The TWC Group has committed to focusing exclusively on the wholesale channel in a move to become a full-service data and research agency, with the company also identifying £1bn of growth opportunities within retail and foodservice, as well as 30 brands that have acheived 96m units of growth over the past year.
Speaking at the company’s first trade briefing, development director Tom Fender highlighted how the channel has made strides in data usage in recent years, with the covid pandemic being attributed as a particular turning point for the industry, but he warned against complacency: the retail multiples have been using data for decades and competition in other forms (foodservice aggregators, Amazon, discounters) are turning to data to fuel their sales growth.
Fender said: “No other agency has this single channel focus on wholesale and associated routes to market. For us, wholesale is not a small department within a larger organisation. We live and breathe wholesale, recognising it is a £34bn per annum turnover industry. That said, we believe there are more opportunities for growth in wholesale and associated routes-to-market than exist in the retail multiples. We are repeatedly told this by suppliers”.
Read more: First five suppliers sign up to TWC’s wholesale data software
Key insights from the briefing included:
- TWC is constantly being told by suppliers that they see great opportunities for growth in wholesale compared to the retail multiples. However, they need data to prove this internally, and if they can’t get hold of it, the sector misses out on this vital channel investment.
- There are some data quality challenges which need to be overcome.
- Economy and competition is making things tough. But that doesn’t mean opportunities for growth don’t exist, but data is needed to identify them, with £1bn of growth opportunities found in retail and foodservice.
- One-third of supermarket sales are £10 or less transactions (i.e. £10 or less)
- 78% of the UK population live within walking distance /5 mins drive from a c store.
- On one day alone (16th April) 35% of the UK population ate out/bought food/drinks/snacks/meals out of home.
- 80% of UK consumers say that with a bit of encouragement from friends, family, and colleagues, they could be encouraged to go out and socialise more than they are currently doing.
- 45% agree that meeting up with friends, family, colleagues at a hospitality venue is better than meeting up at someone’s home.
- 80% agree that the experience they get when going out to a hospitality venue is generally good.
