February 2022 Newsletter

We are very focused on engaging and working with our suppliers, which is why we hosted our first-ever virtual global supplier event in June last year, attended by over 400 participants from over 30 countries.

Building on its success, we are now holding another virtual supplier event for those based in EMEA, in 2022.

Why attend? We want to share our current position and strategy for EMEA, discussing our plans, future direction and in particular, how you can get involved. We are continuing to build strong supplier relationships, developing sales to help us both achieve our goals.

Hear from speakers reinforcing how, as an omni-channel distributor, we are customer obsessed.Learn about the new tools and value-added services we have introduced to deliver their needs and how committed we are to our supplier partnerships - bringing you on this journey with us.

More details, including the event date, will be communicated soon, so make sure to look out for the save the date for this event.

Feedback from our suppliers is very important to us, it helps us to shape how we collaborate and understand what’s important in order to meet your needs going forward.

This is why we recently conducted our ‘Voice of the Supplier’ research across RS and Allied. Comprising of both qualitative and quantitive surveys, we had responses from over 250 suppliers globally, providing some great insight and sharing their thoughts on how we can continue to develop our relationships, alongside input on areas for improvement.

It also explored key themes and topics, to help us understand where we can support you in meeting strategic objectives and drive our business for our customers.

We are currently reviewing all of the feedback and resulting actions – so watch out for more news on this shortly.

Thank you to all who participated, we appreciate the feedback and hope this will help to develop more collaborative partnerships going forward.

The pandemic has changed the face of the digital world and has highlighted the opportunities available for online businesses and the need to act fast.

Putting our customers first drives everything that we do at RS, which is why we constantly analyse our customer data to understand the online journey and their needs, including brand loyalty and brand related searches. This provides us with the information to help create the right online content to support them, as well as helping to build trust and loyalty in brands and products. It’s therefore important that we work with our suppliers to ensure online brand visibility to increase sales.

In March 2020, we launched a new Supplier Sponsored Content Enrichment Programme - looking at creating the right online supplier content to aid customers’ decision-making, ultimately leading to a purchase. Using our customer data, the programme tailors activities such as new product introductions, marketing support, product guides, images and videos and SEO keyword strategies, based on both the customer and the supplier’s needs.

Our first supplier partner to join the programme was Schneider Electric, aligning to a 12-month programme. On asking about the programme they commented,” The SSE program has been a true success story from its inception, giving us the ability to define joint priorities, and also ensure we have a consistent content improvement focus that is always on, typically delivering double digit growth on each product group we target,” they continued, “In terms of Omnichannel customer experience, we understand that a large % of customers start their research on the internet – regardless of where they purchase – and the SSE program gives us the ability to ensure our product content is tailored for RS Components customers evolving needs.”

The programme has gone from strength to strength, with a further eight suppliers participating by the end of FY20. Results from 2020 typically showed an improvement in product views (+17%), card additions (+22%), SEO entries (+17%), with the average MROI across all programmes achieving 17:1. All the feedback from our supplier partners has been positive and the programmes are constantly evolving. If you would like more information on the programme and how we can work together to improve online content for your brand, please contact preston.taylor@rs-components.com

Our expansion project at Bad Hersfeld Distribution Centre, Germany, was completed toward the end of 2021 - despite the challenges faced by Brexit and COVID-19.

Situated in the heart of Europe, this state-of-the-art facility was increased by approximately 16,000 m² to create a storage area of around 37,000 m². This allows additional space for an increased product range and stock levels, benefitting both our suppliers and customers alike.

The expansion, which started two years ago, has been designed to include cutting edge technologies, with a best-in-class warehouse management system and stock processing capabilities to help minimise turn-around time and improve efficiencies.

Environmentally friendly with a grass seeded roof and solar powered system, the expansion will allow us to hold more product closer to our customers in Continental Europe than ever before, growing to more than 450,000 products. Not only will this reduce our carbon footprint, but it will also ensure that service levels are of the highest standard, with delivery reliability to match EU and global demands.

Currently in the testing and training phase, familiarising themselves with the new processes, automation and technology, our Bad Hersfeld team members and all of RS look forwardto benefiting from this expansion project.