Is the market ready for labeling? Opinions of the leaders of the shoe industry
12.11.2019 34681

Is the market ready for labeling? Opinions of the leaders of the shoe industry

Much has been written about mandatory shoe marking, which has been introduced in Russia since 1 on March 2020, but we decided once again to ask the business itself about its readiness to work on the new system. There were three questions that we voiced:

  1. How is the preparation for labeling going in your company?
  2. What are your expectations?
  3. Do you share the positive mood of the authors and supporters of the idea of ​​mandatory labeling that illegal products will leave the Russian market?

Representatives of companies talk in detail about their current situation.

Shahin Asadov Shahin Asadov - CEO of Riker Vostok

“We already supply labeled shoes, but there are problems with the automation of the transmission and processing of data in the central distribution center. Retailers still have unresolved problems with returns, transfers, etc. I categorically do not share the positive mood regarding even a reduction in illegal products (counterfeit, plagiarism). I believe that anyone who thinks differently is either an incorrigible optimist, whose optimism prevails over rational analysis, or has his own interests and hopes to catch fish in troubled waters (I understand them, because at least the motive is clear), or a naive ignoramus ".

Vitaly Stepin Vitaly Stepin - Deputy CEO Baden

“We are actively preparing for product labeling, but due to the lack of a clear roadmap and the constant introduction of changes to the guidelines by the MDTC, the preparation process is greatly complicated. The latest information from the MDCT that aggregation codes can only be assigned to identical products in a package has put all market participants in a difficult position. This is due to the fact that shoe size is an integral characteristic of shoes, and in order for the same goods to be inside the package, they must be not just a single article, but also one size. And this is impossible, because any client, ordering shoes, wants to receive it in a dimensional grid from 36 to 41 size in one box.

At the same time, large market players will not be able to do without aggregation codes either, because if they are absent, when the goods arrive at the warehouses, they will have to be taken in pairs, and this will paralyze the warehouse. Therefore, we are forced to introduce our own aggregation codes, but they will not be available in the MDG base, and therefore will not be available to our wholesale customers. As a result, when accepting goods, customers will have to open each box and register each pair separately, and this will greatly complicate and slow down the process of placing goods on store shelves, especially in large chains. And this is just one of the problems that we constantly face in the process of introducing labeling. There is very little time left before placing orders and starting the marking process, and there are still no clear recommendations.

“We very much hope that illegal products will leave the market, because otherwise we will get nothing but difficulties and additional costs.”

Alexei Kozlov Alexei Kozlov - Executive Director of WORTMANN GROUP in Russia

“All five companies included in the WORTMANN GROUP in Russia participate in a pilot project. At the moment, we are finalizing our information systems in Russia and Germany and are building logistics processes for the successful launch of mandatory labeling for us and our customers.

Today, we fit into the planned implementation timelines and do not see any obstacles that could prevent us from implementing the project by the date established by law - March 1 2020 of the year.

We share a positive mood and are confident that illegal products, if they do not completely disappear from the market, will at least decrease their volume several times. Of course, to achieve this result, it will take some time and effort on the part of both the business community and government bodies. ”

Dmitry Karpenko Dmitry Karpenko - IT Director of the Obuv Rossii GC

“We participated in a pilot labeling project, in general, we have been working on this task for more than a year. At the moment, all the main business processes and technologies have been developed. The codes are generated in an automated mode: we get the codes, print them out and put them on the boxes. We can say that our corporate IT systems are ready for the movement of goods according to the new scheme.

The need to track the movement of goods at every stage, from the manufacturer to the sale in the store, required our company to slightly change the logistics and a number of business processes. The implementation of marking is associated with the costs of acquiring additional equipment (data collection terminals), expanding disk space (since the volume of processed information will increase by several times), and developing software (we did most of the work ourselves, but we did use external ones to solve specific problems) contractors).

At the moment, several technical issues remain unresolved: so far, group codes have not been generated in the system of a single labeling operator (CRTC) (for boxes on 12 pairs, which usually pack shoes, and for trucks that deliver goods through customs); Also, the central distribution system does not provide the data processing speed that is necessary for us, so it is not possible to download a large number of codes at one time; some stages of the goods movement are not explained (for example, returning goods to the store). Since the project is quite complex and involves a large number of participants, it requires more time for implementation and revision. We think that by the time of the prohibition of the turnover of unmarked shoes in Russia (since February 2020 of the year), these issues will be resolved.

The shoe market is the third largest consumer market in the country. At the same time, there is a rather large share of illegal imports on the market, which, depending on the price segment, can reach 30%. Therefore, labeling, which makes the movement of all goods transparent, will bring the market to a legal field. The beneficiaries of this process are three main aspects: the state, which is increasing the tax base; professional manufacturers and retailers who will have the opportunity to increase market share due to the departure of unscrupulous players; consumers who will know the history of the goods and receive an additional guarantee of quality.

