David Berry is the new managing director of NIQ Ireland, having led the Kantar operation in Ireland for the past five years. He talks to Maev Martin about his ambitions for the business over the coming year, and what he believes will be the key drivers of consumer behaviour.
Looking forward to delivering value for NIQ Ireland clients and to helping them make informed decisions that lead to sustainable growth, David tells me that NIQ has some good innovations coming through for the industry and for NIQ clients.
“Landing those successfully is my key objective over the coming year,” he says.
One of those innovations is NIQ Discover.
“We will be completing the Irish market rollout of NIQ Discover, a platform that allows retailers and manufacturers to effectively use the power of data to successfully compete in today’s challenging business environment and, at the same time, make their business more efficient.
"This new cloud-based delivery platform gives people access to information and insights faster than was previously possible.
"NIQ Discover centralises everything on one platform and all our current services are now available on it.
“I believe that NIQ Discover is unique in terms of its flexibility and visualisation, and because it allows users to customise what they are looking for.
"We are launching it now and we are bringing each of our clients into it on a phased basis.
"We have approximately 100 clients in the growing retail and FMCG sectors and our goal is to have all our clients on NIQ Discover by the end of this year.”
Another innovation that David is keen to embed across the business arises from a recent acquisition.
In 2022, NIQ Ireland acquired Fox Intelligence, a French company that he describes as having “unique capabilities” around measuring online shopping behaviour.
“Knowledge of how shoppers behave online in Ireland is very limited, so this is an exciting development for us,” he says.
“Online shopping is a massive growth area.
"Online has put more power in the hands of individual shoppers.
"It is very consumer driven and its growth will continue, so for NIQ it is about making sure that we are where the consumer is and measuring what is happening in that space.”
NIQ Ireland will be rolling out ‘Fox Intelligence powered by NIQ’ to its Irish clients from November.
Collaborating With Retailers
Apart from bedding in these significant technological innovations, another key objective on David’s ‘to do list’ is to broaden NIQ’s collaborations with retailers.
“We work with certain retailers in the Irish market, but we would like to broaden that out to include as much as possible of what is happening in the market and therefore broaden our read of the Irish grocery retail space,” he says.
“I am also keen to talk to as many of our existing clients as possible to understand their priorities and point of view.”
NIQ Ireland employs nearly 50 people in Ireland, some of whom work on its global products and operations, and others who work exclusively with their clients in the Irish market.
“Our Irish business has been very successful at retaining staff and finding roles for our team,” he says.
“I am ambitious for what we can achieve in this country, and I want us to grow our services for clients in Ireland, which will involve expanding our team even further.”
A Dynamic Sector
David started in his role as NIQ Ireland country manager on 4 September, having worked for Kantar in Ireland for 15 years.
“I had a very positive experience with Kantar, but I felt the time was right for a change,” he says.
“Prior to working with Kantar in Ireland, I had worked for them in London.
"I have worked in market research for my entire working life and, more specifically, in retail and FMCG, which I have found to be an extremely fast-changing and exciting industry.
"One of the most interesting aspects of our sector is the massive differences in how individual businesses function internally.
"While they all have the same goal – to satisfy consumers’ needs – they all have different and very distinctive retail brands and ways of achieving that goal.
"It is the same with manufacturers – they could all be working in the same category, but they have different cultures, so competitor brands can be very different in terms of how they operate in the market and that makes my job very interesting.
“Grocery retail is considered by many to be the most efficient industry model there is, and it is certainly the best in terms of logistics, the pace of its operations, and the number of SKUs that it manages to get on shelf.
"To achieve all of that requires extremely efficient and very complex planning and procedures.
"Also, everyone is a consumer, they have an opinion or a perception about different brands and retailers, which keeps things interesting!”
Challenges for 2024
As we face into 2024, what does David see as the major challenges?
“As Covid worries receded in consumers’ minds, financial concerns overtook the virus as the number-one concern and remained a key priority for consumers,” he says.
“However, since the start of 2023, financial concerns have reduced.
"People are now more confident about their financial situation.
"The cost of goods and the impact of that on shoppers over the last 18 months has been significant, but the good news is that it is reducing back.
"Inflation has caused challenges for retailers and brands, but my sense is that consumers are adapting to it.
“There were big redundancy announcements in the technology sector earlier this year and that created uncertainty for consumers, but the market has moved on from that, so it is about building reassurance for consumers and building their confidence in the robustness of the market.
"It is important that retailers and brands talk up the positives in the Irish grocery retail sector, especially the value that is on offer.
"It is all about getting the value-add message out there and steering the conversation away from price, so that shoppers focus on the broader benefits.”
Cautious Consumption
Consumers are putting more thought into how and what they buy, with volume sales declining in the past few months.
“This has presented a challenge for brands because private label has performed slightly better than brands, but brands have been resilient in the face of this trend,” says David.
“Convenience is an interesting area and one that has been performing well.
"New stores are opening, and convenience is seen as an area of opportunity for retailers.
"Urban growth in Ireland means that the convenience sector is becoming more attractive to retailers, and we have seen this with the growth of Tesco Express stores and smaller store formats from Dunnes Stores, and Centra continuing to grow its store numbers.
“Also, the forecourt space is one of the most dynamic in retail.
"Some forecourts are now major retail destinations and experiences, and there are strong retailers and brands in this sector.
"The way that discounters have adapted to the Irish market has been impressive and the knock-on impact of that has naturally led to multiple retailers further upping their game.
"From a consumer point of view, the competition has been beneficial because all retailers now have to offer value and quality and respond to what the consumer is looking for.”
Deposit Return Scheme
When it comes to sustainability, David says that, for brands, it is about a gradual progression towards their goals and objectives.
“In the soft drinks category, for example, all companies are making good progress, and that segment of our industry appears to be at the forefront of sustainability initiatives when it comes to packaging and recycling,” he says.
“The national Deposit Return Scheme will be interesting when it comes into operation next year.
"It will be a huge change for brands, retailers, and shoppers.
"Our research reveals that there is a good awareness of the DRS among consumers.
"Having reverse vending machines outside stores and in-store will be a big change for retailers and shoppers, but there is a lot of potential for this to be a very positive development for retailers, shoppers, and brands once people interact with the technology.
"I am hopeful that the national DRS initiative will be a win-win for our industry and for Irish shoppers.”
“Retail media is another trend that we are seeing and a definite growth area.
"I have always been interested in retail media because it is about interacting with the shopper at the point of decision, and you can reach a lot of people via grocery retailers as people shop so frequently.
"Retail media is also becoming very sophisticated, and it is now doing a consumer-focused job rather than just a pure sell job as it was previously.”
Christmas 2023
As we face into Christmas 2023, David has a positive message for the industry.
“Inflation has dropped, and the timing of the Budget announcement has given consumers more reassurance and support,” he says.
“Consumers are moving on from cost-of-living concerns and are getting ready to start afresh in the New Year.
"I believe that the drop in volumes that we have seen was a short-term adjustment to inflation and that volumes will move into positive territory before the end of the year.”
