"Information is like crude oil. Neither has any value until, once refined, they become usable and useful. Without this processing - a specialty in itself - the concept of black gold is only a dream and information is just data, when it could be intelligence."

In the following interview, Olivier Géradon de Vera shares his thoughts on the need for more retailers and manufacturers around the world to share information collaboratively to benefit both sides of the consumer goods industry.

Question: Why do you believe that information sharing is so critical?

Answer: Retailing acts as a vital link between consumers, with their ever-changing needs, and industry, which must continuously evolve to anticipate future demand. To do this, the retail trade must be able to react swiftly to changing circumstances. The speed of availability and the ubiquity of information made possible by recent technology has provided the tools to ensure this essential flexibility.

However, having the tools to react to consumer demand is no use unless those tools are shared with all the parties that need them. To move forward effectively, we have to accept a degree of transparency that provides our partners, retailers and manufacturers with the tools for shared efficiency, and consign to the shelves of history those old fashioned negotiations where information was a closely guarded secret.

Question: In some countries, manufacturers and retailers have already realized an information-sharing culture, what else do you think they could be doing?

Answer: It's true that in some countries there have been great strides in the last five years, and information sharing is now seen as an essential part of doing business in the CPG industry. But this is by no means universal. In some cases, parties may be sharing their overall sales figures but, in order to conduct deep analysis of the data, detailed information is needed.

Question: Why is such detailed data so important?

Answer: To give one example, the respective roles played in a brand's market share by consumer demand and in-store supply can be modeled and evaluated, but only when sufficiently detailed information is made available. This means weekly data at the individual store level. Using this level of information, it has been shown that the performance of a brand can change from one retailer and even from one sales outlet to another depending upon the availability of competitors' goods encountered by the brand.

When negotiations between manufacturers and retailers are conducted at this level of detail, a new level of communication needs to be initiated between manufacturers and retailers, since the latter have exclusive control over the supply side.

Question: What will be the consequences for those that do not learn to fully share information?

Answer: In a world where retailing, manufacturing and service corporations are becoming global players through mergers and acquisitions, it is the fittest that will survive. These will be the companies that, through an open exchange of information, are able to recognize changing consumer needs around the world and respond to them. And the fittest companies of all will be those that learn, not only to identify global trends through shared information, but who also have the wisdom to recognize and respect the cultural and geographical variability of their markets.

In our ever more open world, the idea that reserves can be appropriated by a single owner for his exclusive use is a pure economic myth - a fantasy that isolates the dreamer from the real world of competition to which he belongs.