June 4, 2025 • 24 mins
In this episode of The Retail Journey, Simone Parry, former Vice President of Private Brands for Consumables at Walmart, joins us to discuss how private brands are evolving in today’s retail environment. She reflects on her time at Walmart, where she worked across cross-functional teams to build private label strategies, improve supplier partnerships, and support category performance.
Now with High Impact Analytics, Simone leads Growth & Development. She has been integral in launching High Impact’s Private Brand Hub - built to equip your team with tailored support through product ideation to the retail shelf.
This episode offers a practical look at the challenges and opportunities in managing private brands at scale—and where the industry is heading next.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hello and welcome to the Retail Journey podcast.
I'm one of your hosts, charlesGreathouse.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
And I am James Harris , and today we've got the
privilege of sitting down withour very own Simone Perry.
We've spoken once before, butthat was before you joined High
Impact, so excited to jump intoall things private brand and
what you've been working on hereover the last several months
Growth and development.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Growth and development.
Thank you, welcome to theretail journey.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Simone, we're glad you're here.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Thank you, charles.
Thank you, james.
I'm also very glad to be here.
What have I been up to the lastyear?
I took a few months, as youknow, and did absolutely nothing
.
I spent time with the familyand did a bit of travel and then
I had the joy of meeting all ofyou and then came to spend some
time here at High Impact, metthe team, met the analysts, met
(01:07):
all the people who work withsuppliers on the client growth
side and, of course, charles,I've known you for a long time.
So it was a great time for mebecause I got to spend time with
like-minded people who spendtime helping suppliers and
solving problems with suppliers.
I love doing that at Walmart.
(01:27):
I loved product development,but really I enjoyed working
with suppliers and understandingwhere we could help along the
way.
Many issues to solve, manyproblems to collaborate on, and
so now I get to do that at HighImpact as well.
So growth and development, Ithink, is really the two words
that I love.
I like growth, everyone likesgrowth, and normally the growth
(01:51):
is for both parties, for Walmartand for the client, and that's
really the best place to be.
And then development looking atprocesses and finding ways to
do things more seamlessly.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah Well, anyone who's gotten to spend any kind
of amount of time with you,simone, has seen how you take a
development-centric view of, I'dsay, most conversations.
It's not simply about where weare, but it's a bit of where we
are, perhaps how we got here andwhere we might be going next.
Or, as I tended to struggle asa merchant, even further into
the future, where we might begoing next.
(02:24):
Or, as I tended to struggle asa merchant, even further into
the future, where we might begoing or how we might get there
on time and so being able tounderstand the depth of a
calendar that is necessary forcommercializing a private brand
item.
I thought I knew it all as amerchant and I was quite sure I
(02:45):
was behind those timelines andI've since learned there's quite
a bit more, even yet to theprocess calendars, that you
didn't even make me aware ofbecause I didn't do those parts.
But there's people working allover to make private brand come
to life at Walmart and I'm suremany retailers have very similar
(03:06):
processes and approach.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
I think the word timeline has, as you just
alluded to, many thingsunderneath it.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
In terms of role players, the different people
that make it work, get it to theshelf on time, and there's also
, I think, systems and processesin most retailers.
Walmart's no exception, butWalmart does do it very detailed
yeah and to protect thecustomer in the end.
I certainly know Walmart doesthat, and so that involves
(03:35):
things that we shouldn't bringto the merchant's attention.
It should just be done in thebackground so that the item gets
to the shelf on time.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I think we found that you know multiple clients
coming from plenty of privatebrand experience across retail
as they enter into how Walmartis doing and growing private
brand in a meaningful way.
It's very much with the end inmind, very much with strategic
long-term growth in mind, andincludes a lot of detail for
great purpose.
But it's nuanced versus wherethey might have otherwise
(04:05):
experienced a private brand oreven private label manufacturing
in the past.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
I agree completely.
I think one of the things I'venoticed since being out of
Walmart and here at High Impactis that everyone has different
issues going on at any giventime, and even though some
private brand suppliers areactually quite mature in their
relationship with Walmart, theycan go into a new department or
(04:32):
a new category and then theyfind that it's completely
different in the ways of gettingit commercialized, in the way
that department does things,which roles are deployed to make
it happen.
And so you know, it's not justnew suppliers coming into
Walmart, it's actually supplierswho are going into new
categories and new departments.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
The conversation is so relevant.
Just a little bit of history,I'm sure most people are aware.
Since COVID and then intoinflation, private brands has
increased shares substantiallywith kind of no end in sight.
The private brands that havebeen around, that we're all
familiar with, they've grown.
(05:15):
There have been new onesintroduced, many from a premium
perspective.
Can you talk a little bit aboutjust the undercurrent of kind
of where private brands is andwhere you think the industry is
going?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, it's actually a great topic because if you look
at private brands, for the last20 years it's been through
about four or five differentphases we talk about pre-2000,
we talk about pre-2010, wherereally then private brands
started to bring in premium andto be high quality and I guess
(05:49):
maybe before 2010,.
