Complexica's Supplier Portal is part of our Decision Cloud® software platform, and gives FMCG retailers, buying groups and their suppliers a single, cloud-based workspace for planning, negotiating and managing promotions together. Delivered as part of our Promotional Campaign Manager (PCM) and powered by Larry, the Digital Analyst®, the Supplier Portal replaces spreadsheets, email chains and re-keyed data with a shared, rules-based process where every promotion is backed by a prediction of its volume, revenue and margin impact.
Why retailers and suppliers need a portal
Promotional planning, and in particular the process of engaging and collaborating with suppliers, is a high-value yet time-consuming exercise. In most retailers it still runs on spreadsheets: suppliers type their promotion submissions into templates, category managers upload them, review, approve or reject, and any changes are negotiated over email and phone. Suppliers have little visibility of where their offers stand, data is entered and re-entered by different people, and the risk of duplication, manual re-work and data integrity issues grows with every catalogue cycle.
The Supplier Portal turns this into a two-way, digital process so both sides can focus on the conversations that grow the category.
What the Supplier Portal does
- Online promotion submissions – suppliers submit offers directly against the retailer's promotional calendar, including products, mechanics, promoted price, dates and trade funding, with no templates to fill in or upload.
- Negotiation and approval workflow – category managers review, comment, counter-offer, approve or reject submissions online, with notifications and a full history of every change.
- Retailer-defined rules – set rules around pricing, discount depth, promotional frequency and submission deadlines, so offers are checked automatically before they reach the category team and price changes and discounts can be approved faster.
- Predicted performance for every offer – each submission can be assessed for its expected volume, revenue and margin impact, including lift and cannibalisation, so decisions are based on evidence rather than last year's plan.
- Shared visibility of the forward plan – suppliers can track the status of their promotions and see confirmed slots, while the retailer keeps centralised slotting boards and dashboards across all suppliers.
- Range and product data – product details, pack sizes and range changes can be managed in the same place as promotions, keeping one source of truth for promotion planning and range management.
- Post-event review – compare actual results with predictions to show what each promotion delivered and improve the next plan.
Use cases in FMCG
- Retailers collecting and assessing promotional submissions from hundreds of suppliers for each catalogue or promotional cycle.
- Buying groups and co-operatives building promotional programs on behalf of independently owned stores, where supplier-funded promotions drive most of the plan.
- Suppliers and manufacturers submitting offers, tracking approvals and understanding the expected return on their trade spend.
- Joint business planning between retailers and key suppliers, co-creating promotional calendars that focus trade investment where it matters most to shoppers.
Benefits
- Less time spent on spreadsheets, re-keying and email
- Fewer errors and a single, trusted source of promotional data
- Faster submission, negotiation and approval cycles
- Better promotional decisions backed by predictive analytics
- Stronger supplier relationships and a best-in-class supplier experience
How Complexica can help
The Supplier Portal works hand in hand with the rest of Decision Cloud®. Submissions flow straight into Promotional Campaign Manager (PCM) for trade promotion management and optimisation, and into the What-if Simulator & Optimiser to test scenarios and build optimised promotional programs. Drawing on our experience with liquor and FMCG retailers, buying groups and suppliers, we configure the portal around each client's own workflows, rules and objectives.
Learn more
"Larry will be our digital expert that will enable our sales team and add that technological advantage that our competitors don't have."
Kerry Smith
CEO, PFD Foods
$1.6 billion in revenue 
"Lion is one of Australasia’s largest food and beverage companies, supplying various alcohol products to wholesalers and retailers, and running multiple and frequent trade promotions throughout the year. The creation of promotional plans is a complicated task that requires considerable expertise and effort, and is an area where improved decision-making has the potential to positively impact the sales growth of various Lion products and product categories. Given Complexica’s world-class prediction and optimisation capabilities, award-winning software applications, and significant customer base in the food and alcohol industry, we have selected Complexica as our vendor of choice for trade promotion optimisation."
Mark Powell
National Sales Director, Lion
"At Liquor Barons we have an entrepreneurial mindset and are proud of being proactive rather than reactive in our approach to delivering the best possible customer service, which includes our premier liquor loyalty program and consumer-driven marketing. Given Complexica’s expertise in the Liquor industry, and significant customer base on both the retail and supplier side, we chose Complexica's Promotional Campaign Manager for digitalizing our spreadsheet-based approach for promotion planning, range management, and supplier portal access, which in turn will lift the sophistication of our key marketing processes."
