Do you know what is missing in your plans?

According to a McKinsey 2022 article, companies are taking short-term measures to manage costs such as pricing adjustments, managing input costs, and reducing operating expenses. While these tactics can be effective, they are temporary solutions. Successful executives have shown to prioritize driving growth vs cost cutting which shapes the behavior, mindset, risk appetite, and investment decisions of the entire organization. These growth-oriented leaders react positively to short-term disruptions that can be turned into opportunities and use them to build organizational resilience and agility. Finding growth in new areas is the key.

So how and where do you find new growth?  Insights into consumers, shoppers, channels, customers and looking at the changes and trends can uncover untapped growth opportunities and help you prioritize the areas of focus.  It all starts with good insights but a big mistake that companies make is that they primarily look at consumer insights and forget that shopper/channel/customer insights are critical to uncover untapped growth opportunities.  Evidence of this is answering this question:  What % of the insights budget is invested in consumer insights and what % in shopper and channel/customer insights? This most likely is what is missing from your plans.  Most companies invest most of their insights budget on consumer insights.  If you want to find growth look at shopper/channel/customer insights as those are mostly untapped.  By the way, investing in Nielsen data and saying that is shopper insights is not what I am talking about. In this blog we will look at shoppers more deeply. In another blog we will look at channels and customers. What insights am I talking about to really understand shoppers? Is is insights that answer who are they, what do they buy, how do they buy, when, where, why, why don’t they buy, what else do they buy?  Getting insights on the shopper behaviors by sub-channel (grocery, convenience, drug, discount, wholesale, hyper, food service, etc) is critical to find opportunities for growth.  In the end you want consumption but to get consumption you need a shopper to buy at a retailer/customer.  The shopper is the one that makes the decision.  Even when the shopper is also the consumer, their mindset is very different when shopping vs when consuming so it is important to understand their mindset.  What are the triggers that would make them buy, what are the barriers preventing them from buying, what behavior change do we need to encourage as well as when and where in order for them to become a new buyer or for those that already buy to buy more often, buy more or what would make them willing to pay more?  Looking at it this way allows you to develop programs that are more specific and measurable to drive growth vs focusing on revenue, margin, profit that are too high level and less actionable.  It is important that as you develop shopper programs the brand communications ensure to build brand equity by being true to the brand positioning in every single communication touchpoint. This is a big pain point for me.  Do not hurt the brand but instead use all comms to build the brand and do it justice!

As we look at shoppers today, they are facing challenging economic times.  Shoppers are becoming more price-sensitive and are more likely to switch to lower-priced brands or private label products but they may save in some areas to treat themselves with innovations that add value and be willing to pay more for those.  Many of us have seen and lived these shopper behaviors in past recessionary environments which many hold true today.  Offering good value to shoppers by emphasizing the quality and benefits of their products and brands while also being mindful of pricing will help retain shoppers. Brands can also offer promotions or bundles that provide shoppers with additional value for their money. Also, with the rise of e-commerce and the pandemic accelerating the adoption of online shopping, CPG brands should have an omnichannel strategy that includes both online and offline touchpoints in order for brands to reach a wider audience and provide shoppers with a seamless shopping experience. Unfortunately, I need to be very generic because it is only when you roll up your sleeves working closely with the team and understanding the brands, where they are, their objectives, the consumer, shopper, customer, channel insights can you devise proper integrated plans that will lead you to great programs to grow your business. 

One final thought I want to leave you with is the following.  One of the biggest sins in our space is to be out of stock whether online or offline.  Once you are out of stock a shopper may try another brand and you have opened the door to a competitor taking your loyal shopper away.  This just happened to me the other day.  I always buy naked Stacy’s chips and Sabra Garlic Hummus.  I buy them together all the time and this time the Sabra Garlic Hummus was out of stock at my nearby supermarket.  Maybe Sabra thought if they ran out of stock I would switch and try one of their many other varieties but sorry I love the Garlic one and I have tried other Sabra varieties and not liked them as much so I decided to try Boar’s Head Garlic Hummus and OMG I loved it.  Sorry Sabra but you had a totally loyal shopper and consumer but you have likely lost me to Boar’s Head.  Being out of stock is the ultimate sin. I brought it home and I was the shopper and others in my family are now consuming Boar’s Head when I only had Sabra in my house in the past.  How do you solve for this so you don’t end up out of stock? 

Integrated planning with monthly commercial reviews will lead you to much better forecasting, stronger Sales & Operation meetings so that you have the right quantity produced and shipped to the right customers on the right dates, etc. 

If your plans start in Brand Marketing you are missing out in a huge way by not developing Brand AND Channel integrated plans that take into account not just the consumer but also the shopper, channel, customer so in the end you can build amazing brand and portfolio experiences in all your target channels and customers.

Reach out to alex@xprtsuite.com so we can help you find growth opportunities in untapped areas.