It wasn't that there wasn'tquality, it's just that it was
mostly just about the nationalbrand comparison.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
And then now where we're at post-COVID is is in a
completely different phase,because during COVID a lot of
customers went into privatebrand or store brand or
different options, thinking that, okay, it would just be a
temporary move away fromnational brand.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
The brand was out of stock or something A hundred
percent, for whatever reason.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
It was because national brand did go out of
stock first in the beginning ofCOVID, as people bought and
pantry loaded, but they actuallyfound they enjoyed the
experience, and so some of themstayed with private brand after
COVID, and that did a couple ofthings.
It impacted the private brandsupply chain in terms of both
upstream and downstream, becauseit put pressure on volumes, it
(06:40):
put pressure on certain rawmaterials, and so it also made
it attractive for other privatebrands to start entering, and so
it also made it attractive forother private brands to start
entering.
And so I think now what'shappened is that private brand.
The trends that are coming outof private brand right now is
that they've earned the right tohave premium, they've earned
the right to innovate andthey've earned the right to
actually stand up and say, hey,I could be even better than the
(07:02):
national brand, because that wasmy intention when I developed
this product.
So I think those things are allin play right now, and I also
think that a lot of retailers,given the increased penetration
and participation of their storebrand portfolio, have invited a
lot more private brandsuppliers from a diverse supply
(07:23):
base into their mix, and sothat's also been positive, very
positive.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, so pretty significant undercurrent,
significant personal careerchange as you leave Walmart,
take some time, get to join thegroup here at High Impact and
then, as you do, with someprocess and a very thoughtful
approach, you've done a lot ofassessment on where the needs
(07:49):
are in the market, what kind ofsupport is necessary to help
people thrive, and after all ofthat, we're here to announce and
share the Private Brand Hub,and so can you tell us a little
(08:13):
bit about Private Brand Hub andthat sort of origin story of how
we got here and then what'scoming out of the Private Brand
Hub, I think.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Firstly, thank you for introducing it and thank you
for recognizing how much Ienjoy process.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
There's great reward when you follow something with
intentionality, you come outwith a much better end result,
as you taught me multiple timesas a merchant, I think process
has its place.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
And so, you know, coming into High Impact and
seeing the suppliers andrealizing that everyone has
different issues going on atdifferent times, I thought let
me spend time and, as you know,I spent time with different
suppliers, being on the calls,listening to them, listening to
conversations around in theoffice, and I realized that
(08:54):
there was a nuancing opportunityin taking processes from
retailers, processes fromsuppliers, and finding a way in
between to marry them togetherand to be more agile, make
timeline, because there'snothing worse for a merchant, as
you know, for an item to belaid to shelf.
It's a hole on the shelf, it'sa hole in the P&L that is hard
(09:16):
to fill In fact, almostsometimes impossible and
suppliers all have the bestintention.
Everyone wakes up in themorning wanting to make it
successful, but something goeswrong.
So what I thought was let medivide it into phases, starting
from ideation right through tolanding on shelf.
Let's put it into somedigestible phases that can be
(09:37):
given to a supplier and let themunderstand that there are steps
in that process where we canassist, where we can help, we
can offer some solutions basedon experience of things that
have gone wrong in the past.
So I think that's the mostimportant thing is, we're not
these are not problems that areunique to a supplier in the type
(09:57):
of problem, but it's unique inthe timeline and it's maybe
unique to that product thatthey're developing.
So, having different phases inthe process, starting from a
discovery phase, moving througha prepare phase which gets
everyone ready to go to Walmart,in the execute phase, which is
then about actually making ithappen, commercializing it, and
then actually growing after that, because getting an item to
(10:20):
shelf is just the first step andyou know this, charles and
James, you see it all the timewith the conversations we have
on a daily basis with theanalytics team.
There is a massive amount ofopportunity to grow once you're
at shelf, so there's no stoppingonce you hit the shelf.
It's more about what actions doI take now to maximize that
(10:42):
particular product that's atshelf, but also bring in
innovation, given that Walmartright now is in an innovative
phase.
Everything's about assortment,opportunities for the customer
and making sure that there'schoice.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Well, you've never been able to be as creative as
you can be right now in productdevelopment for private brands.
The Better Goods launch in thelast year that's been exciting
just to watch because it's very,very high quality products that
I would have to imagine.
Many of the shoppers aren'teven aware that it's a store
(11:15):
brand.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
I think you're 100% correct about the not even aware
it's a store brand.
I walk Walmart stores probablytwo, three times a week for my
personal grocery but also justto see where the new items are.
Having been there at Walmartwhen the ideation phase of
Better Goods was happeningaround me, it's been great to
(11:37):
actually go into a store and trythem.
And see it in real life, becausenow it's like seeing something
being developed and now you canactually go physically try it.
So that's been exciting for me.
It's also exciting for mebecause it's leading in a lot of
way, and I like the fact thatprivate brand can lead.
There's always a place fornational brand equivalent.
That is the bulk of whatprivate brand and store brand
(11:59):
programs do.