Richard Verney
Marketing Manager
Liquor Barons
"Dulux is a leading marketer and manufacturer of some of Australia’s most recognised paint brands. The Dulux Retail sales team manage a diverse portfolio of products and the execution of our sales and marketing activity within both large, medium and small format home improvement retail stores. We consistently challenge ourselves to innovate and grow and to create greater value for our customers and the end consumer. Given the rise and application of Artificial Intelligence in recent times, we have partnered with Complexica to help us identify the right insight at the right time to improve our focus, decision making, execution, and value creation."
Jay Bedford
National Retail Sales Manager
Dulux
"Following a successful proof-of-concept earlier this year, we have selected Complexica as our vendor of choice for standardizing and optimising our promotional planning activities. Complexica’s Promotional Campaign Manager will provide us with a cloud-based platform for automating and optimising promotional planning for more than 2,700 stores, leading to improved decision-making, promotional effectiveness, and financial outcomes for our retail stores."
Rod Pritchard
Interim CEO, Metcash - Australian Liquor Marketers
$3.4 billion in revenue 
"After evaluating a number of software applications and vendors available on the market, we have decided to partner with Complexica for sales force optimisation and automation. We have found Complexica’s applications to be best suited for our extensive SKU range and large set of customers, being capable of generating recommendations and insights without burdening our sales staff with endless data analysis and interpretation.
Aemel Nordin
Managing Director, Polyaire
"DuluxGroup is pleased to expand its relationship with Complexica, a valued strategic partner and supplier to our business. Complexica’s software will enable DuluxGroup to reduce the amount of time required to generate usable insights, increase our campaign automation capability, personalise our communications based on core metrics, and close the loop on sales results to optimise ongoing digital marketing activity."
James Jones
Group Head of CRM, DuluxGroup
"Instead of hiring hundreds of data scientists to churn through endless sets of data to provide PFD with customer-specific insights and personalised recommendations, Larry, the Digital Analyst® will serve up the answers we need, when we need them, on a fully automated basis without the time and manual processes typically associated with complex analytical tasks.”
Richard Cohen
CIO, PFD Foods
$1.6 billion in revenue 
"As a global innovator in the wine industry, Pernod Ricard Winemakers is always seeking ways to gain efficiencies and best practices across our operational sites. Given the rise of Artificial Intelligence and big data analytics in recent times, we have engaged Complexica to explore how we can achieve a best-in-class wine supply chain using their cloud-based software applications. The engagement is focused on Australia & New Zealand, with a view to expand globally."
Brett McKinnon
Global Operations Director, Pernod Ricard Winemakers
"70% - 80% of what we do is about promotional activity, promotional pricing -- essentially what we take to the marketplace. This is one of the most comprehensive, most complex, one of the most difficult aspect of our business to get right. With Complexica, we will be best in class - there will not be anybody in the market that can perform this task more effectively or more efficiently than we can."
Doug Misener
CEO, Liquor Marketing Group
1,400+ retail stores 
"The key thing that makes such a difference in working with Complexica is their focus on delivering the business benefits and outcomes of the project."
Doug Misener
CEO, Liquor Marketing Group
1,400+ retail stores
"Australia needs smart technology and people, and it has been a great experience for me to observe Complexica co-founders Zbigniew and Matt Michalewicz assemble great teams of people using their mathematical, logic, programming, and business skills to create world-beating products. They are leaders in taking our bright graduates and forging them into the businesses of the future."
Lewis Owens
Chairman of the Board, SA Water 
"Having known the team behind Complexica for some years ago now, I am struck by their ability to make the complex simple - to use data and all its possibilities for useful purpose. They bring real intelligence to AI and have an commercial approach to its application."
Andrew McEvoy
Managing Director, Fairfax Media - Digital 
"I have worked with the team at Complexica for a number of years and have found them professional, innovative and have appreciated their partnership approach to delivering solutions to complex problems."
