for a given SKU, brand or segment.
Taste – Kraft Foods Ireland will demonstrate how it used social networking and smart-phone applications to drive taste sampling of a chocolate bar, integrating the technologies into the overall shopper marketing platform while simultaneously driving footfall into stores.
Touch – Use of touch screen and RFID-enabled interactions in in-store promotions will be discussed, together with case-study material illustrating the differences between the two.
Ken Hughes, Glacier Consulting; Sabrina O’Leary, Kraft Foods Ireland; Aristeidis Theotokis, Leeds University; Caemin O’Connor, Visualise
Facilitated by Glacier Consulting.
Breakout sessions 3
Thu 10 May - 9.00 - 10.15
BO 3.1 – OSA in the digital age
Online retailing is making it more important than ever to fix the problem of out-of-stocks. This interactive session will show how the main barriers to improvement are being overcome, yielding concrete results, and why companies need to work together and adopt clear policies to achieve sustainable change.
Nothing frustrates shoppers more than empty shelves. With online retailing, out-of-stocks are potentially less of an annoyance. This makes it more important than ever for retailers and manufacturers to improve in-stocks.
If out-of-stocks, currently averaging eight per cent, were to be cut by half, Europe’s manufacturers and retailers would generate billions in additional sales.
At last year’s conference the ECR Europe OSA expert group identified three key barriers to sustainable improvement. In this interactive session they will show how companies are working together to overcome these barriers and produce concrete results.
Colin Peacock, P&G
Facilitated by SymphonyIRI and the ECR Europe project team.
BO 3.2 – Winning in-store
How retailers and suppliers collaborate to create winning strategies in-store by combining an understanding of consumer purchasing decisions with merchandising innovation and retail strategy.
Creating sustainable and transformational growth in a mature category in a mature market without resorting to the “old reliables” of price and promotion is challenging.
In this session we will learn how Irish retailers and suppliers collaborate to create winning strategies in-store by combining an understanding of consumer purchasing decisions with merchandising innovation and retail strategy.
The first example of collaboration, between Ireland’s biggest retailer and one of its biggest suppliers, explores the challenges of moving from theory to practice in strategic category collaboration to successfully create a “store-within-a-store” destination.
The second illustrates the value of consumer insights. It shows how identifying a common segment of shoppers and understanding their mission can inspire a total category solution surpassing shopper needs and expectations and generating real value.
The final presentation will offer a best practice guide to macro space planning and show how Irish convenience stores have used the guide to satisfy shopper demand and increase sales.
Facilitated by ECR Ireland.
BO 3.3 – Digital product information: you've got it, consumers want it
As e-commerce grows, driven by increased consumer use of smart-phones and tablets, so does the need for high-quality digital information to support consumer purchases.
Research by Nielsen shows that 29 per cent of US smart-phone owners use their phone for shopping-related activities. This is mirrored in Europe. Consumers are making purchase decisions based on information they find on the internet. However, research by GS1 has shown that most of this information is inaccurate or incomplete.
As e-commerce grows, driven by increased consumer use of smart-phones and tablets, so does the need for high-quality digital information to support consumer purchases.
This session will explore the types of digital product information that support consumer puchases, why EU food labelling regulations will impact on digital product information andthe emerging best practices for brand owners to share digital product information with their partners.
Malcolm Bowden,
GS1 Global Office (
PDF presentation ); Frank Rehme,
Metro Systems; Marcin Lobejko, Sylwia Szlezak,
Unilever Poland.
Facilitated by GS1 Global Office.
BO 3.4 - Collaboration in a crisis - Where do we go from here?
Building on the opening plenary presentation, this session will look in depth at the results of the latest European survey on how ECR practices are being used, the benefits they generate – and how they are shaping the next 10 years.
Building on the opening plenary presentation, this session will look in depth at the results of the survey jointly conducted by ECR Europe and McKinsey on current collaboration practices and on their implications for the future.
Among the questions the session will seek to answer:
- What is the status on collaboration in the current crisis?
- What are the top collaboration topics today and what impact might they have in sales and profits?
- How do you make collaboration work and which metrics are used to measure it effectively?
- What do you look for in an effective collaboration partner?
- What are the main reasons behind collaboration failures?
- What are likely to be the most important areas for collaboration in the future?
To support the survey findings, industry leaders will examine the issues in depth with real-life case examples.