But the ability to lead andactually be successful and it
looks great on shelf and it'sstill a great price point,
that's an achievement.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Yeah, One of the things I'm excited about with
this, with our private brandshub, is, yes, it can help some
companies maybe break down somebarriers that have been not
barriers, but help them resolveissues that they were having
internally to kind of get overthe finish line.
I'm excited about that ofequipping companies to be
successful, but I'm also I'mreally excited about what
(12:31):
companies are we going to beable to partner with to build
that three-year growth plan, tobuild that multi-category
expansion strategy and enablethem to go after it.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Well, you mentioned a really good phrase a three-year
plan.
I think a lot of suppliers arevery focused in the year and the
12 months ahead because they'regetting the product to shelf.
At the same time, though, weshould always be thinking about
the second and the third yearfor that growth plan, and so one
of the things that we can dowith more mature suppliers is
actually sit with them and lookfor continuous improvement in
(13:06):
the existing processes.
What are they thinking about interms of innovation, and what
can we pre-prepare them with toactually help them get that to
shelf and get that to Walmartthe right Walmart merchant?
I think just because you'resuccessful in one category
doesn't automatically meansuccess in another category,
because of the uniquedifferences by department that
(13:27):
exist in Walmart.
So, certainly, the growth planis something that is a
facilitation element that thehigh impact team can do and, at
the same time as developing thethree-year plan, look for
opportunities in process, lookfor upstream and downstream
issues, roadcks, deductions,things that are happening that
maybe they're not solvingbecause they're so focused on
(13:49):
getting the item to shelf.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
We can facilitate and help them with that yeah, yeah,
I find there's a trap, uh, kindof like the execution trap.
On the one hand, if you don'texecute you have no business
sort of being at the dance.
And I'd say from my experienceI don't know, maybe the majority
execute pretty well, but barelya majority, you know, it's like
kind of 60-40, perhaps 40% ofthe time there's some sort of
(14:14):
major gap in execution.
So it's very important and as amerchant or as a supplier, if
you get stuck in the headspaceof just executing and you don't
do discovery on where we mightbe, or preparation in a way that
you should, or you look atgrowth with an actual long range
point of view, you're sellingyourself short, the category
(14:37):
short significantly In yourexperience.
What does it take for I thinkit plays on both sides for the
retailer to be able to thinkbeyond just simple execution, as
well as the supplier to be ableto be prepared to go beyond
execution.
What's it take to elevate theconversation from just execution
to that sort of exponentialgrowth that happens when you're
(15:00):
thinking beyond?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Well, I would take that question back to the start
to finish process.
So for me, a successfulideation process and discovery
needs to include all the thingsthat will happen during the
prepare phase and the executephase.
So discovery is not just aboutfinding the new item, it's about
understanding where is it goingto fit and shelf.
(15:24):
What role is it going to play?
How can I get to the correctcost of goods?
Can I factor in all the thingsthat I'm going to encounter
along the way of executing interms of the cost of doing
business?
Some of those things are hiddenand not visible in the
beginning, and what we can do ishelp bring that to bear so that
the correct cost and thecorrect cost also then comes
(15:45):
with.
Well, which tier of privatebrand am I going to play in?
What role can my product do inthat assortment?
And with an in-depth assessmentof the category as it is today
in Walmart, through differentmeans and different ways of
getting to that information, wecan say, okay, well, if this is
your expertise, you've got thiscapacity, this is where you want
(16:07):
to play, this is what youalready do.
Well, now let's help youactually bring it to be in that
discovery phase and actually getthe right cost of goods
attached to it.
I think the cost of goods todayis even more important than it
was three years ago andunderstanding all the detail and
nuancing that should go intothat cost of goods at the outset
so that you don't encounterthese during the time that it's
(16:28):
actually being commercializedand it's too late.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Especially as you execute very thin margins,
because this is a very highvalue space to play in for the
customer as well as the retailer.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I also think that suppliers from my experience
don't realize that Walmart hassuch a breadth of opportunity in
private brand.
It's not just the opening pricepoint.
Those days are pre-2010, as wementioned earlier, james, I
think and part of our role inhigh impact and in the private
brand hub is to take theircapacity and capability and help
(17:06):
them say oh, but you canactually play here, this is an
opportunity, you can go to thisprice point, you can go to this
tier of private brand and youcan actually innovate.
The other way is also correct,though.
Sometimes there'soverengineering for the tier
that it's at, and we want tohelp with that too.
And that's that developmentpart, that development part of
(17:30):
taking the item or the thoughtprocess, the three-year plan,
moving it into the execute phaseand then actually, once that's
been done, you still then add onanother year of growth yeah and
because it's the three-yearplan, is an evolving thing?
Speaker 1 (17:43):
yeah, absolutely it's .
Uh, it's one of those spaces,so it's, you know, fast
development it's important, it'slong range.
You end up dealing with sort ofhigh stakes the whole time and
surprises are where there'smajor disruption.
Yeah, I feel like the processand the private brand hub is
(18:04):
here to help those that haveexperienced surprises, either on
the execution side, where youthought you were prepared for it
, or when it comes time for,like.
