pricing « SymphonyIRI Group CPG Blog

Posts Tagged ‘pricing’

Understanding and Activating Shoppers in the 21st Century

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

Today’s consumers are a force to be reckoned with. A variety of evolving factors, including economic volatility, new product introduction and consumer-centricity, fed by the adoption of technology (smartphones, tablet computers, etc.) have armed consumers with the wherewithal to challenge brands to meet their specific needs.

Technology has enabled shoppers to be more educated about products with foresight into details, including price, attributes, performance and availability. The Internet has become an integral part of the shopping experience as consumers remain connected to it while on the go on their mobile devices; many use these devices as a shopping assistant as they browse their retailer’s aisles. Easy access to this information has transformed consumers into brand advocates or defectors, allowing them to hold more power than before and change their approach to shopping.

Given today’s empowered and enlightened shoppers, in order to drive effective campaigns and see a return on marketing investments, brands must understand how different digital consumer segments perceive products and behave. The more brands learn about new economic and digital segmentations, the more they will uncover opportunities for growth and improve retail engagement in a competitive market. By leveraging segmentations, brands can identify, locate and target ideal consumers.

We’ve previously covered how our DigitaLink and EconoLink segmentations can assist brands in understanding the characteristics of shoppers within these different segments. CPG marketers can utilize these insights to initiate a shopper marketing activation process to identify the most relevant geographies, media and messaging that appeal to a particular segment, thereby increasing ROI by creating and delivering targeted campaigns.

These new economic and digital segmentations provide a unique lens through which CPG marketers can view their business and uncover opportunities for growth. These insights can also help significantly improve retailer engagement and drive campaign and brand ROI.

Tags: consumer and shopper marketing, consumer insights, DigitaLink, Paul Lainis, pricing, Retail Solutions, Segmentation, shopper attitudes, shopper behavior
Posted in Shoppers | No Comments »

Redefining the Next Decade of Consumer and Retail Analytics

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

It’s time to revamp our approach to CPG and retail analytics as we face the perfect storm of technology, a radical shift in shopper behavior and advanced, predictive analytical models.

Predictive analytical models can enable industry leaders to understand nearly infinite details about consumers, reshaping the complete range of product development, pricing, promotion, assortments and store layout strategies. With constant access to online information, social media and mobile technology available today, retailers can create a more relevant dialogue with their shoppers.

Building on this, we recently launched “Analytics2020,” an initiative that will define the next decade of consumer and retail analytics. Analytics2020 is comprised of a global industry survey to study in detail the requirements for success in the evolving retail landscape and how to leverage analytics to create competitive advantage, and a Consortium of leading CPG manufacturers, retailers, academics and media agencies. Our partner, the Grocery Manufacturer’s Association (GMA), will release initial Analytics2020 industry survey findings in August 2012 at the GMA Executive Conference.

The initiative will help CPG and retail decision makers focus on maximizing the impact of integrating traditional, social and mobile technologies to achieve consumer mindshare and loyalty. Together, we will identify and define a roadmap for companies that will help tailor products and services to be individually relevant to consumers.

Don’t want to wait until August to learn more about Analytics2020? You can find additional information here and on Twitter: @Analytics2020.

Tags: Analytics2020, consumer analytics, cpg, Grocery Manufacturer’s Association, manufacturers, predictive analytics, pricing, promotion, retail analytics, Retail Solutions, Robert Holston, Social Media
Posted in Retail Updates | 1 Comment »

Frugality, List Making and a Taste for Gourmet: 2011 in Review

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

With minimal economic improvement, rising commodity prices and continued consumer frugality, 2011 was another challenging year for the CPG industry. During our recent webinar, “Times & Trends: CPG 2011 Year in Review,” I discussed the key economic and consumer trends that impacted CPG performance across various channels, departments and categories in 2011. These include:

Ongoing conservatism shifted shopper behavior: As illustrated in our December report, “The CPG Basket: Fostering Growth in a Time of Conservation,” pantry stocking missions are a way of the past. Consumers are now making smaller, more strategic shopping trips. Rather than blindly stocking up on anything and everything, consumers are carefully researching where and when they can obtain items at the best possible price.

Shopping locally: As gas prices continue to climb, many consumers are looking to shop closer to home, contributing to a decline in supercenter traffic. In 2011, consumers made an average of only two supercenter trips each month, compared with an average 4.7 grocery store trips.

In-home indulgences: Now that consumers across income levels are saving money by enjoying more meals at home, sales of various food and beverage categories have increased, including wine, chocolate, natural cheese and salty snacks.

