OREANDA-NEWS. Representatives from major Russian and foreign producers gathered at the First DIXY Supplier Forum to discuss the retailer’s prospects, and opportunities to optimize interaction between the supplier and distribution network.

In his opening statement, Ilya Yakubson, President of DIXY group, has invited the participants to actively involve themselves in the dialogue. The partners responded with original proposals, raised some controversial issues and thanked the company for being consistent and reliable during collaboration, as well as willing to hear opinions and look for common interests.

“DIXY supplier pool has over 1300 companies. We strive for mutual prosperity with every single one of them, which, of course, involves reciprocal steps. On our part, DIXY is working to increase the efficiency of our sales, invest in the development of category management and take measures to improve the skills of line personnel in all areas, ” - says Mr. Yakubson.

The company’s Marketing Director, Danny Perekalsky introduced new principles of selecting products for convenience stores with average area of only 280 sq.m. “In order to match the DNA of our company, and that means quality products and low prices in all convenience stores, we must make sure, that every item in the store has its demand, and every centimeter of a shelf is working for our customer. If the product does not sell for a minimum of RUR 100 per day, or, let’s say, two items per day - we ’re going to swap it for something more demanded”.

Purchasing Director, Andrey Tretyak has begun his presentation by introducing his team and continued with a convincing debunking of a myth that distribution networks usually work with suppliers from a power position: “Our mission is to work, think and negotiate everything together. Our purpose is crossfunctional cooperation with our suppliers. The closest interaction, as we’ve already seen in a number of projects, leads to the optimization of costs throughout the whole supply chain”.

This cross-functional collaboration that DIXY has implemented with a number of its partners gives the company steady annual growth not only horizontally - i.e. by opening new stores, but also vertically, by improving the presentation of goods, strengthening cooperation in all areas including promotion, category management and optimization of other important processes. As a result, the annual sales growth for a single supplier can reach over 60%.

Close to 200 partners have participated in the Forum, including: PepsiCo, Khlebny Dom, Savushkin Produkt, Procter & Gamble, Russkoye More, Prioskolye, Coca-Cola, Baltika, Obyedinenniye Konditery, Kraft, Orimi Trade, Mars, Karavai, Nestle, and others.