Brico Dépôt is a $3B French chain of DIY and home improvement centers, headquartered just south of Paris. The chain was created in 1993 by Castorama and later purchased by the British group Kingfisher. They operate 123 stores and have over 7,000 employees in France, 34 stores in Romania, 28 in Spain and 3 in Portugal. Brico Dépôt has a low-cost warehouse format which sells a line of around 10,000 products. They were challenged to efficiently manage pricing, competitive analysis, and maintain an effective pricing strategy. We are pleased to offer details from our recent discussion with Ms. Laëtitia Voitier, Brico Dépôt’s Strategic Pricing Manager.
Why did you choose to work with CMV Informatics?
We wanted to professionalize our price management and have the ability to control and centralize all such activities. We realized that the current Excel file system and strategy was outdated, was far too cumbersome, labor intensive, and too functionally limiting. We urgently needed a more efficient, precise, and technical modern tool. The objective was to offer greater pricing details and answers, in real time, addressing the different requests coming from our business units (steering committees, market managers, warehouses, sales, marketing, etc.). At the time, unfortunately, we could not answer their most critical questions.
As it turned out, and thanks to a positive word of mouth from a current client, we were introduced to CMV Informatics. We found CMV Informatics very caring. Most importantly they were great listeners and made a point of understanding our needs before offering us a solution.
What were your initial needs before working with CMV Informatics?
We needed a pricing software that was easy to use, complete, and adaptable to the needs of different users. We were looking for a tool that could benefit price analysts but also market managers.
How has CMV Informatics' Cabexpert Pricing tool impacted your organization’s pricing policy?
We are working with CMV Informatics' Cabexpert Pricing now for over 5 years. The software allowed us to professionalize our price management teams, enable them to have a better pricing vision and strategy, and to plan, with the right data at their fingertips, for the future. Within the company, the process has helped to clarify roles and responsibilities and made us a more efficient organization.
How did the internal implementation of the tool go?
We decided, jointly with CMV Informatics, to set up a small internal project group to help roll out the tool internally. The idea was to make them internal ambassadors. Then, it took a combination of coaching and adaptability, because ultimately we have various types of users. Price analysts were instantly comfortable with the solution. For them, it was quite fast. We also had market managers and product managers who needed a bit more hands-on training but, all in all, it went very well.
Could you name three differenting qualities of the CMV Informatics' solution?
I would say the three would be simplicity, agility, and accuracy.
Brico Dépôt's price strategy evolves each year. Changes are frequent, accuracy is key, and the tool helps us adapt to these changes easily and efficiently.
CMV Informatics is attentive and reactive. As soon as we have needs, they always try to find a solution. We are a very operations dependent department where we work in emergency mode often, and always CMV Informatics is there to help find the best solution and do so quickly.
If you should summarize your experience with CMV Informatics and our Cabexpert Pricing tool in one sentence, what would you say?
In my mind, it has been a great experience, enriched by the relationships and technical contributions of CMV Informatics. This project was a big success and meet our expectations.