To Launch or Not to Launch? - DiVA portal

1 To Launch or Not to Launch ? A study on how retailer acceptance affects the success of a product- Launch . Master s Thesis 30 credits Department of Business Studies Uppsala University Spring Semester of 2015 Date of Submission: 2015-05-29 Carl-Jacob Lern s Fredrik Rister Supervisor: David S rhammar Introductory remarks The authors would like to express our gratitude to the opposition groups contributing to the master thesis. We also especially want to thank our supervisor David S rhammar for all his help during the process of writing this thesis.

2 Furthermore we would like to thank those interviewed persons who participated in this study and provided us with the invaluable information that made this thesis possible. Last, but not least, the authors would like to thank Berit Lern s for her invaluable help by proofreading this thesis. Carl-Jacob Lern s Fredrik Rister _____ _____ Uppsala, 2015-05-29 Abstract In the Swedish Fast-moving consumer goods industry (FMCG), most suppliers sell their products through retailers.

3 For a successful product- Launch , retailer acceptance is essential. Up to ninety percent of all product-launches fail, thus retailers must choose wisely which products to accept. Failing product-launches cost large sums of money for both retailers and suppliers. A number of factors have been shown by previous research to affect the success of a product- Launch and retailer acceptance, but there are factors that have been previously ignored, such as inter-organizational relationships. The authors of this study have chosen to conduct a study regarding how retailer acceptance and relational factors affect the success of a product Launch in the Swedish FMCG-industry.

4 The focus of this study has been on the relationships of Swedish retailer ICA AB and three of its suppliers. ICA AB was chosen because it is the largest retailer on the Swedish market. This study shows that retailer acceptance is positively affected by mutual trust, commitment and the relationship itself between the supplier and the retailer. However, the importance of these factors varies depending on the size of supplier and type of product. Date: May 29, 2015 Level: Master thesis in Business and Management, 30 ECTS.

5 Institution: Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University. Authors: Carl-Jacob Lern s Fredrik Rister 17th November 1989 7th May 1989 Title: To Launch or not to Launch ? - A study on how the retailer-supplier relationship in the Swedish retail-industry affects the success of a product- Launch . Supervisor: David S rhammar Keywords: Product Launch , Swedish Retail Industry, FMCG, Retailer Acceptance, Relationship Marketing. Research question: How does the relationship between the actors in the Swedish FMCG-industry affect the success of a product- Launch and the actors ability to create product sustainability?

6 Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to investigate the relational aspects of a successful product- Launch , which includes looking at how different factors influence the relationship between the suppliers and the retailer and how the state of the relationship influences the success of a product- Launch . Method: This is a qualitative study based on primary empirical data gathered through semi-structured interviews which have been operationalized through three separate case-studies.

7 The interviews were conducted with three category managers from ICA AB as well as three representatives from three of their suppliers and an ICA Maxi store owner. Conclusion: This study has shown that the success of a product- Launch is positively affected by the trust, commitment and the relationship itself between the supplier and the retailer. Other factors such as size of supplier, type of product launched and product category also influence the outcome of the process. TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTORY 1.

8 INTRODUCTION .. 1 BACKGROUND .. 1 RESEARCH QUESTION .. 4 2. THEORY .. 5 RELATIONSHIP MARKETING .. 5 ANTECEDENTS OF COMMITMENT AND TRUST .. 6 COMMITMENT .. 7 TRUST .. 8 RETAILER ACCEPTANCE .. 8 3. METHOD .. 12 RESEARCH DESIGN .. 12 DATA COLLECTION OF PRIMARY DATA .. 13 Operationalization .. 17 Secondary data .. 18 ANALYZING THE RESULTS .. 18 ETHICAL ASPECTS OF CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEWS .. 18 THE STRUCTURE OF THE EMPIRICAL AND ANALYTICAL PART .. 19 4. EMPIRICAL DATA & ANALYSIS .. 20 THE PROCESS OF A PRODUCT Launch ACCORDING TO CATEGORY MANAGERS.

9 20 CASE 1 .. 21 Retailer Acceptance .. 22 Commitment .. 23 Trust .. 24 CASE 2 .. 27 Retailer Acceptance .. 28 Commitment .. 30 Trust .. 31 CASE 3 .. 32 Retailer Acceptance .. 33 Commitment .. 34 Trust .. 35 INTERVIEW WITH AN ICA MAXI STORE OWNER .. 38 COMPARING THE CASES .. 40 5. CONCLUDING DISCUSSION .. 43 THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTION .. 45 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS .. 45 6. LIMITATIONS & FUTURE RESEARCH .. 47 REFERENCES .. 48 ARTICLES .. 48 BOOKS .. 50 WEBBSITES .. 50 INTERVIEWS .. 51 APPENDIXES.

10 52 APPENDIX I INTERVIEW GUIDE .. 52 1. Introduction Background A report from nielsen (2014), a global marketing research company, shows that out of thousands of product-launches only a handful become successful. More than 76 percent of all product-launches fail within the first year and these failures result in large costs for the companies. In the nielsen breakthrough innovation report (2014) 12 000 product-launches in Europe were studied, of which only of all products were still available for sale in store after the first year and only two thirds of the products achieved more than products sold.