Kelvin McGrath
CIO, Asciano 
“Working with Complexica to deliver Project Automate has been a true partnership from the initial stages of analysis of LMG’s existing processes and data handling, through scoping and development phase and onto delivery and process change adoption. The Complexica team have delivered considerable value at each stage and will continue to be a valued partner to LMG."
Gavin Saunders
CFO, Liquor Marketing Group
“Complexica’s Order Management System and Larry, the Digital Analyst will provide more than 300 Bunzl account managers with real-time analytics and insights, to empower decision making and enhanced support. This will create more time for our teams to enable them to see more customers each day and provide the Bunzl personalised experience.”
Kim Hetherington
CEO, Bunzl Australasia 
"The team behind Complexica develops software products that are at the cutting edge of science and technology, always focused on the opportunities to deliver a decisive competitive edge to business. It has always been a great experience collaborating with Matthew, Zbigniew and Co."
Mike Lomman
GM Demand Chain, Roy Hill Iron Ore 
"The innovations that the Complexica team are capable of continue to amaze me. They look at problems from the client side and use a unique approach to collaborating with and deeply understanding their customers challenges. This uniquely differentiates what they bring to market and how they deliver value to customers."
John Ansley
CIO, Toll Group 
"Rather than building out an internal analytics team to investigate and analyse countless data sets, we have partnered with Complexica to provide our sales reps with the answers they need, when they need them, on a fully automated basis. We are excited about the benefits that Larry, the Digital Analyst will deliver to our business.”
Peter Caughey
CEO, Coventry Group 
“Complexica’s Order Management System and Larry, the Digital Analyst will provide more than 300 Bunzl account managers with real-time analytics and insights, to empower decision making and enhanced support. This will create more time for our teams to enable them to see more customers each day and provide the Bunzl personalised experience.”
Kim Hetherington
CEO, Bunzl Australasia
"After an evaluation process and successful proof-of-concept in 2016, we have chosen to partner with Complexica to upgrade the technological capability of our in-field sales force. The next-generation Customer Opportunity Profiler provided by Complexica will serve as a key tool for sales staff to optimise their daily activities, personalise conversations and interactions with customers, and analyse data to generate actionable insights."
Stephen Mooney
Group Sales Capability Manager, DuluxGroup
$1.7 billion in revenue
"After evaluating a number of software systems available in the marketplace, we have ultimately selected Complexica as our vendor of choice for sales force automation and CRM. Given the large SKU range we carry and very long tail of customers we serve, Complexica’s applications are best suited to deal with this inherent complexity without burdening our staff with endless data entry."
Nick Carr
CEO, Haircaire Australia
Australia's largest distributor of haircare products
“Asahi Beverages is Australia’s largest brewer, supplying a leading portfolio to wholesalers and retailers, including some of Australia’s most iconic brands. Last year Asahi Beverages acquired Carlton & United Breweries, which is its Australian alcohol business division. To harness the strength of our expanded portfolio, we partner with our customers to run multiple and frequent trade promotions throughout the year, delivering long-term growth for both our business and theirs. Given the inherent complexity in optimising promotional plans and our continued focus on revenue and growth management, we have selected Complexica as our vendor of choice after a successful Proof-of-Concept of its world-class optimisation capabilities.”
Kellie Barnes
Group Chief Information Officer
Asahi Beverages
"Dulux is a leading marketer and manufacturer of some of Australia’s most recognised paint brands. The Dulux Retail sales team manage a diverse portfolio of products and the execution of our sales and marketing activity within both large, medium and small format home improvement retail stores. We consistently challenge ourselves to innovate and grow and to create greater value for our customers and the end consumer. Given the rise and application of Artificial Intelligence in recent times, we have partnered with Complexica to help us identify the right insight at the right time to improve our focus, decision making, execution, and value creation."
Jay Bedford
National Retail Sales Manager, DuluxGroup
"At Liquor Barons we have an entrepreneurial mindset and are proud of being proactive rather than reactive in our approach to delivering the best possible customer service, which includes our premier liquor loyalty program and consumer-driven marketing. Given Complexica’s expertise in the Liquor industry, and significant customer base on both the retail and supplier side, we chose Complexica's Promotional Campaign Manager for digitalizing our spreadsheet-based approach for promotion planning, range management, and supplier portal access, which in turn will lift the sophistication of our key marketing processes."
Richard Verney
Marketing Manager, Liquor Barons
