Client Situation
Our client is a recognized grocery retail leader in the UAE, primarily working with Private label brands. The organization has also launched a new brand of retail stores with expansion plans across the UAE. With 100+ existing private label Stock-keeping Units (SKUs), the retail group engaged Cedar to assist in reviewing its current Private label strategy and developing a way forward roadmap to revamp itself as a “National FMCG Brand.”
Cedar’s Approach
In this program, Cedar assisted the client with an in-depth external and internal assessment, followed by strategy design and way-forward recommendations to establish the private label unit. Here's a look at the detailed activities conducted by Cedar's consulting team:
- Market & Competitive Assessment: A thorough market assessment to understand the private label market in UAE, best practices regionally and globally, competitive landscape, industry trends, emerging consumer trends, challenges, popular categories in grocery retail private labels, and typical best practices in process, supply chain and distribution.
- Internal Assessment: Detailed review of the existing business and internal capabilities through - financial and process assessment, primary meetings with key internal stakeholders to understand existing challenges, and value chain to benchmark with leading practices. This assessment also included a review of the current organizational structure.
- Way-Forward Recommendations: Strategy design and recommendations across Financial, Customer, Process, and Organization objectives:
- Financial: In-depth financial analysis, sales trend, and category profitability
- Customer & Products: Category and sub-category growth, sales split, private label segmentation, pricing strategies and product mix, packaging, and branding
- Process: Procurement and distribution key considerations, location analysis- industrial clusters, Critical criteria for efficient warehousing and distribution
- Organization & Technology: Development of refined organization unit-Corporate and Manufacturing unit with critical role identification
Outcome
The program resulted in a detailed Private label strategy design with recommendations across different business perspectives inclusive of:
- Financial Business Plan: 3-year financial model estimating Private Label profitability trend; Income analysis for Private Label brand.
- Customer & Products: Defined target segments- B2B and B2C, B2C customer persona Channels, Category Mix- Potential offerings, Brand guidelines – packaging and marketing
- Process: Charted an ideal & cost-efficient distribution cycle, Listed Industrial clusters and highlighted key traders in UAE for distribution
- Organisation: Redefined organization structure- Corporate and Manufacturing unit with clearly outlined shared functions; Charted key roles and responsibilities for select positions
In addition to the above recommendations, Cedar also helped identify Quick wins and medium-term initiatives to roll out the Private Label brand as a “National FMCG Brand”.