Some consumers are starting to open their wallets—cautiously: Wealthier consumers are buying higher-end CPG products, such as gourmet foods and salon-quality hair products, but they’re doing so with an eye towards value. High-end CPG products allow consumers to reintroduce some of the luxuries they previously enjoyed, while still spending less than they would at restaurants, bars or salons.

Strong drug channel and private label performance: The drug channel remains strong, with dollar sales climbing more than 4 percent in 2011. Private label performance also remained positive, accounting for 22.9 percent of unit sales and 18.7 percent of dollar sales.

So what can CPG manufacturers and retailers learn from these findings?

Price remains the primary consideration for consumers, so CPG manufacturers should look for opportunities to lower costs through innovative sourcing, packaging, and product sizing strategies. This is also an ideal time to explore product development based upon existing and emerging consumer trends. Gourmet and other high-end products, in particular, present a strong growth opportunity.

Retailers should be cognizant of the growing private label popularity, and look to extend private label share, particularly across low-differentiation categories and those with significant price increases. It’s also important to constantly re-assess and adjust pricing to maintain an optimal price gap between private label and name brand offerings.

CPG retailers should also seek to enhance product assortment, especially in high-growth categories, and look for cross-promotional opportunities with high-growth categories and brands, as well as staple products. Both manufacturers and retailers should keep an eye out for technological advances and should seek out new and innovative means of informing and engaging consumers.

If you missed the webinar, you can view it here, or download the full “CPG 2011 Year in Review” report.

Tags: Consumers, cpg, economy, Frugal, grocery, pricing, Retail Solutions, Retailers, shopper attitudes, shopper behavior, Shoppers, shopping, SymphonyIRI, Times & Trends
Posted in CPG | No Comments »

Getting the Big Picture

Friday, March 25th, 2011

By Joe Sakach, Director of Next Generation Analytics & Practices, Campbell Soup

It’s safe to say most of us don’t give much weight to a statistic when we realize the study involved a small number of people from the same region and of the same age. Why? Because, we know that the data retrieved by a study like that is anecdotal at best. It’s not widespread enough to represent an accurate account of a real population.

This idea is no different when evaluating the price increases and decreases in the CPG and retail industries. Methods often employed by marketers only evaluate a short period of price impacts and changes. The issue with this model is that the statistics it returns may not present the complete picture; the evaluated sample is simply not broad enough to understand true trends and consumer reactions.

During the Summit 2011 breakout session, “Measuring the ‘Carryover’ Effects of Pricing Using Dynamic Demand Modeling,” I will join Joy Joseph from SymphonyIRI to further examine best practices in product research, and we will explain why it is imperative for CPG and retail companies to move away from the current short-term price evaluation strategy. In doing so, organizations will be able to gain a more thorough understanding of consumer reaction and habits.

Joe Sakach and Joy Joseph will be presenting their session on Wednesday, March 30 at 2 p.m. in Glimmer 2. Check out the calendar for this year so you can plan your time at Summit!

Tags: Campbell’s Soup, cpg, Marketing, merchandising, pricing, Retail Solutions, Sales Leadership, shopper attitudes, shopper behavior, shopping trends, Summit, SymphonyIRI
Posted in Summit | 2 Comments »

New Approaches in a Seemingly New Industry

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

At a time where shoppers remain cautious in their spending habits, it is even more critical for retailers to understand what a shopper is looking for the moment they enter the store. As one might imagine, taking on this task is no easy feat. The big question remains: how can anyone understand what each individual customer is looking for when each shopper brings different characteristics to the table, from background, age and dietary preferences to marital status and grocery budgets?

Manufacturers are facing this challenge head-on by considering “customized trip missions” to better understand how shoppers interact with various product categories and the results they hope to attain.

During the Summit 2011 breakout session, “Using Customized Trip Missions to Enhance Merchandising Strategy,” I will join Christina Sung, director of shopper analytics, SymphonyIRI, to discuss the importance of employing new tactics and measures to understanding the shopper in an unpredictable industry.

By attending our session, you’ll learn about opportunities retailers and manufacturers can take in developing key merchandising strategies that will attract, influence and maintain loyal customers. I hope to see you there!

Rob Chumley will be presenting his session on Tuesday, March 29 at 2 p.m. in Glimmer 1. Check out the calendar for this year so you can plan your time at Summit!

Rob Chumley, Vice President, Merchandising, 7-Eleven

Tags: 7-Eleven, cpg, Customized Trip Mission, Marketing, merchandising, pricing, Retail Solutions, Sales Leadership, shopper attitudes, shopper behavior, shopping trends, Summit, SymphonyIRI
Posted in Summit | 2 Comments »

Maintaining a Competitive Edge in 2011

Monday, March 21st, 2011

By Tycho Ferrigni, SymphonyIRI

With the reduced cost of data storage and the introduction of frequent shopping programs, retailers are collecting data about their shoppers at a pace and breadth that has never been seen before. SymphonyIRI has the tools that will turn these data assets into future cash flows for both retailers and manufacturers.

