SEDEX is a platform we are beginning to get all our suppliers to take part in to ease the exchange of information in a B2B relationship. Any reason we shouldn’t open this out more?

Having “secrets” breeds mistrust. We got a lot of bad publicity earlier in the year because incorrectly word “got out” that we were asking our suppliers whether products had been made in Israel and we were going to boycott these goods.

In fact it was just part of a process where we were tighting up all of our country of origin data so that consumers could make their own choices across the board eg we actually have lots of customers who positively want to buy Israeli.

If this data was all in the open then there would have been less chance of mis-interpretation.

Because we are all co-owners of the company for the past 50 years we have had a weekly magazine called the “Gazette” that was free for anyone to pick up and read in our stores. It contains our weekly sales figures and all sorts of other data that most other companies would keep close to their chests eg anonymous letters holding management to account.
We also pride ourselves on good customer service. I think this openness is very complimentary and is why we have been so successful.
Had dinner last night with a mate and he told me he asked one of our sales chaps whether he should buy a Kindle etc now or wait for the Apple equivalent post Christmas. Our guy told my friend to wait. How open is that? True we need to expose our inner replenishment and supplier ordering processes so that we are able to send the potential customer a reminder when the product does come in, but I bet we make loads of money from him over the next ten years in any case because of our openness.

2 quickies:
1. I don’t think we publish the Gazette online. We should. I’ll follow it up.
2. Paradoxically our ad spend has rocketted in the past 5 years from virtually nothing to many millions.

My point…. A better strategy to be open AND spend cash on marketing potentially with a behemoth if they are the best bang for your buck?

When I look the big companies that the ‘adults’ seem to work for they seemed to be impenetrable – “I am at BA, or IBM, or some big bank” it was all about belonging, exclusivity and knowledge superiority. Ten years on, company walls seem really outdated and a little insecure. Perhaps openness will catch on and customers will migrate to businesses that are open. Those organisations that aren’t will suffer and all markets will be seen to be open.

I also cannot help but conclude that much of what is becoming big business desired now is small business common sense and reality. Corporate brands, products wrapped in a service offering, and leadership access all have been features of small business. It seems that open source shopping where your customers have a clear route to tell you what’s needed and input into strategy is the next on this list. With this in mind, I think that perhaps it exists in many markets already, just not scaled up and MBA visible yet?

Whilst you are here? I have to ask a question, if that’s not too imposing? Do you think there is any market that wouldn’t be improved by taking a google style business model?