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Retail industry margins are coming under greater pressure than ever before. Stuttering consumer demand and loyalty (and the related flight to value), increased intensity of competition, rising costs and price deflation are all contributing to the margin squeeze. Against this backdrop, consumers are becoming more demanding than ever, expecting to pay ‘less for more’ – more service, more customised offerings, better quality, a better retail experience and a stream of new and innovative products accessible through a widening variety of channels. These demands are all combining to place significant pressure on retail profitability.

Whilst the scale of the challenge for retailers is certainly daunting, these dynamics also present exciting opportunities to those that can successfully improve performance at each stage of their value chain.

Significant opportunities for performance improvement lie in the realm of retail operations. The challenge is clear – successful retailers must develop and manage ever more complex supply-chains and improve service levels, whilst simultaneously reducing costs.

Helping retailers to improve customer experience whilst also realising sustainable efficiency savings
UEP has an excellent record of helping retailers tackle these challenges.  Moreover, as part of a group that includes 300 retail stores and a global logistics company that counts some of the Europe’s leading retailers and FMCG companies among its clients, UEP has unparalleled access to supply-chain and store operations expertise that few consulting competitors can offer. Uniquely, this allows potential clients to visit our companies – before any commitment is made – to see close-up how our approach and methods deliver outstanding improvements in performance in a variety of Retail and Consumer related environments.

We have helped leading retailers (including high street grocery chains and specialist retailers) to realise substantial and sustainable efficiencies by optimising processes across a variety of environments, from head office functions (such as procurement and customer service) through to supply chain and in-store operations.  However, creating more effective processes is only part of the challenge; critically, on every assignment UEP ensures that retail staff are engaged in, and enthused by, the performance improvement initiatives so that these enhancements are sustained and improved upon long after we’ve left.

For information on how UEP could help your Retail or Consumer Goods & Services organisation to achieve exceptional standards of operational performance, please contact:

Ian Arbuthnott
Mobile: 07824 609004
Email: ian.arbuthnott@unipart.co.uk

Andrew Tyler
Mobile: 07748 147977
Email: andrew.tyler@unipart.co.uk