More than half of FMCG buyers missed out on new product launches when suppliers failed to present the products directly to them, according to a new study.

In the first study of its type into category buying in Australia, RANGEme surveyed buyers from more than 30 retail leaders including Big W, Kmart, 7-Eleven, IGA, Chemmart, Priceline, and Harvey Norman and found 76 per cent of FMCG buyers had missed out.

Significant inefficiencies in the buying process were identified in the study, conducted in January 2014, including 97 per cent received incomplete information from suppliers to make a ranging decision, 96 per cent received proposals outside of their pre-defined category review times, 88 per cent received proposals outside of their buying categories, and 72 per cent received proposals for products that did not comply with Australian standards.

“Anecdotally we knew that there was a problem in the way that buyers received proposals from suppliers of consumer goods such as food, healthcare, cleaning, and personal care items. However we did not realise that it was so significant and wide spread,” Nicky Jackson, RANGEme’s founder and CEO, said.

“There is a divide between how FMCG buyers and suppliers operate and it is clear that they are not in sync with each other. This results in lost time and missed product opportunities.”

In response to these findings RANGEme developed and launched an online portal at www.rangeme.com.au that lets suppliers upload products and alerts buyers to products that match their buying categories.

Launched in March the portal is already being used by retail groups in pharmacy, grocery, petrol and convenience, baby, and health food stores to view hundreds of products submitted by suppliers.