Hidden champion in the consumer goods & retail sector 2024/25

Forward thinker and realiser for consumer goods and retail

KPS is Hidden Champion 2024/25

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Recognised as a thought leader and implementer for the consumer goods and retail sectors

Munich, 21 December 2023 - KPS has once again been named a Hidden Champion of the consulting industry, a seal of quality that is awarded every two years and this year is based on the responses of over 1,000 top managers at German companies. The award was presented for the Consumer Goods & Retail sector, in which KPS successfully focuses on digitalisation strategies and the further development of customer experiences. The prestigious seal of quality positions KPS among the top 30 consulting firms in Germany and underlines not only its high level of consulting expertise, but also its in-depth industry know-how and pronounced customer focus.

The ranking of the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Management und Beratung (WGMB) reflects the special trust of clients in the consulting services of KPS.

KPS Hidden Champion in the Consumer Goods & Retail category for the second time in a row

Michael Tsifidaris, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of KPS AG: "The true consulting champions are visionaries, knowledgeable experts and inspiring thought leaders. I would like to thank our clients and congratulate our employees for once again being recognised as a Hidden Champion. This proves that we understand the challenges of the retail and consumer goods industry like no other and that our combination of expertise, implementation strength and innovative spirit makes the decisive difference for our clients."

The Munich-based consultancy is the leading partner for retail and consumer goods companies in strategy, process and technology consulting and has now been recognised as a Hidden Champion in this category for the second time in a row. For future-proof high-performance designs, KPS relies on market-leading technologies such as SAP S/4HANA and the future-oriented principle of composable architecture with best-of-breed solutions as well as a strong partner network, flanked by the ready-to-use industry solution KPS Instant Platform.

Hidden champions offer expertise, implementation strength and innovative spirit

The Hidden Champions of the consulting market, now in their ninth edition for 2024/25, are the oldest seal of quality for consulting firms in Germany. The WGMB's most popular study attracts corresponding attention in the market and emphasises the achievements of the finalists. Based on a detailed survey of managers from large and medium-sized companies as well as from the public sector, the study examines the extent to which highly specialised consulting firms such as KPS are considered by their clients to have greater expertise in their specialist area than the three established consulting firms McKinsey, BCG and Bain. In a total of 20 subject areas and eleven sectors, the award-winning management consultancies were perceived as more competent than their major competitors.

Project example Coop and KPS

One of the largest S/4HANA transformations in the Nordics

Resilient, sustainable supply chain and record-breaking high product availability thanks to far-reaching technical and cultural change

In collaboration with KPS, the leading partner for customer-centric business transformation, the Danish retail group Coop Danmark has successfully completed a comprehensive SAP S/4HANA migration of its end-to-end process landscape. This ranges from procurement and the supply chain to sales and finance.

Most important criteria

The ability to implement replaces analytical skills as the most important criterion when choosing a consultant

The analysis of the consulting companies under consideration took place in a three-stage process: first, potential hidden champions were identified by a panel of experts. Following a preliminary study on the general suitability of the identified candidates, the main study was carried out to evaluate the finalists in detail.

The most important criteria for the Hidden Champion Award were analysed with the help of a preliminary survey: In addition to industry and methodological knowledge or analytical skills, thought leadership, ability to implement, communication skills, as well as teamwork and price level were evaluated in particular. The ability to implement replaced analytical skills as the most important criterion when choosing a consultant; thought leadership returned to the top 3.

The results of the award show what a challenge it is to compete successfully in the top segment of the market. This year, 30 consulting firms have asserted themselves as hidden champions in various thematic and industry-related segments of the consulting market.

Overall, consulting firms in Germany could once again increase their turnover in 2023 compared to the previous year: the industry expects growth of around twelve per cent to EUR 48.8 million.

Idea development necessary for a variety of specific topics

As a conclusion of the surveys conducted as part of the study, it can be said that in today's world, good advice alone is no longer enough; proposals need to be put into practice together with the client. The top managers surveyed also attribute a great deal of expertise to consultancies that are not generalists. In view of the large number of specific topics that require in-depth expertise, the development of ideas in the corporate field takes centre stage.

The Hidden Champions Study 2024/25 is available for download here:
Download study>

Short info

About the Scientific Society for Management and Consultancy

The WGMB was founded in 1998 as a privately funded scientific research institute and has established itself as a pacesetter in the field of application-orientated management research through numerous publications, projects and studies over the past two decades. The co-operation with prestigious universities and the long-standing trust of numerous companies not only commits the institute to research work according to scientifically proven methods, but above all to uncompromising independence from all players and interest groups. The core of the work is sound quantitative research for sustainable, reliable results. However, the interdisciplinary mission statement of the WGMB also requires us to think outside the box - and thus also the well-founded use of qualitative methods at the interface of economics, psychology and social sciences.

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