The spirit of 2020 has genuinely affected Prisync's approach to partnerships. We've joined three very dynamic industry associations last year.
What started as an attempt to build an active line of communication with a variety of small and medium businesses has helped us realize the importance of functioning associations in retail.
What motivated us to become a member of successful industry associations
A lot of businesses' profitability was at stake last year. For retailers, it was that they couldn't deal with all the uncertainty that's been continuing for too long. They've had a hard time dealing with the disruptions in the supply chain and covering the costs that came with the disarray.
For manufacturer brands, the problem was different. Some of their resellers took advantage of the supply shocks and sadly resorted to price gouging. Price gouging is an act where a seller seizes the opportunity to raise prices drastically when people are panic buying-a time when shoppers are not particularly price-sensitive. Think of your toilet paper stockpiling times.
A lot of countries took serious measures against price gouging, but the damage was already done to the consumer and the manufacturers. Manufacturer brands had little or zero control over how their products were priced on the market. Unfortunately, some consumers felt it was their responsibility too.
And the fact that they had zero or very poor MAP monitoring capabilities magnified the damage. Many manufacturing businesses were too late to even notice those massive price increases.
Interestingly, some manufacturers felt the effect of the pandemic much later. And it was in a different shape.
Contrary to the price gouging victims, demand for these manufacturers' products had dropped and/or delayed. And some retailers sold those products at extremely low prices, which damaged the manufacturers' brand image.
Seeing those problems from our perspective had motivated us to join more associations and help them see how pricing intelligence can contribute to their business's success by giving them agility in decision making.
Let's get to know them a little closer.
FWD - Federation of Wholesale Distributors
FWD is the trade association for food and drink wholesalers in the UK. FWD members provide food and related products to more than 400,000 retail and catering companies. Members' customers include small and medium independent business to retail and restaurant chains.
Other FWD members include service providers like us, in areas such as market insight, technology and consultancy.
BMA - Bathroom Manufacturers Association
BMA is trade association for bathroom manufacturers in the UK, which aims to offer an independent platform for bathroom manufacturers to discuss the matters of trading in the UK.
It builds the flow of information between Industry Government, consumer and the bathroom businesses in the UK.
Thanks to their long-lasting partnership with Conference Call Venues, BMA proudly offers their members free venue sourcing for their events.
UKVIA - UK Vaping Industry Association
UKVIA is a non-profit organization run by the members, about educating and informing stakeholders such as policy makers, regulators, parliament members, the public health community and the some 7 million smokers across the UK.
Members of the UKVIA include some of the fastest growing independent vaping businesses, tobacco companies, and a range of service providers.