New Databases and Forecasting Techniques for Trade Marketing Available to Purchase

The trade marketer is already faced with a high standard of data application in his approach to the buyer/seller relationship. The last thing he needs is an information revolution now. Yet it appears that we are on the verge of a new era of electronic databases with considerable potential advantages for productiveness and profitability. An already sophisticated level of database usage will be further enhanced by the advent of new information sources – retail scanning data, in‐home scanning. However, too much information could be a disadvantage and effective data management will be necessary. Competitive advantage will depend more than ever on the ability to apply these new databases to the marketing process, especially in forecasting future requirements at the macro and micro levels. Therefore mutual co‐operation will be an essential ingredient for the success of the buyer/seller relationship.