Attributes of a world-class supplier team

From my career as a retail merchant and e-commerce executive to my more recent assignments in academia and with two Northwest Arkansas-based solution providers, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with a number of truly impressive consumer brand teams that call on the merchants at Walmart and Sam’s Club.

I’ve also encountered some that … let’s just say they’ve needed help and leave it at that.

In conversations with friends and professional colleagues within and outside of the retail industry, this topic is a seemingly recurring one that has taken on greater urgency in a post-pandemic world where retailing is undergoing rapid change and brands that have historically been successful are being challenged by upstart brands that move faster and more aggressively at Walmart, and with their other retail partners.

This observation gave me cause recently to give some thought to what attributes I had observed in truly world-class suppliers, and positioned to compete and win in modern retail. Historically, consumer brands assemble their top teams here in Northwest Arkansas to work with Walmart, and the opportunity to observe “the best of the best” is just one of the benefits of residing in this wonderful business community.

At the top of my list is data-driven analysis, or the ability to capture, analyze, and turn large amounts of data into insights and ultimately into action that drives business results. The creation of Retail Link so many years ago, now giving way to Luminate, when combined with consumer insights, industry trends and competitive information means supplier teams have more data at their fingertips than ever before. My view, however, is the ability to turn data into a business strategy is what separates good supplier partners from great ones. As a buyer, I loved it when my suppliers challenged me with data and made me a better merchant as a result.

Omnichannel, as it turns out, is not a fad but is a cornerstone of modern retail, and Walmart and Sam’s Club are leading the way in that aspect of the business. The consumer’s path to purchase is no longer siloed in just shopping in a store or just shopping online. The Walmart Connect team has shared fascinating data on how shoppers begin a purchase in one channel and many times complete it in another, and many retailers have shared insights that omnichannel shoppers are more loyal and more valuable than single-channel shoppers.

Supplier teams that have developed an omnichannel mindset and come equipped to strategy sessions with their buyers with proposals that extend across consumer touchpoints are increasingly poised to compete and win at Walmart. Those that aren’t, well, let’s just say I’d recommend prayer for them.

Finally, it seems the ability to plan and execute at a high level for new product introductions, everyday inventory flow and seasonal drive periods has never gone out of style. However, executing the fundamentals is made more challenging by supply chain issues, raw materials availability, countless store sizes, modular plans and distribution center alignments. All create headwinds for consumer brands, and yet the best manages to find a way to place the right people in the right seats, equip them with the right tools and training, and hold them accountable for delivering the right product to the right places at the right time and in full.

Occasionally, it’s kind of hard to stop and appreciate a world-class team in any field of endeavor, from sports teams to military units, and from government to retailing. Observing the best of the best teams and appreciating the leaders who assemble those high-performing groups is easy to miss if you don’t take the time to look.

Editor’s note: Scott Benedict is the vice president of Education Growth with 8th & Walton. The opinions expressed are those of the author.