Alibaba’s Online Growth Surges, AI, Looks Offline
Source: (New York Times Feb 1, 2018)
For both Alibaba and Tencent, though, creating more points of contact with their customers helps them amass more user data. This is one reason the companies are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, which helps them make sense of the boatloads of user information they are hauling in every minute. Learn more
Mondelēz New CEO announces Sticking with DSD
Source: (Confectionary News Feb 2,2018)
Mondelēz’s new CEO Dirk Van de Put, called 2017 ‘a solid year’ as the company’s organic sales during Q4 and full fiscal year 2017 grew 2.4% and 0.9% respectively. Also mentioned is that they will stick with their DSD model for distribution. Learn more
Most Meaningful Agenda – POI Spring Annual Summit April 11-13, Chicago – Learn from ConAgra, Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, Mondelez, Del Monte, Wells Enterprises, Walgreen’s, Colgate-Palmolive, Church & Dwight, etc.
For information, contact Mike Kantor at mkantor@p-o-i.org or (914) 319-7309
Register for this next world-class agenda,
Attendees already registered include:
ACH Foods, ECOS Brands, Keurig-Dr. Pepper, Parmalat, Diageo, Jack Links, Furlani Foods, Fererro, MTD Products, Nestle, Mondelez, Mrs. T’s, Wells Enterprises, Starbucks, Kimberly-Clark, Mars, Barilla, SCJ, VitaminShoppe, Organic Valley, Delicato Vinyards, Del Monte, Daisy Brand, CLIF Bar,Clorox, SCA, Pinnacle Foods, Hershey, Coca-Cola, Brookshire Grocery, Ahold, Pacific Foods, Marzetti, Johnsonville Sausage, Califia Farms, Ventura Foods, RXBAR, Tyson Foods, FLNA, Edgewell, Grupo Lala, Whirlpool, Dole Foods, Unilever, Tree Top Foods, Welch’s, Snyder’s-Lance, Farmer John, General Mills, Kraft-Heinz, Diageo, Pernnod-Ricard, Sargento, PepsiCo, Windsor Foods, Deoleo, L’Oreal, ACH Foods, Colgate-Palmolive, Walgreen’s, Hormel, Dean Foods, Constellation Brands, Blue Buffalo, Energizer, Borden Dairy, Bellisio Foods, Bimbo Bakeries, Sysco, Nestle, Kimberly Clark, Johnson & Johnson, Perfetti Van Melle, Kellogg’s, JM Smucker, Church & Dwight, Keurig Green Mountain, Musco Family Olive, ConAgra, Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, Rich Products, and many others. By now you should have received your invitation. If not, reach me today at mkantor@p-o-i.org
Why Toilet Paper, Razors, and Diapers May Get Cheaper
Source: (Fortune Jan 24, 2018)
P&G last year began widespread discounting, initially in its razor division to compete with companies like Dollar Shave Club, and later in the healthcare and household goods areas. Those price cuts are affecting sales at competitors including Kimberly-Clark and Johnson & Johnson, which is forcing them to adjust pricing as well. Learn more
Presentations from the just concluded POI Fall Annual Summit are available to Attendees and POI Members now at http://bit.ly/Dallas17Presos
Kroger Takes Speedy ‘Scan, Bag, Go’ Nationwide
Source: (Cincinnati.com Jan 31, 2018)
Kroger says it’s finalizing the technology to allow customers to pay through the app – enabling shoppers to skip the checkout lane altogether, similar to the setup of a new Amazon Go store opened this month in Seattle. Learn more
H&M’s E-Commerce struggles
Source: (Fortune Jan 31, 2018)
Referring to shopping’s move online, H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson said there is a “need to transform and re-think faster and faster” and that the company’s performance was “clearly below our expectations.” Learn more
Beech-Nut Commits to Analytics and Optimization
Source: (T-Pro Solutions February 1, 2018)
Bob Little, Director of Sales Planning and Strategy at Beech-Nut said, “We are ready to move our revenue management strategy to the next level by breaking down data-silos and focusing on better post-event analytics and planning optimization.” Learn more
Food Lion’s MVP Shop & Earn Rewards Program
Source: (Supermarket News Feb 1, 2018)
“Shop & Earn is a unique loyalty program that puts our customers in charge of their savings,” said Deborah Sabo, SVP Marketing Food Lion. “The more our customers shop, the more they will save. Offers are targeted to customers based on their specific purchases, fueling a program with nearly endless savings opportunities.” Learn more
