Last week Palmer & Harvey held their Pro-retail 2012 trade show at Telford for the independent convenience store channel. It was a good place to meet and connect with many suppliers. Finding what your store and customers need tomorrow is a challenge. What do you need to do to succeed in the future?

There is one thing for certain about what is happening at Tesco with their damaged UK position that lead to their profits warning in January. They will work to correct it. At the time of their annual results they announced that they would be investing £1 billion this year to improve the shopping trip for customers. They say it will be focused on six key elements:

1. Service & Staff – more staff for existing stores, initially in fresh food departments

2. Stores & Formats – faster store refresh programme; introducing warmer look and feel

3. Price & Value – better prices and promotions, more personalised offers

4. Range & Quality – better ranges, starting with re-launching the Tesco brands

5. Brand & Marketing – better, clearer, more relevant communication with customers

6. Clicks & Bricks – Click & Collect roll out, transforming range and online presence

You may not have £1billion to invest in your business, but a look at what the market leader is doing is important to your business. Another good think to know is how Tesco are relating to the suppliers and they have a huge number. On May 1st the IGD held their annual Tesco Trade Briefing and it was attended by over 400 companies in their supply chain. Many of them were at ProRetail the week before like Coca Cola Enterprises, Dole, Kraft, Nestlé, Unilever and some that were not like News International.

The agenda ran from a presentation from Dumhumby, their view of the economy, their UK plan, the Tesco difference and much more.

Don’t think that because they had a poor performance over the past year they are past their best because events like this one suggests otherwise. If Tesco is talking to their suppliers, you need to be doing the same to let them help you build your plan for the future. Let us know what you are going to do and how you plan to achieve it.