Page 8 - Food & Drink Magazine April 2020

INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Celebrating local independence
CEO of Australia’s largest privately owned supermarket group, Ritchies Stores, Fred Harrison explains why local stores are as relevant as ever
– and shares his winning tactics for independent retailers and producers alike. Stuart Ridley writes.
we’re not going to win that battle. Where we’re going to be good is around service, around convenience and the quality of our range that differentiates us against the chains.”
WINNING HEARTS
AND WALLETS
Harrison firmly believes retailers and suppliers who live in the communities they serve can gain a competitive edge by nurturing customer loyalty and offering friendlier, more personalised service.
He says managers and business owners alike need to get on the front foot – and front-line if necessary – to handle customer feedback, whether it is good, bad or ugly.
“Ever since I’ve been CEO, every piece of customer feedback has been copied to the office,” he explains.
“We have a team of people responding to customers promptly, and making sure we all do our best to rectify any negative experience. I often say
to the team ‘Here’s a chance for us to really shine’ and then we’ll move heaven and earth to win the customer back.”
In 2020, Ritchies will launch its Friendliest Team program across all 76 stores. But it is more than just being friendly.
Harrison says, “Local businesses can mean more to customers than somewhere to conveniently buy a few things on the way home – they are part of the community.”
REWARDING LOCAL STORE LOYALTY
Early in his tenure, Harrison looked at several ways to build stronger community connections and decided with his team to reconfigure the concept of a loyalty program.
“We had to come up with something different from our competitors,” recalls Harrison.
“And we realised most loyalty programs in those days weren’t great: you’d earn 1000 points and maybe you could choose a couple of tins of tennis balls
FRED Harrison’s first business was selling fresh fruit and vegetables to his local supermarket, which just happened to be the very first Ritchies, in Frankston, Victoria.
Even then, in his mid-teens, he understood how to succeed in the food business: you can either be the cheapest or make them an offer they cannot refuse. Young Fred’s offer then was great service, convenience and quality – and it is still working for him 40-plus years later.
Harrison worked his way
to the top the old-fashioned way. First as a supplier, then using his local knowledge as a store manager, and eventually stepping up as a passionate leader of the whole business.
In the early 1990s, Ritchies was a mid-strength player in a supermarket game where almost everyone was getting smashed by a couple of huge competitors. Harrison says it is a sad truth that local businesses often come off second best when they get caught up in price wars started by bigger rivals.
He says, “You want to be price competitive, but how much stock can you afford to sell at a loss in a vainglorious attempt to win more customers?”
When Harrison was appointed as CEO of Ritchies in October 1994, the company was in bad shape with three years of straight losses from 1991 to 1993.
“We’re never going to be the cheapest for everything, because
8 | Food&Drink business | April 2020 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au