I feel like this item is doinggreat and it's going to continue
to thrive, and then it'sdelisted because it wasn't for
some reason that you're unawareof.
I feel like there's a type ofprivate brand manufacturer
(18:29):
that's out there.
If you're experiencing thosesurprises at retail, the Private
Brand Hub is here to help.
There are several out therethat maybe are making things in
the US, haven't maybe been inprivate brand as much, haven't
quite considered it as an option.
I'd love to hear your thoughtson how the private brand hub can
help someone who's verticallyintegrated, well-positioned for
(18:50):
it, but has not ever chosen topursue a private brand.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
So one of the things I think the private brand hub I
know the private brand hub willdo is that group of suppliers
who is a little bit unsure of.
Are they ready to work withWalmart?
Do they have the rightcapability and capacity to
actually put a proposition infront of the merchant?
Are they ready for that firstmeeting?
What we can do is tease thatall out and ask the right
(19:17):
questions, give them a rightview of what to expect.
I have this phrase what toexpect when you're expecting.
That's sometimes hard and theyhaven't been to Walmart yet.
So that group of supplierscoming into Walmart for a first
time, even though they mighthave an item in another
secondary channel or in adepartment store or somewhere
(19:38):
else direct to consumer.
What we can do is hold thatmirror up and say this is what
you can expect.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I love that and that preparation will.
It pays off greatly both in.
If you say you're going to dosomething, being able to deliver
.
There's nothing.
I appreciate more as a formermerchant when someone said they
were going to do something andthey did exactly that thing.
That helps a lot while tryingto run a business.
How about those that arecurrently at Walmart but find
(20:05):
themselves getting surprisesstubbing your toe, running into
friction or issues?
How does a private brand hubstep into that?
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I think that's a slightly different approach, but
using the same process.
So that's about understandingstrengths and weaknesses and
opportunities and threats.
It's about sitting down withthat supplier team and saying
what are your pain points, whereare you finding roadblocks and
what help are you getting rightnow, because we have a team of
experts here in differentelements whether it's
(20:35):
replenishment, whether it's indata analytics, whether it's in
a dashboard of performancemetrics, in category analysis
those things we can hold up andsay, okay, let's dig deep into
that, let's go through a set ofquestions with you, and then
we'll actually move intosolution mode.
These are the things that youcan go and do to make it better.
(20:57):
It's not putting a bandaid onit, it's actually solving it so
it stops.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
That's the thing.
The way I've been thinkingabout it and kind of talking
about it is most companies aregood at some things and then
inherently have some weaknessesin other things, and that's
going to be different fromcompany to company and that's
just the nature of humans beinghumans.
So we can step in and help plugsome of those holes, maybe on a
part-time basis, maybe it'smore of a long-term partnership,
(21:25):
but it is a total rebuild.
It's let's let you maximize onwhat you're killing at and we'll
help with this part over here.
Particularly in a private brandorganization, they tend to be
lean organizations.
They don't have maybe a lot ofproduct people like a brand
would by design, right by design, and to my knowledge this is a
(21:49):
unique offering in themarketplace.
I'm extremely excited to get itgoing.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
One of the things that impressed me about the high
impact team when I firststarted working with all of you
and now I'm a part of the teamis that the ability to deploy a
problem to a certain area ofexpertise in the team.
I like that.
So it's not a one-size-fits-all, and the process as we've set
it up in the hub is that we candeploy elements of it for a
(22:15):
shorter term if needed, and then, once that's solved, there's
another discussion about well,what's the next thing, or is
there a different relationshipin mind for a longer-term
relationship?
So it can be deployed eitherway, and so suppliers who might
be facing one sort of issues canalso come to us and say this is
my issue, how can you help?
And we'll have a discussion.
That in itself is a discoverydiscussion and we can do that,
(22:38):
and then we can fit something tothe solution to the problem at
hand with the right solution.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I love that, so it's kind of a modular-based approach
.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Do you use that word?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, love a good modular-based approach.
Love a good modular approach,beautiful, really excited to be
able to share.
There's obviously much more tocome from the Private Brand Hub.
As a sort of closing thought,as you're talking to friends old
and perhaps there'll be somenew as well on what it looks
(23:11):
like to accept some help alongthe journey or to have someone
come alongside you, what counselmight you share to folks that
might be in this spacestruggling through, trying to
figure out what their next stepis?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
struggling through, trying to figure out what their
next step is.
So one of the things we spokeabout in the first podcast that
I did with you when I was not atHigh Impact yet, we spoke
around the whole situation ofcollaboration, transparency, and
so I don't believe that anyoneshould feel they're doing
themselves an injustice byputting their hand up and saying
(23:45):
I've got this issue.
In fact, it's better to do thatand to get to the solution
quicker.
That means it gets in front ofthe merchant quicker, it solves
the merchant's problem quickerand then all of us feel much
better at the end of the dayMore trust, absolutely.
It builds trust and it buildsloyalty for the private brand
customer because the item isback on shelf or it's back in a
way that they always experiencedit.
(24:07):
That's got to be the best thingto see.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
I love that.
Well, I'm grateful and I'mhonored that you joined our team
.
