Net Perceptions tunes promotional, merchandising and advertising technology for supermarket retailers

Net Perceptions, Inc, an innovator in the development of marketing and merchandising software, announced at the Food Marketing Institute MARKETECHNICS 2001 show in New Orleans the successful tuning and immediate availability of Retail Revelations specifically for the retail supermarket industry.

Retail Revelations, a suite of software and services, helps food retailers transform insight into profitable action. Two components of the suite are especially applicable to the supermarket enterprise: Advertising Advisor and Personalisation Manager.

Advertising Advisor increases the revenue return from print circular advertising for the merchandising and promotion of products stocked in the physical store. By analysing historic point-of-sale data, Advertising Advisor identifies what promotions work and how well - including which items drive the greatest add-on purchases. Most importantly, it provides a unique, dynamic simulation ability that allows marketers, using vast amounts of data, to test various scenarios in seconds and create prescriptions for the most profitable action to take. It actually recommends what to advertise to drive higher overall sales, increase traffic, optimise margins and reduce printing costs - benefits that are realised at the store, region and chain levels.

Since its introduction in April 2000, Advertising Advisor has enjoyed deployment among such top-50 U.S. retailers as Eckerd, Kmart, JCPenney, and Best Buy - all of which rely heavily on print advertising circulars.

Personalisation Manager is designed for food retailers that offer customers an on-line way to shop. It combines Net Perceptions` award-winning, real-time e-commerce personalisation technology with business rule-building capabilities to make sure that a customer`s on-line experience is the best it can be while essential business controls are maintained. Customer loyalty is enhanced and store brand is reinforced. Customers of Net Perceptions e-commerce products include such top retailers as U.K.-based grocer Tesco, williams-sonoma.com, bestbuy.com and jcpenney.com.

"Net Perceptions designed the components of Retail Revelations to make measurable impacts specific to retailing," said Steve VanTassel, Net Perceptions vice president and general manager, Commerce Solutions. "For most large food retailing chains, print circular advertising represents the lion`s share of the marketing budget and the lifeblood of store traffic. Advertising Advisor has demonstrated its ability to take the traditionally ad hoc process of determining which products to feature, at what price, and make it an efficient, profit-oriented science. And as the Internet gains importance as a venue for day-to-day business and boosting customer loyalty, Personalisation Manager is uniquely positioned to optimise that channel`s value."

The press to invest in technology to capitalise on available data and still maintain customer focus is clear. As AMR Research Senior Analyst Randy Covill puts it: "Retailers need to integrate their demand chain, enterprise, and supply chain strategies to assume the trusted advisor role in partnership with manufacturers and manufacturer`s brands. Otherwise, the retailer may see its store brand or promise to consumers undermined by manufacturers who can better position their brands with consumers."