Our original founder who set up SalesOut back in 2003 has recently returned to Head up the business. We took the opportunity to sit down with him to ask a few questions. The answers make for interesting reading.
So Marcus, let’s go back to the beginning. Why did you start SalesOut?
That really is going back to the beginning! OK, well SalesOut was an idea I had when I was at Coca Cola. At the time, the channel in retail was gaining a lot more investment from brands by sharing data, and the wholesale sector didn’t seem to be wanting to do that.
So, there was a view from the likes of Coke and many other brands that we needed to work with our wholesalers to take them on a path to share data.
Technology-wise, twenty years ago, it was all mainframes - big data was not even being talked about at that stage. They had plenty of data, but no one was really saying that data and insights were a thing.
I did get some data while I was at Coca Cola, but the company was not in a position to do anything with it. That was my opportunity to leave and set up my own agency and take a load of big data, customer and transactional data and break it up into bite-sized chunks and try and find those all-important golden nuggets of information.
And how did you plan to use those nuggets of information?
We could use them in two ways. One was enabling the sales teams to go to the right stores and have meaningful conversations with the right people. The second use was for strategic planning. The insight could tell you where you might want to put in more investment or it could let you measure your promotional effectiveness at a Head Office level.
We wanted to try and do it in wholesale using independents EPOS data, but that data didn’t exist at the time, so the next best data was shipment data from wholesalers. SalesOut was born trying to shine a light on that channel and putting into place strategies that opened up a collaboration platform.
20 years ago, collaboration was effectively an Excel spreadsheet or a Powerpoint document, but we created a website. We took millions of transactions and turned them into simple dashboards for both the supplier and the wholesaler. Really, we created key business indicators and opportunities in three main areas: performance, promotional effectiveness and product distribution. And that was how SalesOut started.
So what are the most meaningful changes you’ve seen over the last 20 years?
Businesses have talked about data-led cultures for many years. The biggest change I can see is that now people really do have a data-led culture (they don’t just say they have).
Thinking of other sectors, some are pretty advanced with all this. So, I imagine a day at Google is going to be more data-led than a day at a typical wholesaler. Having said that, wholesalers are on a journey to become more data-led so the opportunity for us is to take them further on that journey into a more data and insight first-culture.
So, I think for me, the changes I’ve seen are that traditionally, it’s been about volume and margin; so sell a product at a high volume and a low margin and you make a profit. But now there’s a big opportunity for wholesalers and suppliers to profit from using data to better understand their customer base. Using the data, they can have a more lucrative relationship by interacting with their customers in a way that maximises their profits at every level.
So what made you want to come back to SalesOut now?
When I was at SalesOut originally, we grew the business into something that covered the largest percentage of the wholesale market, about 75% of the UK market. But we wanted to create a view of what Out of Home Wholesale Food Service looked like, and we never quite got there.
Now I’m coming back for two main reasons. Firstly, with the data that SalesOut have at their disposal, I thought there was an opportunity to create a better view of the market. I want to use the expertise of IRI, the parent company, and the data scientists to deliver some really meaningful, consistent market measurements in the sector.
Secondly, with the growth of eCommerce and digital, it’s easy to see how data in wholesale could be a great way to increase engagement from suppliers.
Now businesses are beginning to use their data, there’s an opportunity to use the new technologies, like AI, that are available to turn insights into profitable customer analysis. I could see a huge opportunity to come back and talk data with our wholesalers and excite them with a philosophy of ‘know more, engage more and sell more’.
And what do you think you can add to the customer offering?
At IRI the culture is around helping our suppliers collaborate more with their customers through a data-driven lens. We help our wholesalers engage more with their customers using clever analytics, whether that’s ranging analysis, price assortment or price elasticity. These tools are commonplace in the grocery supermarkets and we can create those analytics within the wholesaler themselves, so they can benefit from the latest technology.
Five years ago the wholesale and retail sectors were quite distinct but within four or five years, Palmer and Harvey disappeared, Booker was bought by Tesco and wholesalers were starting to merge. In this changing market where the wholesale and retail lines are blurring, SalesOut takes its suppliers and wholesaler partners to the next level on the data maturity curve to dive deeper into analytics.
Of course, it’s not just good enough to sell data anymore. Customers want real insight and solutions that are using those insights. What we need to enable decisions using our tools in order to build profitable one-to-one digital relationships. What better place to do that than at a company that has the resources to achieve that?
Now you’re back, where do you see SalesOut heading?
SalesOut is in a prime position to continue to build the collaboration portals - working with our wholesaler partners to increase that joint business planning ethos where suppliers can use their resources for increased collaboration and joint business plans. It’s very exciting!
The next stage is taking the wholesalers on a journey back to subscriptions. The world has changed for them. Traditionally wholesalers would have invested in technology and people and would have spent a lot of time and resources trying to create their own internal knowledge centres.
I think the SaaS subscription model that’s available for software or a PlaaS model, platform as a service, is where the big opportunity is now. Instead of wholesalers spending millions creating their own solution, they can subscribe and benefit from an even better level of insight at a fraction of the price.
There are a couple of areas where we are perfectly placed to help wholesalers jump into the analytics world. That’s how I see taking our relationships forward.
What changes would you like to see in the industry over the next 12 months?
I definitely think there’s room for more collaboration. Wholesalers have been trying really hard to make the most of data, but there’s been so much other important stuff going on recently. With all the external factors like Brexit, driver shortages, CO2 shortages, legislation, cost of wages and, of course, Covid, wholesalers and retailers just haven’t had the time to concentrate on their data.
So, I think it’s time we helped the industry refocus and appreciate how we can use data analytics and digital to help brands and wholesalers drive that meaningful collaboration.
What kind of collaboration are you talking about exactly?
So, if you imagine the sharing of data as a kind of clock face. At the top of the clock face is the wholesaler and down at the bottom is a supplier. As the data moves around the clock face, it has to come round, let’s say at 3 o’clock, to a specialist aggregator like SalesOut.
We’re great at putting up data and giving it to suppliers. But there’s also media, marketing and digital agencies who want to interact with the data as well. They’re all the way around at 9 o’clock. Currently, the data flows quite slowly around that circle. The big opportunity is to join up all the dots on the circle to enable everyone involved to use the data as soon as it’s available. That way, everyone can make better decisions, faster.
There’s a popular phrase now, data is the new oil. I see it being more than that: I see it as data is disparate unlike oil and needs putting together and organising to become part of the daily decision making of a business, so they can start to build a data dividend. I think it is one of the biggest opportunities for businesses in our industry over the next 5-10 years.
Thanks so much for your time, Marcus. It was really good talking to you and all the best on your return to SalesOut.
