ECR ‐ breaking china in the US supermarket industry

Abstract

Lipton is one of the companies most advanced in the implementation of efficient consumer response (ECR) in the USA. Describes the hostile grocery industry environment leading up to the introduction of ECR in the early 1990s and discusses the key aspects of implementation, as experienced at Lipton. Emphasizes the need to focus on the capability of human resources, the pricing of activities rather than products, and the use of information on consumer behaviour. ECR adoption requires organizational change, the introduction of new business processes and the breaking down of functional silos. The key issues for the future are: the realization of genuine benefits for the consumer; building ECR implementation into the profit and loss account; the role of the Internet; and the development of meal solutions within category management.

Citation

Collins, R. (1997), "ECR ‐ breaking china in the US supermarket industry", Supply Chain Management, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 92-98. https://doi.org/10.1108/13598549710178273