Strong Profit Results from International Grocer’s Price Optimization Solution

The client, a global, multi-billion-dollar discount grocery retailer with divisions in countries across Europe and Asia, as well as the United States, had recently engaged Parker Avery to guide them through the selection of an advanced pricing system. The grocer began implementing regular price optimization capabilities for three countries in Europe, encompassing multiple currencies and different master data sources.

The company’s general philosophy is to be the low-price leader compared to its competition, so the project had to focus on value measurement and impact on customer perception. Company leadership also recognized the importance of a comprehensive change management program to ensure the adoption and sustainment of new pricing capabilities. Further, each country had different regulatory considerations that the system configuration must address (e.g., prohibited from selling below cost).

Parker Avery provided retail pricing expertise, industry-leading practices, business process design, change management, data validation, testing, and roll-out support to successfully implement the new regular price optimization solution. Key activities included:

• Confirmed information gleaned during the initial discovery phase
• Documented levels 1 through 3 retail pricing business processes
• Defined and documented a RACI (responsibility and accountability) matrix for each level 2 process step
• Refined and confirmed pricing team structures and defined roles and responsibilities
• Worked with each country on a tailored change management strategy including communication materials, training strategies, and reinforcement plans
• Assisted in data validation
• Wrote user acceptance test (UAT) scripts and provided support for the execution of testing activities
• Based on the timing of the three countries, continued to refine a five-year implementation strategy by module/country
• Outlined expected benefits and ROI by country, year, and module