Ushering a New Era: Next-Gen Retail Solutions

By Jason Hosking, co-founder and CEO, HIVERY

It is imperative for the CPG industry to be far more dynamic and responsive than it currently is. The experiences over the pandemic have dramatically highlighted this need—with huge spikes in demand and supply chain challenges leaving many shelves empty, and consumers bewildered. Currently, the industry is set up to update what goes on shelves once a year, maybe twice—from strategy to planning and then execution.

Aligning assortment merchandising strategies with consumer purchase behavior and responding to change in a timely manner has been the holy grain and focus of the retail category management industry for many years. At the same time, traditional merchandising solutions have remained relatively unchanged since the 1980s, putting more pressure on the natural human decision-making process. These current processes and solutions rely on outdated industry conventions, human constructs and assumptions.

With rapidly changing consumer expectations combined with ever-complex global supply chains, hybrid shopping models and a complex global environment, bricks and mortar retail needs to step up to the challenge. Part of the solution lies in the use of data. We’ve always believed that ‘data has a better idea’. It's been our philosophy from the start. We are part of a wave of next-generation analytics solutions that are set to change the way CPGs and Retailers collaborate. These analytics enable us to accurately simulate different demand signals and their impacts. They are much more fluid and "conversational" in nature, thus allowing us to identify the best action to take to achieve our objectives.

Data: Strengthening the Retailer-CPG Relationship

By Will Salcido, Co-Founder & CEO, Bedrock Analytics

For the retail & CPG industries, both 2020 and 2021 saw massive instability in supply chains, consumer demand, labor shortages, and raw ingredient pricing due to the global pandemic. A key takeaway is that brand loyalty matters more now than it did in the recent years since consumers are looking to maximize their experiences with quality, innovation, or tradition. Looking into 2022 requires a more granular approach as there are pockets of opportunity for the retail and CPG industry.

We’ve worked with numerous category leaders in both CPG and retail through our work at Bedrock Analytics to help them see around the next few corners. Dependability has become table stakes for retailers as they attempt to keep store shelves stocked while satisfying a quickly fragmenting shopper base. E-commerce has quickly become an alternative channel for consumers. The way that retailers can combat this is to invest in their own ecommerce strategies while taking a stand for key consumer groups within their stores by making their stores a destination for these groups. The old playbook of forcing shoppers to walk the perimeter of a store to find what they came for will have to change. We expect new store layouts with innovative signage and merchandising concepts to enhance the shopping experience.