Candyme

Candyme background

The division into two companies allowed for a better organization of the salesforce within a single territory,

as one rep represented Candym product lines, and a different rep represented Accent product lines. However,

in limited volume territories, reps sometimes carried both Candym and Accent product lines.

Candym performed trend forecasting a service valued by their customers. Because North American trends

typically trailed European trends by one year, Candym employees made annual trips abroad to predict which

colors, styles and themes would be popular in North America during the following year.

Candym had created a strong competitive advantage with this service since many national retailers, such as the

Hudson Bay Company, invited Candym to submit their trend forecasts to them. As a result, Candym was in a

prime position to then offer these retailers the exact products that would be in demand in the coming year.

CUSTOMERS

There were two main customer types in the giftware industry: independent retailers and national retail accounts

Independent Retail Accounts

Candym currently serviced approximately $3,500$ independent retailers, using a network of $40$ independent

sales representatives across Canada.

Two types of sales calls existed for Candym reps.

The first type of sales call is $$cold call$$ began with the sales rep browsing the store as a shopper to

determine fit between the Candym product lines and the store$$s product mix. Next, the rep would call the store

and request an appointment. If successful, the rep then met with the purchaser and made a brief presentation.

This informal presentation usually consisted of the rep leafing through the catalogs and pointing out which

items and product lines would sell well in the store. Although all items were sold using the catalogs, reps

also could take samples to show the customers

A second type of sales call was designed to build relationships in order to maintain active accounts. This

call provided the reps with an opportunity to get reacquainted with customers and introduce any new products.

Additionally, these visits gave the reps an opportunity to increase the size of their active accounts by

promoting more purchases.

COST OF SALES FOR INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTS

The cost of sales for independent retail accounts was approximately $15$ percent, which included commissions

and other costs to the company. A territory with a sales volume of $$300,000$ incurred sales costs of $$45,000,$

National Retail Accounts

National retail accounts were a relatively small part ofCandym$$s strategy until $1999,$ when a new growth

initiative called for a push into the national retail accounts market. At this point, Kathryn Hunter, a product

manager, took over the initiative to penetrate this potentially lucrative market.

National accounts were large corporations who made the purchasing decisions for their own network of retail

stores. For example, the Toys R Us buyer mades the purchasing decisions for stock in all of their Toys R Us

stores across Canada. Although there were only approximately $40$ national retail accounts, their purchases

were typically high volume and high value, with average annual average purchases of $$200,000.$

COMPETITION

Although every giftware company carried different product lines, the products within a category were

very similar.

SALESFORCE

Sales reps are extremely important to a company such as Candym as they are not only the link between the product and the

company but $$the relationship" of the company to the customer. Good product with a known brand name is