Brett Barcelona, President and General Manager Retail Services
An International Approach—Expanding our Global Strategy
While we focus many of the stories in Retail News Insider on our efforts here in the U.S., at the same time we have teams working diligently across the world who are bringing innovative solutions to retailers and manufacturers. The opportunities for merchandising services and experiential marketing efforts cross borders and transcend languages, and our teams are proving that we are all-in when it comes to creating a global footprint.
In 1991 we first expanded internationally with Costco in Mexico. Over the years, as Costco grew, so did we. We have been fortunate enough to provide our services to Costco in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia and most recently Spain. Our international efforts outside of the CDS business were jumpstarted about two years ago when we created a strategy to expand the rest of Interactions, and now SAS, outside of the U.S.
Our strategy has four areas of focus. First, we knew that we must look to expand our presence in Asia. We brought on Danny Chen to lead the effort; and because of his background with Daymon, retailers and the Asia-Pacific Region, Danny will enable us to find the right opportunities to ensure success. Second, we looked to our own Roy Timmerman to continue to expand our efforts in Europe and the Middle East. With Roy’s vast experience of both Interactions, Daymon and the international landscape, we’ve already seen progress in these areas. Our partnership with Pick n Pay is the first step toward growing our business in South Africa, and this wouldn’t have been a possibility for us without a strong collaboration with Daymon teams and the talents of Mike Decker. Finally, we are currently looking for the right person to lead our business development efforts in Latin and South America.
International growth, whether for Interactions or SAS, will continue to see success because we leverage relationships across the entire Daymon organization and effectively cross-sell all of the services that we provide to retailers and manufacturers. In South Africa, for example, we are gearing up for a test with our SAS teams in 32 Pick n Pay locations. While merchandising is currently done by our onsite Daymon teams, the ability to think as one company allowed us to see that by enabling SAS to execute the work, we could provide additional value to our retailer partner. By utilizing technology and state-of-the-art reporting capabilities, we will be able to reduce out of stock items and increase Pick n Pay’s return on their investment with us.
While challenges exist with starting businesses internationally, I know we have the right people and the right partnerships in place to ensure that we have a smart and well thought out approach to our global expansion. Ultimately it’s about seeing our partners succeed. If we can help others reach their goals—regardless of the country, language or barriers to entry—I’ll consider that a good day’s work.
Brett Barcelona President and General Manager Retail Services |