I've enjoyed getting to knowyou and I'm very excited about
what we're going to buildtogether.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Well, I thank you both for the opportunity and I'm
also very excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
If you are interested in learning more about the
Private Brands Hub, you canreach out to any one of us,
charles, james or Simone athighimpactanalyticscom.
Thank you.
Hello and welcome to the Retail Journey podcast.
I'm one of your hosts, charlesGreathouse.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
And I am James Harris , and today we've got the
privilege of sitting down withour very own Simone Perry.
We've spoken once before, butthat was before you joined High
Impact, so excited to jump intoall things private brand and
what you've been working on hereover the last several months
Growth and development.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Growth and development.
Thank you, welcome to theretail journey.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Simone, we're glad you're here.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Thank you, charles.
Thank you, james.
I'm also very glad to be here.
What have I been up to the lastyear?
I took a few months, as youknow, and did absolutely nothing
.
I spent time with the familyand did a bit of travel and then
I had the joy of meeting all ofyou and then came to spend some
time here at High Impact, metthe team, met the analysts, met
(01:07):
all the people who work withsuppliers on the client growth
side and, of course, charles,I've known you for a long time.
So it was a great time for mebecause I got to spend time with
like-minded people who spendtime helping suppliers and
solving problems with suppliers.
I love doing that at Walmart.
(01:27):
I loved product development,but really I enjoyed working
with suppliers and understandingwhere we could help along the
way.
Many issues to solve, manyproblems to collaborate on, and
so now I get to do that at HighImpact as well.
So growth and development, Ithink, is really the two words
that I love.
I like growth, everyone likesgrowth, and normally the growth
(01:51):
is for both parties, for Walmartand for the client, and that's
really the best place to be.
And then development looking atprocesses and finding ways to
do things more seamlessly.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah Well, anyone who's gotten to spend any kind
of amount of time with you,simone, has seen how you take a
development-centric view of, I'dsay, most conversations.
It's not simply about where weare, but it's a bit of where we
are, perhaps how we got here andwhere we might be going next.
Or, as I tended to struggle asa merchant, even further into
the future, where we might begoing next.
(02:24):
Or, as I tended to struggle asa merchant, even further into
the future, where we might begoing or how we might get there
on time and so being able tounderstand the depth of a
calendar that is necessary forcommercializing a private brand
item.
I thought I knew it all as amerchant and I was quite sure I
(02:45):
was behind those timelines andI've since learned there's quite
a bit more, even yet to theprocess calendars, that you
didn't even make me aware ofbecause I didn't do those parts.
But there's people working allover to make private brand come
to life at Walmart and I'm suremany retailers have very similar
(03:06):
processes and approach.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
I think the word timeline has, as you just
alluded to, many thingsunderneath it.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
In terms of role players, the different people
that make it work, get it to theshelf on time, and there's also
, I think, systems and processesin most retailers.
Walmart's no exception, butWalmart does do it very detailed
yeah and to protect thecustomer in the end.
I certainly know Walmart doesthat, and so that involves
(03:35):
things that we shouldn't bringto the merchant's attention.
It should just be done in thebackground so that the item gets
to the shelf on time.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I think we found that you know multiple clients
coming from plenty of privatebrand experience across retail
as they enter into how Walmartis doing and growing private
brand in a meaningful way.
It's very much with the end inmind, very much with strategic
long-term growth in mind, andincludes a lot of detail for
great purpose.
But it's nuanced versus wherethey might have otherwise
(04:05):
experienced a private brand oreven private label manufacturing
in the past.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
I agree completely.
I think one of the things I'venoticed since being out of
Walmart and here at High Impactis that everyone has different
issues going on at any giventime, and even though some
private brand suppliers areactually quite mature in their
relationship with Walmart, theycan go into a new department or
(04:32):
a new category and then theyfind that it's completely
different in the ways of gettingit commercialized, in the way
that department does things,which roles are deployed to make
it happen.
And so you know, it's not justnew suppliers coming into
Walmart, it's actually supplierswho are going into new
categories and new departments.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
The conversation is so relevant.
Just a little bit of history,I'm sure most people are aware.
Since COVID and then intoinflation, private brands has
increased shares substantiallywith kind of no end in sight.
The private brands that havebeen around, that we're all
familiar with, they've grown.
(05:15):
There have been new onesintroduced, many from a premium
perspective.
Can you talk a little bit aboutjust the undercurrent of kind
of where private brands is andwhere you think the industry is
going?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, it's actually a great topic because if you look
at private brands, for the last20 years it's been through
about four or five differentphases we talk about pre-2000,
we talk about pre-2010, wherereally then private brands
started to bring in premium andto be high quality and I guess
(05:49):
maybe before 2010,.
It wasn't that there wasn'tquality, it's just that it was
mostly just about the nationalbrand comparison.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
And then now where we're at post-COVID is is in a
completely different phase,because during COVID a lot of
customers went into privatebrand or store brand or
different options, thinking that, okay, it would just be a
temporary move away fromnational brand.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
The brand was out of stock or something A hundred
percent, for whatever reason.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
It was because national brand did go out of
stock first in the beginning ofCOVID, as people bought and
pantry loaded, but they actuallyfound they enjoyed the
experience, and so some of themstayed with private brand after
COVID, and that did a couple ofthings.
