Sainsbury's signs deal with Trace One to maximise promotions

Retailer Sainsbury’s is going live with the fully integrated version of its Deals & Terms software from technology experts Trace One, to help improve its supplier promotions process. The collaborative cloud-based solution will ease the complex promotions process, offering customers the best deals possible when buying products like books, CDs, DVDs and games. Sainsbury’s buyers and suppliers can access all information and agreements made on deals via an online portal allowing better collaboration and improving ways of working.

“Having reviewed the market, we decided Trace One’s Deals &Terms system was the best fit solution for our business needs. The promotions we put together can include various deal types over multiple suppliers and hundreds of products. We needed a system that would help capture these negotiations to speed up the process. Previously, we were capturing agreements on e-mails and spreadsheets. With the high volume of deals being set up there would inevitably be some information that would be missed. Trace One’s software has allowed us to capture and track the deal process, which will improve our collection accuracy by up to 5%. This will help improve our relationships with suppliers, while offering the best deals possible for our customers,” commented Richard Crampton, Head of Entertainment at Sainsbury’s.

The supermarket manages up to 200 entertainment deals at any given time with over 250 suppliers. Using the software, buyers can record all negotiations in the online system securely and send final details to suppliers for approval right at the start of the process. When the product starts selling, the software stores details on stock, sales and purchase data to manage all deals, any extensions, check rebates and complete the process through to the claim. This creates a consistent approach and encourages collaboration between all parties involved. Furthermore, the software supports various deal types including: retros, campaigns and funded markdown. The buyers can also monitor the success of the promotions via dashboards, so that the best deals with the best suppliers can be easily repeated.

“Now, both the trading teams and our suppliers are able to easily access all information on deals and terms, which helps save time and reduce administration allowing all departments to get on with the job in hand,” concluded Crampton.

Amina West, Vice President, Northern Europe at Trace One commented: “We are delighted to enhance our existing relationship with one of the largest and most successful supermarkets in the UK. Sainsbury’s really recognises the importance of expanding non-food ranges in the current market, as higher margins can be gained from these products. By streamlining the deals and terms process with suppliers, the supermarket will be able to fulfil its goal of offering high quality products at good value.”