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Mark Thorpe, UK managing at Stibo Systems discusses why leading retailers have nothing to fear from GSCOP

Mark Thorpe, UK managing at Stibo Systems discusses why leading retailers have nothing to fear from GSCOP

 

“The new Grocery Supplier Code of Practice (GSCOP), which launched earlier this month, shouldn’t cause major concern for the top ten supermarkets,” argued Thorpe. “It’s easy to suddenly panic about new legislation, but all supermarkets need to do to alleviate concerns is make sure that data is managed effectively and ensure all communications with suppliers are routinely documented.

 

“The GSCOP was introduced to protect farmers and small suppliers from large retailers taking advantage of their dominant market position. The rules apply to all supermarkets with annual sales of over £1 billion, which includes Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda. Essentially, the code aims to clamp down on buying practices that undermine suppliers.

 

“For example, the new measures prohibit retailers from making retrospective adjustments to terms and conditions of supply and from making arrangements that result in suppliers being held liable for any losses due to shrinkage. The GSCOP also requires retailers to keep written records of all agreements with suppliers,” he explained.

 

Turning compliance burden into an advantage

 

“But rest assured, supermarkets can easily comply with such requirements through effective and efficient data management. Keeping structured data in a product information management (PIM) system gives retailers and manufacturers the agility to respond to market opportunities and react to legislation such as the GSCOP. A PIM platform can also enable supermarkets to establish robust control over its communications with suppliers by driving all such communications through a web-based portal. This model can offer a secure and workflow-controlled environment for suppliers to provide information to the retailer, and for the retailer to capture a full audit trail of all changes, documents and correspondence. This, in turn, means the retailer is ready to provide documentary evidence of all correspondence with suppliers.

 

“The retailer also benefits from having a more effective way to communicate with its numerous different suppliers and can more easily consolidate all information and correspondence with each supplier. The retailer can also easily inform multiple suppliers of any changes that will affect them. For example, if a supermarket is selling white cotton T-shirts and there is a change in material content from 90 to 80% cotton, an efficient PIM system can ensure that the change is quickly and accurately reflected in all relevant places such as on the website, on garment labels, shelf-edge labels and so on. Furthermore, the changes made are fully audited, enabling the retailer to prove compliance if necessary.”

 

Thorpe concluded: “Essentially, it’s not legislation that’s the issue, it’s really a call for better processes in data management and supplier communications. Supermarkets that already manage their data efficiently shouldn’t have anything to worry about. However, supermarkets with room for improvement in their data management needn’t worry either, as they can implement these processes easily and, in doing so, ensure ongoing good relationships with their suppliers.”

 

Stibo Systems is a master data management solutions provider.