Arla Foods, a major Nordic dairy cooperative, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of powdered milk products. After a successful introduction in the Chinese market, Arla introduced its Milex brand to Vietnam.
ADDRESSING THE ISSUES
Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of supply chain is essential for any global producer and in order to operate effectively on the Vietnamese market, Arla Foods changed its distribution partner.
Arla Foods commissioned a report from Decision Lab based on agile and connected market research, to determine how retailers felt about this change.
THE APPROACH
To provide a comprehensive analysis of the Milex distribution chain, Decision Lab conducted an extensive telephone-based survey with 74 Milex retailers in Hanoi.
The questionnaire was customised to focus on the five important factors that most directly impact a retailer’s satisfaction: promotional campaigns, payment policies, sales team performance, sales revenue and overall distribution efficiency. Each question was given a scale of 1 to 5 for a detailed evaluation.
Decision Lab’s call center staff spent approximately 20 minutes with each interview respondent. All answers were recorded directly into a data collection system, a research method which ensures data quality while reducing costs. The data was then processed using a variety of sophisticated statistical analyses.
RESULTS
Decision Lab’s final report for Arla included an evaluation of overall retailer satisfaction with Arla’s new distributor. In addition, the report also provided recommendations on the importance of varying promotional techniques along with improving sales team performance to increase future demand and develop strategic marketing approaches, as well as a detailed evaluation of Milex’s market share and brand equity in Hanoi.
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