February-March 2022 - Mondelez4

Think Like A Retailer
For micro market, pantry
and vending operators,
category management and
a retail mindset are critical
A Q&A session with Malcolm McAlpine
of Mondelēz International
By Bob Tullio
As a customer marketing support specialist at Mondelēz
International for the past seven years, Malcolm McAlpine
has become an industry thought leader, helping operators
to successfully drive sales in the convenience services
industry. With the 2022 NAMA Show just around the corner,
I caught up with McAlpine to get some insights on two of
his favorite subjects - the importance of category management
and having a retail mindset.
Bob Tullio: Regarding category management, just
so we have a common ground for discussion, how
do you define that term?
Malcolm McAlpine: Put the right product in the
right place at the right time, for the right demographic.
That's category management. It's as
simple as that.
BT: Is this where having a retail mindset comes into play?
How important is that?
McAlpine: Correct and it is absolutely vital. If operators
start thinking about who they are competing with - it's
not other vending operators, it's grocery, it's delivery services,
it'sc-stores in particular. These are channels that
have operated with a retail mindset for years. I think it's a
big change for a lot of operators to move away from just
buying products that are a good deal and putting items in
because you think it is a good idea and instead, really putting
some science behind product selection - that is what
the retail mentality is all about and it is the only way an
operator can achieve successful category management.
Operators need to look at product selection with an
objective eye. They need to look at what we have learned
during COVID.
BT: For example?
McAlpine: Right off the bat in 2020, we learned that brands
sell. In retail, private label snacking items in the categories
that we are in were actually down in high single digits, while
branded products were up in high single digits.
BT:What do you attribute that to?
McAlpine: You would think that in a time when people are
being furloughed and losing their jobs, they would opt for
the cheaper or the less expensive options - the private
label. They actually don't. Instead, when the world is falling
apart around them, consumers gravitate to what they are
most comfortable with, what they remember as children.
BT: Can you please give me some steps that an operator
can take specifically that translate to a retail mindset?
McAlpine: I would say first off, reach out to the manufacturing
community. We have a wealth of insights and data.
We've all walked into operations where they've had 100
items and 95 of them are chip-type items. That is wrong.
You need to understand what people are purchasing. For
example, if you had 100 items in a micro market, 30 of
them should be chips absolutely because their share of
the snacking industry market is 30%.
BT: Data is critical. How does it translate to other products?
McAlpine: Data works the same way for chocolate, nonchocolate
confection, cookies, crackers, nuts, seeds, bars
- you really need to understand what people buy. That
leads to category management. Obviously, you must listen
to your clients as well.
BT:But what you are saying is, operators need to trust the
data more than anything else?
McAlpine: Yes - it's about being very objective with product
selection. The whole manufacturing community can help
you with that. We have people who basically put together
planograms for large customers. One of our experts put
together a planogram and presented it to a large contract
management company. They follow it because they know
it is totally objective. The big companies have been doing
this for years.
BT: Wait a minute. Are you recommending some of your
competitor's products in those planograms?
McAlpine: Absolutely. I would never put a planogram
together in a vending machine that would have 45 slots of
Oreos! Again - it's about being objective. When we lay out
a planogram with 45 items, I'm confident that five of them
will be Mondelēz products, because they are top sellers.
We want operators to succeed and the data does not lie.
BT: Is the data and support available for small operators?
McAlpine: It certainly is available to small operators. I've
spoken at the Small Operator Friday breakfast at NAMA. I
told them, " Here's my email address, reach out to me, I am
happy to help. " We have this wealth of information. I just
wish more people would take advantage of it.
BT: Sum it up for me please - the important steps that
translate to a retail mindset.
McAlpine: Reach out to manufacturers, get the data,
understand the data, get their help, set up a category management
program and tweak it according to your location
and your client needs. Then, the other critical step is that
you want to promote, promote, promote to the consumer,
because that again is an important part of the retail mindset.
In fact, I will be speaking about product promotion at
the Chicago NAMA Show in April.
February-March 2022

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