Retail Samples Program Management
Expeditors is an industry leader when it comes to retail samples program management. However "samples program management" often means different things to different customers. While each program is unique, they do share common requirements and often provide areas of opportunity in terms of cost reduction, greater control and visibility. Here we present three types of samples programs, demonstrating some of these commonalities and how we have helped our customers with more effective program management.
Seasonal Samples Trap Program
Many retail customers require an assortment of samples to be sent to them by their vendors on a seasonal basis. These samples are used primarily for photo shoots to provide images for upcoming catalogs, the customer's internet site, in store marketing materials and store floor layout planning. As a result, most vendors are providing samples of a variety of products as well as multiple samples of the same product in different color and size combinations.
In many cases we have found that these samples were being handled outside of the customer's logistics group. Merchandisers would provide their vendor with a list of samples needed and the date by which they needed to receive them. Even though the total volume of samples shipped was significant, often the vendors would send them to the customer in a piecemeal manner via individual courier shipments. As a result the overall program was more fragmented, uncontrolled and expensive than it needed to be.
In these cases we have successfully worked with our customers to implement a seasonal samples trap program. In this program each vendor's set of required samples is treated as a single order, with each of the specific sample items noted as a component of the overall order. Expeditors receives and manages the order as we would any other order, ensuring that due dates are met and that the order ships complete. The outcome is a concentration of the vendor's sample volume into one shipment, resulting in lower cost through regular air service, while providing a single process with control and visibility from single samples' order creation through to delivery.
Sales Force Samples Management
Sharing some of the same characteristics and benefits of the seasonal samples trap program, here our customer requires that an assortment of seasonal samples be prepared and sent as "kits" to their domestic or international sales force, or even directly to end retail customers. The samples that make up each kit are being produced by a variety of vendors from a variety of origins.
Under the sales force samples management program the same scope of disciplines as under the seasonal samples trap program are put in place. Samples orders are issued to vendors, which are then managed as a regular order to be shipped complete and delivered by a set of common required due dates.
The resulting orders are shipped to an Expeditors distribution hub. The customer provides us with "pick and pack" instructions for the purpose of creating samples kits, which are then sent directly to the end party (e.g., sales representative, end retail customers).
Depending on the customer's requirements, the breadth of final destinations receiving samples kits, and the volume of samples being sent, we have put this program in place on both a domestic and an international basis. A domestic distribution hub supports deliveries to destinations within a common geographical market, while offshore distribution hubs support deliveries to multiple international end destinations.
Samples Exhibition Management
Some of our large volume customers hold seasonal samples meetings. These meetings bring their buyers, vendors and samples together to facilitate efficient seasonal buying. The process of coordinating the movement of a large number of samples from a diverse group of vendors and origins so that all arrive at the same time is complex, requiring rigorous program and project management capabilities.
We have successfully worked with our customers to implement an end to end solution. Jointly pre-planning lead times and resulting ship windows for each sample order, we are able to monitor sample order status relative to the ship windows. We then receive and efficiently consolidate orders into ocean containers, ensuring completeness and accuracy of all commercial documents. Clearance of freight is complete at single point of destination, where we then deconsolidate the shipments. Orders are segregated, sorted and staged by sample types, loaded into trailers and delivered within the same window to the end destination being used for the subsequent samples meeting.
Expeditors centrally manages the entire process as one integrated project, providing visibility and daily reports to the customer. These include a post samples meeting review of each season's program to identify ways in which the program may be further improved upon. Aside from the noteworthy success of managing a program of this level of complexity, it has become so reliable in execution that the vast majority of sample orders are now able to be shipped via ocean (vs. air), significantly reducing cost.
For more information on our retail samples programs, contact your local Expeditors representative.
Don Linde
Global Manager, Retail Group
don.linde@expeditors.com
