Some magazine retailers in the US have had Scanned Based Trading for years. It has been suggested to me that it may be switched on in Australia for one or two national retailers soon. This would see them only pay for scanned magazine sales.
The benefits of Scanned Based Trading to participating retailers would be:
- No returns.
- No cost to the retail business of shrinkage.
- No warehousing cost for magazine stock.
- A reward for reliable business data.
I have discussed Scanned Based Trading with a number of publishers and while they say they are supportive, they refuse to be the first.
magazine publishers and distributors signing up to Scanned Based Trading would need to do this for newsagents as well as our competitors. There would be no better encouragement for compliance with EDI standards and the financial and operation benefits of Scanned Based Trading.
The EDI standards followed by newsagents were established by the magazine distributors. If the standards are cited as a barrier then the distributors need to address these. If the quality of sales data is an issue then the distributors need to provide irrefutable evidence of this and it is an excuse which is rarely backed up by evidence.
Newsagents should want Scanned Based Trading as it means that publishers, newsagents and distributors are financially connected by magazines sold … as opposed to the current model where distributors are paid only for what they put on their trucks and the returns we send back.
I have had many discussions with representatives of publishers and distributors on the topic of Scanned Based Trading over many years – as the owner of a newsagency software company and even when I was on the ANF Board in 2004. Today, in 2011,many newsagents are more prepared than ever to deliver on this opportunity. The key is how we negotiate this opportunity.
From a software perspective, everything necessary is ready now.
Rivers already applies this. Their stock is replenished once sales are scanned through all day long.
It is just one retailer in the retail industry doing. I am sure there are others. Rivers being primarily clothing then what is preventing other industry sectors from applying the same?
For newsagents, it is the weak associations & the whip-cracking suppliers who would lose revenue when efficienct processes become engaged.
Lets not confuse Sales Based Replenishment
using scanning, with Scanned Based Trading as described in the first post
Scan based replenishment as ACP were proposing a couple of years back, goes hand in hand with scan based trading. If the data is accurate enough it is accurate enough for the other and should create cost savings as staed by Mark at every level of the supply chain.