Brandon Pilling
According to Brandon Pilling, Chairman of ACDOCOSA's holding company in the United Kingdom, "Globally FMCG is under the microscope and so it's critical for manufacturers to use resources wisely - to drive efficiencies, reduce waste and increase profitability. And this mentality should also be true of our approach to the market where by instilling a shopper-centric approach a business can deliver unparalleled benefits for brands, consumers, shoppers, categories and retailers."
ACDOCOSA's strategic move is inline with three core trends: recognising the importance of shopper behaviour and their absolute influence on purchase decisions at shelf; the growing formalisation of retail in Africa; and driving better returns for all stakeholders in the challenged FMCG industry.
Pilling adds that the company has been on a human capital acquisition drive and has brought in some of the leading shopper talent in South Africa. "We are now being led by shopper, category and channel managers centred on aligning the right brands with the right shoppers in the right channels at the right time."
ACDOCOSA's operating structure has also been tailored to allow its shopper, customer and merchandising heads to work via a matrix structure and thus pooling their in-market investment and decisions for maximum congruency and return.
Complementing the resource side, the company has also invested in new technologies and platforms supporting best-in-class reporting, in-store compliance, perfect outlet tracking, behavioural analytics and other proprietary approaches.
"We believe that the transformation project affectionately coined by the team as'ACDOCO 2.0' offers local and international manufacturers one of the most advanced FMCG agent/distributor models on the continent," Pilling continues, "and the turnkey solution includes end-to-end logistics, warehousing, strategic planning, retail customer management, category development, shopper marketing, sales and merchandising and more.
"ACDOCO 2.0 moves away from a traditional approach where stakeholders face continued and increasing pressure due to rapidly changing market dynamics. The shopper-centric approach allows us to do more with less and drive sustainable value for both brands and retailers."
