Frequently Asked Questions About the WWRE

General | Technology | Retailer-Specific | Supplier-Specific

Please submit questions to faq@wwre.org.

General

Q. What value does the WWRE offer?
A. The WWRE is the premier integrated worldwide exchange community for retailers and suppliers created to improve efficiency and lower costs throughout the supply chain. There are seven key ways for members to realize value:

• Low-cost product offerings that are robust, scaleable, integrated, and fully supported
• Shared technology investments and outsourced assets
• Ability to access a global membership community and network with other retailers/suppliers
• Value-added services from a trusted source, at competitive costs
• Participation in collaborative activities
• Complex transactions and interactions made easy through automation
• Standard setting benefits for all B2B activities

Q. What is special about the WWRE?
A. The WWRE is the premier exchange for retailers and their suppliers worldwide, consisting of 64 retailer and supplier members and over 100,000 suppliers, partners, and distributors. Neutral and impartial by design, it is operated to generate benefits for the member retailers and suppliers and, ultimately, the consumer. There are no plans to take the WWRE public, therefore, our primary focus is to continue to generate savings and added value for members and consumers.

Q. Why did you create an alternative retail B2B exchange instead of joining an existing one?
A. The WWRE offers a superior model: open, neutral, independently managed, driven by the needs and goals of participating retailers, suppliers and vendors versus "technology in search of a market" or an enterprise planning to leverage itself into an IPO.

Q. What is the current WWRE ownership and how is it Governed and managed?
A. Seventeen founding members committed equity and provided the basis for the WWRE to be securely launched. Today, there are a total of 64 member companies worldwide that support the Exchange, are helping to fund its current operations and are benefiting from membership. The WWRE is governed by and for its members and is an independently managed, fully neutral company led by an executive staff that consists of Robert Heaton, Chief Financial Officer; Ramana Palepu, Chief Technology Officer; and Richard Harris, General Counsel. Additionally, senior executives from member companies continue to serve on working committees that will be building the basic infrastructure until the entire organization is in place.

Q. What are the opportunities for my business to benefit from B2B e-commerce?
A. Value and benefits come in many different ways. The suite of solutions offered by the WWRE currently enables members to participate in online auctions and negotiations, demand aggregation, catalog, etc. - all designed to assist retailers and suppliers in realizing the benefits of collaborative planning, forecasting, replenishment, and vendor-managed inventory. The Exchange will also facilitate the improved deployment of transportation fleets, warehousing management, and procurement procedures. This will lead to reduced cycle times for new product introductions, improved payment terms, and increased customization in product development.

Q. Where will savings come from?
A. Participating retailers and suppliers see savings at many different points in the supply chain including: greater efficiency of a larger market; the ability to conduct negotiations more quickly; access to standardized item data; pooled purchasing advantages; reverse negotiations; and streamlining procurement processes and supply chain logistics. Savings generated by the Exchange are already exceeding the initial investment that was required for establishing and operating the Exchange.

Q. What standards will the Exchange be based upon?
A. The WWRE will encourage the development of standards that are open, voluntary and evolving. The WWRE will support GCI, UCC, and EAN, while remaining independent.

Q. What type of coordination and cooperation is occurring among the exchanges today and what can be expected in the future?
A. Collaboration is occurring around standards. We all recognize that global, industry-accepted standards are imperative to the success of the retail industry. Working together with standard-setting bodies such as the UCC, EAN, and GCI will ensure collaboration and agreement upon global industry standards and processes that satisfy retailer and supplier requirements across the globe.

Q. Has our company joined the right exchange?
A. The objective of the WWRE is to generate benefits for member retailers and suppliers. To that end, the Exchange is dedicated to significantly reducing transaction costs for both buyers and sellers, which will translate into better goods at lower prices for consumers. If this is the goal of your organization, you have joined the right exchange.

Q. How important is it to get upper middle-management executives who are running the business up to speed on the value of the Exchange, and what is the best way to do that?
A. In order for the Exchange to be a complete success, it requires buy-in from all levels of our member organizations - from the decision makers to the implementers. The Exchange will work with you, your executive management, and the rest of your organization to ensure this is achieved.

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Technology

Q. How will security, data privacy, and integrity be maintained?
A. Security will be maintained through proven best-of-breed technology, process control, and data firewalls.

Q. Will members be required to run any WWRE software or hardware locally on-site?
A. No. Communication with the Exchange will occur via an Internet browser and will not require software re-configuration. If you would like, you can enhance your interface with specific software. Realize, however, that a move to the WWRE is also a change in the way our members think about doing business. This is why it often takes longer for organizations to become Exchange-operational.

Q. Why should retailers and suppliers use WWRE Collaborative Planner when some have the ability to do it behind their firewalls?
A. WWRE Collaborative Planner, which enables CPFR®, provides the same level of security and confidentiality that behind-the-firewall solutions provide. In addition, the solution will be fully integrated with a full suite of supply chain solutions. Not only will retailers realize the cost savings by using a hosted solution, but they will also experience the benefits of working on a fully integrated product platform.

Q. Does the Exchange need/encourage the development of third-party intermediaries?
A. The WWRE is dedicated to using the best-of-breed technology. We recognize that in some instances it makes more sense (financially, strategically) to form alliances with third-party intermediaries than it does to build technology in-house.

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Retailer-Specific

Q. What is the percentage of total purchases you expect a retailer to do via the WWRE?
A. The WWRE does not require member companies to do a certain volume of business via the Exchange. We hope that the efficiencies and savings achieved will inspire companies to make the Exchange a preferred means to transact business. In the end, the Exchange is simply a tool to help member companies and, like any tool, it is up to the user to decide how and when it is best applied.

Q. What is the value proposition for suppliers to join the WWRE?
A. Benefits for suppliers include: a single point of access for data synchronization; true collaboration with trading partners; lower transaction/negotiation costs; immediate efficiencies to inventory management and real-time accurate forecasting; utilization of cutting edge technology with minimal investment in costly internal technology; and participation in development of next generation of WWRE products and services.

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Supplier-Specific

Q. What is the value proposition for suppliers to join the WWRE?
A. Benefits for suppliers include: a single platform to post catalogs for worldwide visibility; collaboration with trading partners; lower transaction/negotiation costs; immediate efficiencies to inventory management and real-time accurate forecasting; utilization of cutting edge technology with minimal investment in costly internal technology; and participation in development of next generation of WWRE products and services.

Q. Listing and launching new products is very expensive for suppliers and needs a medium-long-term relationship. What will the impact of the WWRE be?
A. The WWRE provides an efficient, widely available communications platform for CPFR® and supply chain management. It will reduce costs of new product development and enhance partnerships between retailers and suppliers in new product development.

Q. How will the WWRE impact trade funding and promotional offers?
A. The WWRE does not require any changes to trade or participate in promotion funding.

Q. Will the Exchange be used differently by manufacturers with strong brands versus those who don't have strong brands?
A. The Exchange was never intended to be all things to all members. Manufacturers will use it differently depending on their specific business needs. The level will be determined by how innovative, creative, and adaptable to change each organization chooses to be.

Q. Will supplier members be able to join with an ownership stake?
A. Suppliers may join as equity holders, subject to the review and approval of the WWRE Executive Board.

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