It impacted the private brandsupply chain in terms of both
upstream and downstream, becauseit put pressure on volumes, it
(06:40):
put pressure on certain rawmaterials, and so it also made
it attractive for other privatebrands to start entering, and so
it also made it attractive forother private brands to start
entering.
And so I think now what'shappened is that private brand.
The trends that are coming outof private brand right now is
that they've earned the right tohave premium, they've earned
the right to innovate andthey've earned the right to
actually stand up and say, hey,I could be even better than the
(07:02):
national brand, because that wasmy intention when I developed
this product.
So I think those things are allin play right now, and I also
think that a lot of retailers,given the increased penetration
and participation of their storebrand portfolio, have invited a
lot more private brandsuppliers from a diverse supply
(07:23):
base into their mix, and sothat's also been positive, very
positive.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, so pretty significant undercurrent,
significant personal careerchange as you leave Walmart,
take some time, get to join thegroup here at High Impact and
then, as you do, with someprocess and a very thoughtful
approach, you've done a lot ofassessment on where the needs
(07:49):
are in the market, what kind ofsupport is necessary to help
people thrive, and after all ofthat, we're here to announce and
share the Private Brand Hub,and so can you tell us a little
(08:13):
bit about Private Brand Hub andthat sort of origin story of how
we got here and then what'scoming out of the Private Brand
Hub, I think.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Firstly, thank you for introducing it and thank you
for recognizing how much Ienjoy process.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
There's great reward when you follow something with
intentionality, you come outwith a much better end result,
as you taught me multiple timesas a merchant, I think process
has its place.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
And so, you know, coming into High Impact and
seeing the suppliers andrealizing that everyone has
different issues going on atdifferent times, I thought let
me spend time and, as you know,I spent time with different
suppliers, being on the calls,listening to them, listening to
conversations around in theoffice, and I realized that
(08:54):
there was a nuancing opportunityin taking processes from
retailers, processes fromsuppliers, and finding a way in
between to marry them togetherand to be more agile, make
timeline, because there'snothing worse for a merchant, as
you know, for an item to belaid to shelf.
It's a hole on the shelf, it'sa hole in the P&L that is hard
(09:16):
to fill In fact, almostsometimes impossible and
suppliers all have the bestintention.
Everyone wakes up in themorning wanting to make it
successful, but something goeswrong.
So what I thought was let medivide it into phases, starting
from ideation right through tolanding on shelf.
Let's put it into somedigestible phases that can be
(09:37):
given to a supplier and let themunderstand that there are steps
in that process where we canassist, where we can help, we
can offer some solutions basedon experience of things that
have gone wrong in the past.
So I think that's the mostimportant thing is, we're not
these are not problems that areunique to a supplier in the type
(09:57):
of problem, but it's unique inthe timeline and it's maybe
unique to that product thatthey're developing.
So, having different phases inthe process, starting from a
discovery phase, moving througha prepare phase which gets
everyone ready to go to Walmart,in the execute phase, which is
then about actually making ithappen, commercializing it, and
then actually growing after that, because getting an item to
(10:20):
shelf is just the first step andyou know this, charles and
James, you see it all the timewith the conversations we have
on a daily basis with theanalytics team.
There is a massive amount ofopportunity to grow once you're
at shelf, so there's no stoppingonce you hit the shelf.
It's more about what actions doI take now to maximize that
(10:42):
particular product that's atshelf, but also bring in
innovation, given that Walmartright now is in an innovative
phase.
Everything's about assortment,opportunities for the customer
and making sure that there'schoice.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Well, you've never been able to be as creative as
you can be right now in productdevelopment for private brands.
The Better Goods launch in thelast year that's been exciting
just to watch because it's very,very high quality products that
I would have to imagine.
Many of the shoppers aren'teven aware that it's a store
(11:15):
brand.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
I think you're 100% correct about the not even aware
it's a store brand.
I walk Walmart stores probablytwo, three times a week for my
personal grocery but also justto see where the new items are.
Having been there at Walmartwhen the ideation phase of
Better Goods was happeningaround me, it's been great to
(11:37):
actually go into a store and trythem.
And see it in real life, becausenow it's like seeing something
being developed and now you canactually go physically try it.
So that's been exciting for me.
It's also exciting for mebecause it's leading in a lot of
way, and I like the fact thatprivate brand can lead.
There's always a place fornational brand equivalent.
That is the bulk of whatprivate brand and store brand
(11:59):
programs do.
But the ability to lead andactually be successful and it
looks great on shelf and it'sstill a great price point,
that's an achievement.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Yeah, One of the things I'm excited about with
this, with our private brandshub, is, yes, it can help some
companies maybe break down somebarriers that have been not
barriers, but help them resolveissues that they were having
internally to kind of get overthe finish line.
