The second annual AWMA DEF Harmonizing Assortment conference, which will help distributors use data to improve category management and profits for themselves and their customers, will be held June 25-27 in New Orleans, LA.
“This state-of-the-art executive education program will focus on category management, sales and data management, and will provide a fresh perspective on the importance of integrating category management and sales functions,” explained Scott Ramminger, president & CEO, the American Wholesale Marketers Association (AWMA). Ramminger said consumer insight teams, category management and data experts will demonstrate how to analyze inventories, explore the root causes of excessive SKUs, and rationalize product placement to capitalize on consumer behavior.
“Harmonizing Assortment will enable management and sales leaders to connect with peers from across the country and learn how to tap into the power of category management to make informed category decisions,” said Ramminger. “Attendees will be able to develop strategies to better serve retail customers and help them maximize product turns and identify slow-moving SKUs and better selling items.” The program, sponsored by AWMA’s Distributors Education Foundation (DEF), was created specifically for distributors involved in making category management, buying, and sales decisions, Ramminger said. The program will feature industry experts serving as faculty – Kit Dietz, Dietz Consulting LLC, and Doug MacKay, president The Glen Douglas Group – both of whom have long experience in the industry and have worked with AWMA on numerous distributor education programs.
Program topics include:
• Communicating and implementing category management plans
• How the consumer shops the c-store
• Rationalizing assortment and building from the core out
• Making informed decisions through the use of data
• Merchandising new items and driving center store sales
• Building consultative selling skills
The education program will train both a category management team leader and a sales team leader from each distribution company. The category management portion should include decision-makers responsible for overseeing product categories, including owners/presidents/COOs, category management team leaders and buyers. The sales portion should include a sales leader who oversees sales representatives. Harmonizing Assortment is the second of two back-to-back programs that are intended to help convenience industry supply chain partners effectively use exclusive convenience industry data to improve operations and profit. The first meeting, the AWMA C-Metrics™ Convenience Industry Outlook Forum, will take place June 24-25. Both programs will be held at the Loews Hotel in New Orleans.
Distributors are invited to attend both sessions and maximize their investment. A joint networking reception with AWMA C-Metrics™ Outlook Forum attendees will be held at 5 p.m. on June 25, with the two-day program beginning the morning of June 26 and closing at 4 p.m. on June 27.
For more information and to register, prospective attendees should visit www.awmanet.org.
The American Wholesale Marketers Association (AWMA) is the only international trade organization working on behalf of convenience distributors in the United States. Its distributor members represent more than $85 billion in U.S. convenience product sales. Associate members include manufacturers, service providers, technology companies, brokers, retailers and others allied to the convenience retailing industry.
In addition to convenience stores, their largest customer segment, convenience distributors also service grocery stores, drug stores, tobacco shops, mass merchants, newsstands, concession stands, gift shops, fundraising groups, restaurants, institutions and much more