Landmark Cash & Carry is rolling out a sales operation nationwide called Landmark Direct. The new service will use a third party selling force to visit 8,000 retailers on a regular cycle. The roll out follows a trial targeting customers of two Landmark members, Lam Cash & Carry in Haringey, North London, and Lowries Cash & Carry in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. One product from each of three suppliers ­ Interbrew, Walkers and Abbey Well ­ was used in the trial and sales of each product were achieved at 40% to 60% of calls, according to Landmark. Landmark trading director Ron Colley said: "Our sales team are actually placing stock on to shelves and the sales floor from the car, often with supporting point of sale material. The salesman offers just three products on each call cycle so it is very focused. He has time to explain the opportunity to the retailer and direct him to the local wholesalers for follow up stock." Colley added: "Retailers in our test market were very receptive and the suppliers have been very pleased with the results." Field resources controller Mike Yates said one of the objectives was to provide suppliers with a direct sales operation at a low price of less than £5 per call. He said: "Landmark will make no direct profit from this. "We will simply cover our costs, but it will provide incremental sales through depots and provide an extra service for our customers." He said the service was highly flexible and could be used for national promotions or on a regional basis. Suppliers were already talking to Landmark about using the service to launch new products in particular regions. The group could also use its database of customer details to target retailers in a particular vicinity or who had stocked certain product lines. {{NEWS }}