I'm excited about that ofequipping companies to be
successful, but I'm also I'mreally excited about what
(12:31):
companies are we going to beable to partner with to build
that three-year growth plan, tobuild that multi-category
expansion strategy and enablethem to go after it.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Well, you mentioned a really good phrase a three-year
plan.
I think a lot of suppliers arevery focused in the year and the
12 months ahead because they'regetting the product to shelf.
At the same time, though, weshould always be thinking about
the second and the third yearfor that growth plan, and so one
of the things that we can dowith more mature suppliers is
actually sit with them and lookfor continuous improvement in
(13:06):
the existing processes.
What are they thinking about interms of innovation, and what
can we pre-prepare them with toactually help them get that to
shelf and get that to Walmartthe right Walmart merchant?
I think just because you'resuccessful in one category
doesn't automatically meansuccess in another category,
because of the uniquedifferences by department that
(13:27):
exist in Walmart.
So, certainly, the growth planis something that is a
facilitation element that thehigh impact team can do and, at
the same time as developing thethree-year plan, look for
opportunities in process, lookfor upstream and downstream
issues, roadcks, deductions,things that are happening that
maybe they're not solvingbecause they're so focused on
(13:49):
getting the item to shelf.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
We can facilitate and help them with that yeah, yeah,
I find there's a trap, uh, kindof like the execution trap.
On the one hand, if you don'texecute you have no business
sort of being at the dance.
And I'd say from my experienceI don't know, maybe the majority
execute pretty well, but barelya majority, you know, it's like
kind of 60-40, perhaps 40% ofthe time there's some sort of
(14:14):
major gap in execution.
So it's very important and as amerchant or as a supplier, if
you get stuck in the headspaceof just executing and you don't
do discovery on where we mightbe, or preparation in a way that
you should, or you look atgrowth with an actual long range
point of view, you're sellingyourself short, the category
(14:37):
short significantly In yourexperience.
What does it take for I thinkit plays on both sides for the
retailer to be able to thinkbeyond just simple execution, as
well as the supplier to be ableto be prepared to go beyond
execution.
What's it take to elevate theconversation from just execution
to that sort of exponentialgrowth that happens when you're
(15:00):
thinking beyond?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Well, I would take that question back to the start
to finish process.
So for me, a successfulideation process and discovery
needs to include all the thingsthat will happen during the
prepare phase and the executephase.
So discovery is not just aboutfinding the new item, it's about
understanding where is it goingto fit and shelf.
(15:24):
What role is it going to play?
How can I get to the correctcost of goods?
Can I factor in all the thingsthat I'm going to encounter
along the way of executing interms of the cost of doing
business?
Some of those things are hiddenand not visible in the
beginning, and what we can do ishelp bring that to bear so that
the correct cost and thecorrect cost also then comes
(15:45):
with.
Well, which tier of privatebrand am I going to play in?
What role can my product do inthat assortment?
And with an in-depth assessmentof the category as it is today
in Walmart, through differentmeans and different ways of
getting to that information, wecan say, okay, well, if this is
your expertise, you've got thiscapacity, this is where you want
(16:07):
to play, this is what youalready do.
Well, now let's help youactually bring it to be in that
discovery phase and actually getthe right cost of goods
attached to it.
I think the cost of goods todayis even more important than it
was three years ago andunderstanding all the detail and
nuancing that should go intothat cost of goods at the outset
so that you don't encounterthese during the time that it's
(16:28):
actually being commercializedand it's too late.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Especially as you execute very thin margins,
because this is a very highvalue space to play in for the
customer as well as the retailer.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I also think that suppliers from my experience
don't realize that Walmart hassuch a breadth of opportunity in
private brand.
It's not just the opening pricepoint.
Those days are pre-2010, as wementioned earlier, james, I
think and part of our role inhigh impact and in the private
brand hub is to take theircapacity and capability and help
(17:06):
them say oh, but you canactually play here, this is an
opportunity, you can go to thisprice point, you can go to this
tier of private brand and youcan actually innovate.
The other way is also correct,though.
Sometimes there'soverengineering for the tier
that it's at, and we want tohelp with that too.
And that's that developmentpart, that development part of
(17:30):
taking the item or the thoughtprocess, the three-year plan,
moving it into the execute phaseand then actually, once that's
been done, you still then add onanother year of growth yeah and
because it's the three-yearplan, is an evolving thing?
Speaker 1 (17:43):
yeah, absolutely it's .
Uh, it's one of those spaces,so it's, you know, fast
development it's important, it'slong range.
You end up dealing with sort ofhigh stakes the whole time and
surprises are where there'smajor disruption.
Yeah, I feel like the processand the private brand hub is
(18:04):
here to help those that haveexperienced surprises, either on
the execution side, where youthought you were prepared for it
, or when it comes time for,like.
I feel like this item is doinggreat and it's going to continue
to thrive, and then it'sdelisted because it wasn't for
some reason that you're unawareof.
I feel like there's a type ofprivate brand manufacturer
(18:29):
that's out there.
If you're experiencing thosesurprises at retail, the Private
Brand Hub is here to help.
There are several out therethat maybe are making things in
the US, haven't maybe been inprivate brand as much, haven't
quite considered it as an option.
