July 21, 2006
To Our Valued Suppliers:
We are excited to announce the rollout of our new on-line Deal Management program. We believe that this program will deliver significant opportunities to streamline our current processes, reduce errors and miscommunication, as well as provide easier access to information. In addition, it will improve collaboration with our suppliers, lower the cost of doing business for everyone, and ultimately increase the effectiveness of promotions.
TradePoint Solutions is the company providing the system and services around this program. They have proven experience in how to effectively manage on-line deal negotiation, and will deliver all the services you need to prepare and present your deals. They will also coordinate your user setup and training. For those suppliers that can benefit from advanced features, TradePoint also offers an upgraded version to provide you with additional benefits in the management of your promotions with us.
What does this mean to you? Suppliers will be brought onto the TradePoint platform in phases until all suppliers’ deals (including DSD) are offered and accepted through our on-line Deal Management system. All you need is a connection to the Internet to access this system from any location.
In the next few months we will conduct supplier meetings to further explain the details of this program, including the supplier rollout schedule. There is no need for you to contact us to be placed on the schedule; we will contact you before your on-boarding is scheduled to begin.
This is our initial communication to notify you of the upcoming changes and to ensure you are prepared when we schedule your on-boarding. We have experienced enormous success and excitement among our pilot suppliers and feel that you, too, will be very excited about this collaborative system.
Jim Wetta, our Senior Category Analyst, will be the Grocery Merchandising Project Leader.
Thank you for your support of this important initiative. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Sincerely
Scot Hendricks Bill Dankworth
Vice President Vice President
Merchandising & Procurement DSD