Unilever Sees Accelerated Sales Growth
Source: (CNBC Feb 1, 2018)
Unilever, which spent most of last year reviewing its business after rebuffing a $143 billion takeover bid in February – said underlying sales rose 4 percent. Analysts on average were expecting 3.7 percent, according to a company-supplied consensus. Learn more
POI 2018 TPx and Retail Execution State of the Industry Report
New Findings: E-commerce Strategy and Capabilities Not only are there more respondents concerned about Amazon at 82%, but the ‘strength’ of the concern is 8 percentage points greater as we have defined it in our survey. Some of this may be due to increased fear of a future unknown condition with Amazon, or the positioning of the question (making a profit versus general concerns), but the perceived threat is very real. The same can be said for Taobao or Alibaba; so when we refer to Amazon we are talking to mega e-commerce players as a whole because we expect this incursion to continue into the foreseeable future. Amazon can exert tremendous pricing pressure, does not share sales data, and does not care about the supply chain dynamics of where product actually gets sold. The list goes on and on.
Most important is that Amazon doesn’t want to partner with you, it wants to procure from you, nothing more. As it moves to selling more of the “center store” items in a grocery store, it has the power to turn many of those retailers unprofitable. In 2017 we have already seen more retail store closures than any previous year, including 2008. This will put more profitability pressure on retailers, who will in turn seek to bolster their margins by selling you data, seeking more trade spending, and so forth. Bottom Line: Most CG manufacturers are concerned about Amazon and the other e-commerce giants – and justifiably so. We at POI have been speaking about the threat of Amazon for many years.
Response has been slow. There are few categories that will not be impacted by Amazon. Being in the ice cream or other frozen food business finally, actually has some advantages when it comes to e-commerce. But the rest of the categories should be concerned- very concerned – and give heed to some of the counsel that follows.
You need an E-commerce strategy. We need to establish early on that we are not suggesting that you can or should sell the bulk of your products online. Instead, what we are advocating is that you have a strategy for the when and where of e-commerce making sense. What we find is that a balanced approach is best, but that it really depends on the product category. Nevertheless, the majority of CG companies don’t have a strategy as we found in the following survey data. Furthermore, what we consistently see through research and interactions with CG companies globally is that they have e-commerce initiatives, but not necessarily an e-commerce strategy. Our definition of e-commerce isn’t limited to selling products online. It could also be: supporting products through information, partnering with retailers to make offers, driving shoppers to retail outlets where they can purchase products, or making offers to shoppers directly through coupons.
We will continue to monitor developments and facilitate learning/networking at our POI events to help you drive better linkage. This is critical because we believe that personalized promotions offer so much potential as a way to understand shoppers/consumers, get manufactures/retailers collaborating in efforts to reach them, reduce the number of unprofitable promotions, create a defensive bulwark against e-commerce sales options like Amazon, and generate better results. Learn more, access the complete report here
http://bit.ly/POI2018TPxREreport
Write to Mike Kantor at Promotion Optimization Institute mkantor@p-o-i.org for your copy of this leading compendium on Trade Promotion, Retail Execution, Collaborative Marketing, and Advanced Analytics.
Reach us with any needs, questions, or requests to further engage with POI at: MKantor@P-O-I.org
Have a sensational week!
Michael Kantor, CEO and Founder
Promotion Optimization Institute, LLC
mkantor@p-o-i.org
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