CV-19 Insights

Significant shifts in economics, demographics and technology are creating a highly competitive business environment that requires CPG suppliers and retailers to reinvent themselves to succeed.

The accelerating digital revolution in the global retail industry was the main topic of a recent webinar sponsored by GMA’s SmartBrief and RSi.  “Digital itself is redesigning the entire go-to-market strategy for most retailers and manufacturers,” said Thom Blischok, global retail futurist, who participated in the webinar. “With nearly half of US consumers shopping for CPG products online, suppliers need to consider not only the physical shelf, but how to win the digital shelf as well.”

Investing in advanced data analytics to discover critical insights and focusing on more effective relationships between the CPG and retailers is a great place to start. Jim Smits, Vice President of Retail Development for RSi, commented during the webinar that many CPG companies and retailers suffer from being “data rich but knowledge poor,” meaning that the industry is inundated with massive volumes of data but lack the ability to manage the data in a timely fashion and extract actionable insights from it. “For retailers and suppliers alike, the objective should be to serve the customer better and at a lower cost,” said Smits. “Digital technology is going to play a prominent role in getting the industry to that point.”

To learn more, download our latest white paper: “Embracing the Digital Revolution: Five digital transformation imperatives CPG manufacturers and retailers need to adopt and execute today.”