While each retailer has specific information about what a shopper does within their firm, SymphonyIRI understands the shopper independent of where they shop. We have taken robust and reliable analytical capabilities from data rich industries and engineered them to work within the CPG space. Our models predict things like where a shopper is likely to shop, what they are likely to purchase as well as estimate their inherent health and wellness needs based on their risk for serious and chronic disease. All of this insight is calibrated by leveraging our “full market view” provided by our National Consumer Panel.

By leveraging a targeted direct-to-consumer capability, retailers and manufacturers will be able to increase the relevance of their offers, the returns on the marketing spend and increase the number of programs they launch in market. Offering gas points or bonus rewards coupons can be a clever way to temporarily induce customers to open their wallets, but it often takes more than that to keep customers coming back. SymphonyIRI’s Shopper Marketing Analytical Services Group is tackling this problem head on and is focused on gaining a better understanding of what it takes to attract and retain today’s consumer.

A key component of our study has been exploring the gap between the retailer and the manufacturer. By partnering, both organizations are able to identify and capitalize on key products and services that maximize the value to shoppers and create a win-win for the retailer and manufacturer alike.

By attending Summit 2011’s breakout session, “Leveraging Analytics to Target the Highest Opportunity Shoppers,” you’ll gain clear insight as to how utilizing the analytical insights and information from our Shopper Marketing Analytical Services Group will strongly assist in the attraction and maintenance of key shoppers, time and time again.

Visit www.sigsummit.com for more information and to register. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter at (@SymphIRI and #SIGSummit) for continued updates and information. See you in Miami!

Tycho Ferrigni will be presenting his session on Wednesday, March 30 at 2 p.m. in Glimmer 3. Check out the calendar for this year so you can plan your time at Summit!

Tags: cpg, Marketing, merchandising, pricing, Retail Solutions, Sales Leadership, shopper attitudes, shopper behavior, Shopper Marketing Analytical Services Group, shopping trends, Summit, SymphonyIRI
Posted in Summit | No Comments »

Finding New Niches Through Market Analysis

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

By Mike Duffy and Lisa Maas, SymphonyIRI

In today’s competitive environment, it seems that everyone is looking for an edge—an undiscovered opportunity—that will drive profitable brand growth or store sales. Exploring these opportunities can be problematic for companies, with high hurdles for new products and changing customer behavior.

It would be much less risky if companies were able to identify and explore these possibilities with a safety net to gauge product potential before entering the market. SymphonyIRI prides itself on providing its manufacturer and retailer partners with the tools that make their businesses successful, and to fill this need, SymphonyIRI Hendry has worked closely with manufacturers to identify actionable market insights that will act as a roadmap leading to profitable growth.

At Summit 2011, we’ll discuss this approach and how it can be used to identify white space opportunities, recognize ways to extend your brand profitably and anticipate possible competitive moves. Through market simulations it’s not only possible to size the opportunity of filling a gap, but it will also help you prioritize innovation and optimize your brand spending.

Visit www.sigsummit.com for more information and to register. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter at (@SymphIRI and #SIGSummit) for continued updates and information. See you in Miami!

Mike Duffy and Lisa Maas will be presenting their session on Tuesday, March 29 at 3:15pm in Glimmer 2. Check out the calendar for this year so you can plan your time at Summit!

Tags: cpg, innovation, Marketing, merchandising, pricing, Retail Solutions, shopping trends, Summit, SymphonyIRI, SymphonyIRI Hendry, white space opportunities
Posted in Summit | No Comments »

Industry Insights

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

In Track F: Latest Innovation and Solutions from SymphonyIRI Group, we want to share our latest innovations and solutions. Our goal is to create insight-driven solutions that complement the sales person’s knowledge and help build stronger retail trading relationships.

In working towards positive solutions for the industry, we have noted a major shift toward the mobile market. To meet this market demand, we are currently working on our SymphonyIRI Liquid Data mobile application prototype. This shift creates an opportunity to open discussion, invite feedback and enhance existing mobile platforms.

Additionally, we are becoming more aware of repeat shoppers’ needs. In this session, SymphonyIRI’s Shopper Marketing Analytical Services Group will reveal its latest technology on attracting those shoppers back into the store based on the products and/or services they are most likely to purchase.