It is too early to judge the results of the project, we are still in a transitional stage. We see that marking significantly changes the business processes and logistics of the company, increases the volume of electronic document management at times, leads to additional costs. At the same time, it will allow the market to move to a new stage of development, since many companies, especially small ones, will be forced to automate those business processes that they did not strive to automate earlier. Marking will also make the competition in the market more fair, which will ultimately benefit professional players - retailers and manufacturers. ”

Eldar Schaffner Eldar Schaffner - Sales Director MARCO TOZZI in Eastern Europe and Russia

“Our company began phased preparation for labeling from the moment of the official announcement of the impending changes in the legal regulation in the shoe industry. Currently, we are in the normal mode of shipment of fully labeled products to our partners.

Of course, there are some questions about the functioning of the new system - returns, rejects, reboots, etc., which one way or another arise in the manufacturer-supplier-client-end-consumer chain. Any undertaking of something large-scale involves problems of a similar nature at the initial stage, but, as practice shows, over time, the whole mechanism is debugged and begins to work like a clock. Therefore, the mood, rather, can be called positive.

Do I share the positive mood that illegal products will leave the market? In this matter, there is even a feeling of confidence. At a minimum, the competitive environment will become transparent, the rules of the game are clear and equal for all market participants. ”

Dmitry Lavrukhin Dmitry Lavrukhin - founder of Tandem-Logistics

“The labeling system is completely ready and works for our customers. We have already imported shoes with marking codes into Russia. The mood is very positive, because after the 1 of March 2020, all market players will be in the same position, and I hope that such concepts as gray import and smuggling disappear forever! ”

Irina Lavrukhina Irina Lavrukhina - CEO of the AXA brand

“AXA is a participant in a pilot project, and today it is almost ready for labeling. We tested 2 marking methods: in production in Italy and in prefabricated warehouses in Germany. The results are positive. Correct minor flaws. As for illegal products on the market, in my opinion, it will decrease, but it will not go away completely. ”

Maxim Dobrynin - Sales Director Salamander

“As for labeling, at Salamander, everything is going according to plan. We have already prepared all the consolidating warehouses, purchased the necessary equipment and updated the software. Now we are setting up protocols and integrating with the MDGs. ”

Maxim Zhivov - Executive Director of ASH in Russia

“We are observing the process of preparing for marking shoes. "We do not believe in leaving the market of illegal goods and do not share the joys of competitors."

Pavel Savin Pavel Savin - GEOX Sales Manager in Russia

“All leading international companies have applied for a tender to select the best labeling company. We are waiting for information. We always believe in the best that the market will grow, that customers and the retail price, I hope, innovations will not affect that there will be less gray imports, we hope that there will be no fakes at all. We are a premium segment, it is very important for us. ”

Andrey Kapusta Andrey Kapusta - Marketing Director, Yegoryevsk-Obuv OJSC (TM “Kotofey”)

Egorievsk-Obuv AO (Kotofey TM) in the Marking (Shoes) project since the beginning of the experiment: takes part both in the design and expert group under the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia and in the expanded expert group Obuv under the industry associations. In the framework of the project on October 1 of October 2019, in our opinion, the processes of putting brands into circulation during production were implemented at a satisfactory level throughout the market, while the processes of accounting for marked shoes and accounting for the transfer of brands when transferring shoes were implemented at the business logic level labeling system, but there are still no acceptable software solutions on which the shoe market participants with small IT competencies could work. Accordingly, we, as a manufacturer, can produce marked shoes, but its further accounting and transfer between the manufacturer-distributor-retail point of sale is now possible only in deferred mode, followed by recording information in the GIS MP. The undisputed leader in accounting solutions for small and medium-sized businesses - the company 1С has already twice postponed the release dates of labeling processes in its products. In addition, there are still approvals for the implementation of customs clearance, as well as a lot of issues related to online trading. All this does not yet allow us to talk about the readiness of the market for the implementation of the entire labeling system.

We expect that 2020 year in any case for the entire shoe market will pass in the mode of implementation, testing and debugging, marking processes. Of course, this will require additional time and financial resources in all parts of the distribution chain. At the same time, the launch of the traceability system, by and large, will give the regulatory authorities a tool for quickly identifying the origin of shoes. Further “whitening” of the market depends, inter alia, on how this tool will be used. We hope that in the medium term - 3-5 years - this will reduce the counterfeit of shoes to the level of 5-10%. "

Material prepared by Ekaterina Sergeeva

This article was published in the 171 issue of the print version of the magazine.

Much has already been written about the mandatory marking of shoes that has been introduced in Russia since 1 on March 2020, but we decided to ask the business itself again about its readiness to work on the new system. Representatives ...
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