Efficient Consumer Response – Past and Future

Eficient consumer response as a process of cooperation between industry and trade focused to faster, better and less costly adjustment of changed wishes and needs of consumers, developed during the 1990s. Firstly introduced by Wal-Mart, it was very soon acquired and implemented by the leading European retailers, as well. Instead of focusing on individual components of the supply chain, efficient consumer response (ECR) is oriented to the increase of efficiency of the entire value chain through development of closer relations between suppliers and retailers and their joint decision making regarding assortment, promotion, new product research and development, on the one side, and delivery schedules, on the other side. The paper gives the achievements of ECR implementation made so far, as well as those that could be gained in the future.