Blokker

THE GOAL

Blokker, a Dutch retailer that has been trading for more than 100 years, runs a lot of different promotional campaigns and had traditionally used Excel files to design and track them. The sheer number, as well as the complexity of each promotion, made keeping track of the process opaque and prone to error, while the Excel files were not always readily available to everyone.

Blokker wanted a comprehensive promotions management application that would provide oversight of the entire process. Everything from setting up a promotion to implementing it and monitoring its progress, taking account of customer requirements and responses. The new system also needed to be accessible and transparent to all the different teams involved, from category management to the supply chain, but also the promotions team itself – so everyone was working with the same data to minimise errors. Finally, Blokker wanted to be able to reuse successful promotion plans to save time and create efficiencies.

THE APPROACH

The priority was to map and build a comprehensive promotions workflow that took account of all the various parties involved and all the necessary stages. The research included looking at the kind of changes which often have to be made to active promotions – for example, as prices go up or down, or items go out of stock. Previously, there were an average of 70 changes each week.

THE RESULTS

Working with CLEVR, Blokker implemented an advanced version of the low-code and no-code expert's Promotion Manager software, covering the workflow from the start of the planning process to the end of the promotion. As a result, today, Blokker operates one of the most comprehensive promotions management systems in the Netherlands. It also allows everyone involved in a promotion to work in the same application with the same data, significantly reducing the chance of errors.

Importantly, any errors or changes are picked up far quicker, making the remedy faster and easier. This is better for everyone involved – the customer and Blokker.

Furthermore, the data fed into the promotion manager comes directly from the source systems rather than by manual entry. This ensures its real-time accuracy. Meanwhile, the application’s transparency promotes trust and co-operation between the different teams, making planning and execution simpler.

Finally, the promotions team can duplicate successful promotions rather than create a new one manually each time. This makes the ramp-up process faster. The system also has the potential to automate updating promotions in the future.

CUSTOMER QUOTE

“Working with Promotion Manager ensures a structured process and is more efficient. Everyone now works in the same application and with the same data, which benefits the quality!”

Nannet Boonstra, IT Project manager, Blokker