Today, companies are looking to establish their own niche. Regional brands are looking to obtain wide-spread success by becoming national brands. SymphonyIRI will also present Market Advantage, a tool that will help brands achieve that goal. We will present a case study of one company’s success in obtaining drastic brand recognition on a much larger scale.

Mark Peiser, vice president of Marketing Research for News America Marketing, will join us to address the challenging question: How do you measure the media value of in-store marketing? While measuring this type of ad-value has long been a frustrating task, News America Marketing, Kantar and SymphonyIRI partnered to create a new tool that will help quantify the success of marketing initiatives.

Rounding out our final session, EmSense and SymphonyIRI will present their new technology that allows you to get into the mind of a shopper. You’ll be able to answer key questions, including what drives a shopping to select a certain item, or what motivates a shopper to choose a certain brand?

We are excited to share our latest innovations and solutions with Summit attendees, and we hope these tools and tactics will help each company strengthen its presence nationwide.

Visit www.sigsummit.com for more information and to register. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter at (@SymphIRI and #SIGSummit) for continued updates and information. See you in Miami Beach!

Tags: cpg, Market Advantage, Marketing, merchandising, pricing, Retail Solutions, shopper attitudes, shopper behavior, Shopper Marketing Analytical Services Group, shopping trends, Summit, SymphonyIRI, SymphonyIRI Liquid Data
Posted in Summit | No Comments »

Staying Ahead of the Competition

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

In an industry as competitive as retail, companies are forced to do all they can to set themselves apart in order to maintain market share. It is a day-to-day battle, and as an organization, you need to go into battle armed with the right information and tactics.

At Summit’s Track E: “Winning at Retail: How to Compete Successfully” breakout sessions, you’ll hear how a few well-known companies have managed to stay one step ahead of the curve in this ever-challenging market. Featured speakers will include:

Cara Bernosky, president and co-founder for IMC Licensing: Cara will address creative approaches restaurants have taken during the recession, such as contributing to licensing activity in this sector to supplement for recent lower foot traffic and gradually drive in traffic as the economy increases.
Dan Strunk, Category Management Association and Center for Sales Leadership of DePaul University: Dan will introduce the importance of evaluating point-of-sale data scanners as a means to improving sales.
Joe Sakach, director for Campbell Soup: Joe will explain how to break out of the cycle of short-term price evaluation and understand the true “carryover” effect of pricing and promotion activity.
Kevin Durkee of Delhaize America: Kevin will present the next generation of category business planning, offering a new technology that will support an efficient and reasonable business plan called “CMI” for companies.

These forward-thinking companies have a plethora of insights to share. Don’t miss out on how you can stay ahead of the curve and identify the next step toward evaluating and maintaining success.

Visit www.sigsummit.com for more information and to register. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter at (@SymphIRI and #SIGSummit) for continued updates and information. See you in Miami Beach!

Tags: Campbell Soup, cpg, Delhaize America, DePaul University, IMC Licensing, Marketing, merchandising, pricing, Retail Solutions, Sales Leadership, shopper attitudes, shopper behavior, shopping trends, Summit, SymphonyIRI
Posted in Summit | No Comments »

Who is Shopper Jane Doe?

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

During the past few years, we’ve all become creative in our spending habits. Whether it’s been carpooling, cutting back on vacations or shopping more cautiously, the current economy has made us all aware of our wallets. And hey, who doesn’t want to save some cash whenever possible?

These adopted saving habits have created a new challenge in the retail industry: newly unpredictable shopper behavior. CPG and retail marketers are facing the challenge head on by developing and implementing strategies that will provide retailers an insight into today’s consumer.

At Summit, we are addressing this concern through Track D: “Shopper-Centric Retailer-Manufacturer Collaboration.” Industry experts and thought leaders will join us to discuss the importance of new technology that assists category incrementality, and ways to ensure that you’ve stocked the right product at the right price point in the right place at the right time to satisfy today’s shopper.

We will also be addressing effective category management strategies in the store as one of the most important tactics in response to the changed spending habits.

By attending this track, you’ll be able to identify what is driving your customer’s choices and how you can best cater to them from the moment they walk in the door. While getting reacquainted with our target audience seems like a difficult task to take on, gaining a fresh perspective for your organization will become a win-win for retailers and customers.

Visit www.sigsummit.com for more information and to register. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter at (@SymphIRI and #SIGSummit) for continued updates and information. See you in Miami Beach!

Tags: cpg, Marketing, merchandising, pricing, Retail Solutions, shopper attitudes, shopper behavior, shopping trends, Summit, SymphonyIRI
Posted in Summit | No Comments »

Posts Tagged ‘pricing’

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