I'd love to hear your thoughtson how the private brand hub can
help someone who's verticallyintegrated, well-positioned for
(18:50):
it, but has not ever chosen topursue a private brand.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
So one of the things I think the private brand hub I
know the private brand hub willdo is that group of suppliers
who is a little bit unsure of.
Are they ready to work withWalmart?
Do they have the rightcapability and capacity to
actually put a proposition infront of the merchant?
Are they ready for that firstmeeting?
What we can do is tease thatall out and ask the right
(19:17):
questions, give them a rightview of what to expect.
I have this phrase what toexpect when you're expecting.
That's sometimes hard and theyhaven't been to Walmart yet.
So that group of supplierscoming into Walmart for a first
time, even though they mighthave an item in another
secondary channel or in adepartment store or somewhere
(19:38):
else direct to consumer.
What we can do is hold thatmirror up and say this is what
you can expect.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I love that and that preparation will.
It pays off greatly both in.
If you say you're going to dosomething, being able to deliver
.
There's nothing.
I appreciate more as a formermerchant when someone said they
were going to do something andthey did exactly that thing.
That helps a lot while tryingto run a business.
How about those that arecurrently at Walmart but find
(20:05):
themselves getting surprisesstubbing your toe, running into
friction or issues?
How does a private brand hubstep into that?
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I think that's a slightly different approach, but
using the same process.
So that's about understandingstrengths and weaknesses and
opportunities and threats.
It's about sitting down withthat supplier team and saying
what are your pain points, whereare you finding roadblocks and
what help are you getting rightnow, because we have a team of
experts here in differentelements whether it's
(20:35):
replenishment, whether it's indata analytics, whether it's in
a dashboard of performancemetrics, in category analysis
those things we can hold up andsay, okay, let's dig deep into
that, let's go through a set ofquestions with you, and then
we'll actually move intosolution mode.
These are the things that youcan go and do to make it better.
(20:57):
It's not putting a bandaid onit, it's actually solving it so
it stops.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
That's the thing.
The way I've been thinkingabout it and kind of talking
about it is most companies aregood at some things and then
inherently have some weaknessesin other things, and that's
going to be different fromcompany to company and that's
just the nature of humans beinghumans.
So we can step in and help plugsome of those holes, maybe on a
part-time basis, maybe it'smore of a long-term partnership,
(21:25):
but it is a total rebuild.
It's let's let you maximize onwhat you're killing at and we'll
help with this part over here.
Particularly in a private brandorganization, they tend to be
lean organizations.
They don't have maybe a lot ofproduct people like a brand
would by design, right by design, and to my knowledge this is a
(21:49):
unique offering in themarketplace.
I'm extremely excited to get itgoing.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
One of the things that impressed me about the high
impact team when I firststarted working with all of you
and now I'm a part of the teamis that the ability to deploy a
problem to a certain area ofexpertise in the team.
I like that.
So it's not a one-size-fits-all, and the process as we've set
it up in the hub is that we candeploy elements of it for a
(22:15):
shorter term if needed, and then, once that's solved, there's
another discussion about well,what's the next thing, or is
there a different relationshipin mind for a longer-term
relationship?
So it can be deployed eitherway, and so suppliers who might
be facing one sort of issues canalso come to us and say this is
my issue, how can you help?
And we'll have a discussion.
That in itself is a discoverydiscussion and we can do that,
(22:38):
and then we can fit something tothe solution to the problem at
hand with the right solution.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I love that, so it's kind of a modular-based approach
.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Do you use that word?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, love a good modular-based approach.
Love a good modular approach,beautiful, really excited to be
able to share.
There's obviously much more tocome from the Private Brand Hub.
As a sort of closing thought,as you're talking to friends old
and perhaps there'll be somenew as well on what it looks
(23:11):
like to accept some help alongthe journey or to have someone
come alongside you, what counselmight you share to folks that
might be in this spacestruggling through, trying to
figure out what their next stepis?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
struggling through, trying to figure out what their
next step is.
So one of the things we spokeabout in the first podcast that
I did with you when I was not atHigh Impact yet, we spoke
around the whole situation ofcollaboration, transparency, and
so I don't believe that anyoneshould feel they're doing
themselves an injustice byputting their hand up and saying
(23:45):
I've got this issue.
In fact, it's better to do thatand to get to the solution
quicker.
That means it gets in front ofthe merchant quicker, it solves
the merchant's problem quickerand then all of us feel much
better at the end of the dayMore trust, absolutely.
It builds trust and it buildsloyalty for the private brand
customer because the item isback on shelf or it's back in a
way that they always experiencedit.
(24:07):
That's got to be the best thingto see.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
I love that.
Well, I'm grateful and I'mhonored that you joined our team
.
I've enjoyed getting to knowyou and I'm very excited about
what we're going to buildtogether.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Well, I thank you both for the opportunity and I'm
also very excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
If you are interested in learning more about the
Private Brands Hub, you canreach out to any one of us,
charles, james or Simone athighimpactanalyticscom.
Thank you.
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