Xavier Hua, ECR Europe; Chris Tyas, Nestlé; Jochen Großpietsch, Jean-Albert Nyssens, Jens Weng, McKinsey
Facilitated by McKinsey.
Breakout sessions 4
Thu 10 May - 11.00 - 12.15
BO 4.1 – Shrinkage in the digital age
Innovative new technologies such as personal handheld computers promise to transform the shopper experience. They also present new challenges in protecting the value of products moving through retail supply chains. This session will consider shrinkage management’s response to the new technological challenges.
Innovative new technologies, such as smart phones acting as scanners and payment devices, are set to transform the shopper experience. They also present new challenges on how the value of products moving through retail supply chains is best protected. This session will seek to answer the following questions:
- Why does managing stock loss matter?
- What are the challenges to developing an effective loss prevention strategy?
- What does the New Loss Prevention look like?
- How effective is New Loss Prevention in reducing losses?
- How will new technologies impact on current approaches to managing loss?
Delegates will have the opportunity to reflect on the ways in which their organisations can add value through minimising losses and protecting product value.
John Fonteijn, Ahold; Adrian Beck, Leicester University; Colin Peacock, P&G
Facilitated by Leicester University and ECR Europe project team.
BO 4.2 – Applied shopper knowledge
This session will examine the use of shopper clusters to implement the right marketing mix on the shop floor and address target groups in the right way. Next development steps will also be considered.
This session will show concrete examples of the use of shopper clusters to address defined target groups in the store.
Shopper marketing starts with a comprehensive understanding of shopper segmentation and the latest thinking on segmentation approaches at FMCG level.
Successful implementation is based on achieving the right balance between sophistication and pragmatism, the ability to break clusters down to category level, and continuous measurement.
This session will provide insights into shopper attitude-based segmentation and the resulting shopper clusters, illustrated by examples.
Key lessons will include:
- How long-term attitudes and particular shopper missions are linked
- How category specifics can be integrated in a broad-scale segmentation model and the implications for certain categories.
Jens Knoke, Oliver Rogge, Henkel; Michael Blankert, Sabine Selos, Pepsico
Facilitated by Henkel.
BO 4.3 - The 3D effect on business information
Sharing business information is key for successful business and customer satisfaction. But mobile commerce has created a totally new dimension to the relationship between consumers, manufacturers and retailers.
Learn how consumers and shoppers benefit from the 3D-effect on business information. Data synchronisation, data quality and POS data sharing are core elements in ensuring effective business and satisfied consumers in the world of mobile commerce.
Delegates will hear how work by ECR Europe’s Business Information Committee, led by Carrefour and Kraft Foods, has defined roles and responsibilities for GDSN and POS data sharing, and how results from the first pan-European POS data sharing survey affect retailers and manufacturers.
With consumers increasingly asking questions about product origin, sustainability, recycling and price via smart-phone apps, it is becoming harder for manufacturers and retailers to keep up. This session will show how they can strike back and regain the lead.
Come and discover how to optimise your relationship with customers through better data quality, with greater brand controls over product information and more reliable data resulting in more satisfied consumers.
René Le Caignac, AboutGoods; Ghislain Esquerre, Carrefour; Marc Benhaim, GS1 France; Arne Dicks, GS1 Germany; Bernard Fradin, Kraft Foods Europe; Cédric Guyot, Retail Solutions Inc
Facilitated by the ECR Europe project team.
BO 4.4 - Sustainability for the next generation
Is sustainability sufficiently on the agenda of consumers, retailers and manufacturers? Can collaboration help companies become more sustainable? This session considers supply chain and consumer perspectives, and a Europe-wide survey on current and future trends.
Is sustainability sufficiently on the agenda of consumers, retailers and manufacturers? Can collaboration help companies become more sustainable? This session considers current global and Europe-wide initiatives, concrete results through collaborative efforts, and future trends.
Results from a European survey reveal strategies to address sustainability for the next generation and concerns among retailers and manufacturers. Savings achieved through collaboration are presented and further collaboration opportunities are identified in the areas of environmental monitoring, transport and flow of goods.
Major initiatives such as the eSAVE project on energy efficiency and carbon footprint monitoring, the CO3 project on horizontal transport collaboration and the Green Freight Europe initiative will be discussed.
Facilitated by Athens University.
