Efficient Consumer Response (ECR): A Comprehensive Guide
Questionnaire: Efficient Consumer Response (ECR)
Basic Principles and Objectives
1. The main objective of the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) initiative is:
Optimizing the value chain.
2. One of the basic principles of ECR is:
Continuous and efficient supply.
Improving Trade and Manufacturing Relationships
3. ECR is characterized by a change in how the supply chain works to meet consumer needs, forcing improvements in the relationship between trade and manufacturing. This improvement can be achieved in various ways, some of them defined by ECR as:
Using consumer information to make product launches more effective.
Meeting Consumer Demand
4. How do ECR concepts help in meeting consumer demand?
By making supply effective, fast, and low cost.
5. Considering demand management, product testing to assess consumer reactions and seeking comments and feedback are opportunities that can’t be ignored. At what point should this be taken into consideration?
In the development of new products.
Understanding Promotions
6. We know that promotions are a controversial issue, and many question their existence. What can cause these deals?
Indifference on the part of consumers.
Efficient Supply Mechanisms
7. Some efficiency mechanisms have been deployed by organizations to satisfy customer needs, focusing on efficient supply:
Direct delivery to the client/home delivery.
The Driving Force of Change
8. Who is driving the whole process change in the market and forcing companies to act differently?
Consumers, who have changed their habits and are becoming more demanding.
Benefits of ECR Implementation
9. There’s no doubt that ECR can make a difference for businesses in a world where competition is increasingly fierce. Companies that seek its implementation are after what conventional benefits?
Increased sales.
Category Management Components
10. The management of each category has been classified into six components that relate to each other; however, two of them are considered fundamental:
Strategy and business processes.
11. Considering business processes, we can say that the definition of the category is:
Determining the products that make up the category in terms of consumption.
Category Management Tools
12. To discipline the process of category management, management tools for meditation and monitoring should be implemented. These tools have some basic objectives, one of them is:
To regulate and organize the management process by category.
Understanding Distributor Perceptions
13. The development of a management plan implementation by category begins with a process of understanding how the group evaluates the distributors of products that the company owns. This assessment is very important for two reasons, one of which is:
Knowledge of perceptions about the products influences how the plan will be prepared and submitted.
Commitment from Top Management
14. Management by category requires significant investments in companies’ time, money, and effort. Understanding what resources need to be invested in the process, category management may be doomed to failure if not for:
A commitment from top management.
Drawbacks of Bargaining
15. The coordinating point for negotiations in the bargaining process can generate significant drawbacks for organizations, such as:
High inventory, increasing financial costs.
Logistics Inefficiencies
16. The logistics process can provide important inefficiencies arising from:
Limitation of storage pallets in relation to height.
Optimizing the Order Cycle
17. Considering the flow of information in the process category, the entire value chain must be looked at so it can be optimized. Initially, one must analyze the entire order cycle, which basically consists of two parts, one of which is:
Exchange of information between key organizations and how they are processed, understood, and used.
Information Sharing and Trust
18. We know that the introduction of category management, as well as all concepts from ECR, require a rather large cultural change, and information is critical to the success of the initiative. There is nothing to analyze if there is no product information available. The information must be shared sociologically and among organizations of the value chain. Which requirements are essential since sensitive data is exchanged?
Mutual trust and openness.
Product Innovation
19. One of the main factors that should guide the innovation of products is:
The lack of products in the consumer market.
20. There are strong reasons to innovate and develop products, among which we can mention:
Falling sales.
Optimizing Promotions
21. In the context of efforts to optimize demand, promotions are one of the most important areas to be worked on for the following reasons:
Promotional activity is certainly seen as a loss of revenue for many establishments.
22. The importance of the process of coupon promotions directly to consumers is that it directs the consumer to be:
True to the product.