When co-ops join NCG as members, they have access to reduced pricing on cost of goods through NCG’s group purchasing contract with UNFI, among many other great programs and services. They can also gain access to NCG’s Co+op Deals promotions program, which offers very competitive promotional pricing and a number of vehicles to support a co-op with its ongoing promotions. In 2015 NCG secured more than $40 million in vendor support through the Co+op Deals program — up 11 percent from the prior year.
NCG goes to market on behalf of member co-ops with the vendors that provide the promotional discounts, rebates, coupons and other support co-ops receive through Co+op Deals as a “virtual chain.” In so doing, our category managers work to secure support consistent with what other comparable chains might receive. Since NCG has asked these vendors to think of us like a chain, in return for their investment vendors expect that the program will be executed essentially the same way in all stores. Being able to assure vendors that this is the case helps our category managers negotiate better deals. In order to achieve this level of consistency, and because there are a lot of moving parts to Co+op Deals, NCG requires in the participation agreement for Co+op Deals that each co-op (even those with multiple locations) select one and only one person to be the promotions liaison.
The promotions liaison (PL) is the primary point of contact between a co-op and NCG’s purchasing team. This person is ultimately responsible for communications, program deadlines and overall coordination of all NCG promotional programs at your store. The PL is responsible to:
- Make order quantity commitments for products on promotion and provide feedback after each promotional period (via OPP)
- Order coupons and submit them for redemption by appropriate deadlines
- Coordinate and distribute flyers and corresponding signage (if used)
- Make commitments for off-shelf promotions
- Manage and make commitments for the New Item Program
- Run seasonal and holiday promotions, determine level of participation in cause promos, sweepstakes and other opportunities
- Handle all program changes such as pricing changes, missing items and sign corrections
- Submit POS data to SPINS
The promotions liaison may not be the individual who actually does all of these things, but it’s their responsibility to ensure these things happen at their co-op.
Although organizational charts can differ significantly from one co-op to another, the role of the PL is the same for all co-ops no matter their size or number of locations. Assigning one person as PL at each co-op helps NCG manage consistent program execution through a single point of contact. When important program information needs to be communicated, the PL is responsible for making sure that the details reach all the right people at their co-op. It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of having only one person in this role.
NCG offers a promotions liaison role description to provide our member co-ops guidance on the functions and responsibilities of the PL. We ask co-ops to ensure that NCG has up-to-date contact information about which individual at your co-op is the assigned PL. Because the PL has access to sensitive information about NCG programs and pricing, and usually has access to SPINS data about all of the co-ops in our virtual chain, we request that co-ops notify us when there is a change in PL.
If you have questions about the responsibilities of the promotions liaison or would like guidance on selecting the right individual for your co-op, please contact Jon Fogarty. Thank you for all the hard work you put into making Co+op Deals successful at your co-op. It is cooperation that makes us stronger together.
