Q – What is the nature of abc commerce's relationship with the retailer / estate?
A – We are retained as their exclusive third party agency to source relevant partners (tier one consumer brands), enabling them to promote best value products / services to their customer base.

Q – How do the commercial elements of the partnership work?
A – In order to gain exclusivity in their industry sector and benefit from the extensive distribution channels offered by the retailer, companies have to comply with the following requirements; Firstly, a reservation fee is paid. The value is determined partly by the amount of media allocation proposed by the retailer (in terms of frequency of radio ads, point of sale distribution space, shelf barkers, Till TV, online, etc.), and by other bespoke requirements. Secondly, a value proposition is agreed. This enhances their offering to the retailer’s clients that adhere to their collective core principles, e.g. choice, value and education. Thirdly, bounty payments from the brand are due resulting from new acquisitions which are determined from the company’s hypothetical income projections.

Q – Who retains ownership of the consumer?
A – Once a shopper contacts the brand as a result of picking up a leaflet in store or from responding to a call to action, the ownership of that client passes to the advertising company. Depending upon what has been formally agreed there exist data capture opportunities which can be shared by the host and brand. This facilitates cross-marketing and fertilisation opportunities across their respective products / services.

Q – Why do we have to pay upfront costs to support the partnership?
A – The partner has to provide a reservation fee in order to support the media allocation costs undertaken by the retailer in terms of the logistics, account management and distribution for the duration of the partnership year. This fee also gains the partner exclusivity in their industry sector.

Q – In addition to the reservation fee, what costs are attributed to the partner?
A – Taking the above into account, the only additional costs to be borne by the partner are for production and creative of media to run in-store (i.e. marketing collateral; A5 leaflets, radio advertising creative etc.)

Q – What standard criteria are companies measured upon when submitting a tender?
A – An official tender process averages 14 separate criteria. This ranges from the partner’s key strengths, ethical stance, summary of benefits to the retailer, preferred contractual length, etc. Full details are available on request.