MARKET WATCH
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New Easy-Access to eCommerce CDTs
Consumer Decision Trees (CDTs) On-Demand, an innovative offering for CPG manufacturers and retailers, has been launched by Inmar. The subscription-based, online portal enables easy access to eCommerce CDTs with one click.
By analyzing details from eCommerce baskets, companies can better understand how consumers shop online and then make more informed decisions when it comes to designing optimal page layouts and determining effective assortment ranges. The cost-effective tool is designed to help trading partners know which product attributes are more or less important to consumers when shopping online, as well as, provides other important measures like walk-switch rates, incrementality, substitutability scores and manufacturer retention rates. The portal is pre-loaded with eCommerce transactions which means there is minimal startup time.
“An efficient assortment of online products is a critical component to creating a sustainable eCommerce program. Consumer Decision Trees are a great solution for trading partners to understand online shopping behavior and then optimize assortment and page layouts accordingly,” said Paul Weitzel at Inmar. “Most grocery stores with an eCommerce offering make each in-store item available online. This crowds pages and makes online shopping more difficult for consumers. Experience is everything online and shoppers quickly walk when systems are clunky. CDTs can help break through the clutter and improve the overall shopping experience online.”
Inmar’s CDTs On-Demand analyzes household shopping patterns from over 1.5 billion transactions (growing daily) from across the country in a matter of seconds. All categories are pre-loaded and ready to run, eliminating lengthy startup time.
For more information: www.inmar.com.
FMI Launches Online Community for Emerging Brands
The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) has started a subscription-based online community for emerging food and beverage brands. The program, called FMI Emerge, offers education, mentoring, nurturing and access to sources of capital.
Emerge aims to help resolve complex industry issues by addressing a need for productive trading partner relationships with food-producing companies that have a product or product line with limited grocery distribution and seek more sales velocity. The key objective is to help these brands grow sustainably by expanding their distribution, and enhancing their operations, financing and sales. The collaborative community environment will host mentors, offer education, manage supportive outreach and provide access to investors.
“Through our new virtual community, FMI Emerge, our retail members can become better equipped to meet increased consumer demand for products focused on a variety of attributes such as local sourcing, health and wellness, artisanal and global cuisine,” said FMI President and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin.
Julie Pryor will serve as the program’s director. With 15 years of experience in both corporate and agency environments, Pryor has relationship and team-building expertise, working with internal and external stakeholders to grow clients’ businesses.
To express interest in being involved with FMI Emerge, please visit www.moreshelfspace.org.
Udelv Wins the Spring 2018 CART Virtual Pitch Event
Udelv, an autonomous and electric delivery vehicle, is the winner of the Spring 2018 CART Virtual Pitch Event, hosted by the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology.
Custom-made and ready for public roads, udelv is already delivering groceries in some regions. The reduced cost of delivery and more flexible delivery times led panelists representing over 18,000 retail stores to select udelv as the winner over hundreds of other applicants.
“This is a perfect example of new innovation transforming what’s possible and doing so cost-effectively for retailers,” said Sterling Hawkins, Operations and Venture Relations at CART. “The viability of this technology dramatically impacts eCommerce fulfillment. Those that adopt faster will have significant advantages in the short term, getting a jump on their competition.”
Currently, customers can place their order online from existing brick and mortar retailers that have engaged with udelv. When their order is arriving, the customer receives a push notification via the app on their phone, which they then tap to open a compartment to retrieve their items.
“The CART Virtual Pitch Event enables retailers of all sizes to keep up with the fast pace of change,” said Hawkins. “Udelv is a perfect example of a disruptive technology that retailers need to know about.”
The event is in partnership with Winsight Grocery Business, presented by dunnhumby and supported by ShoptoCook and Curbside.
The Fall 2018 Retail Innovation Pitch Event will take place October 10, 2018. The competition will give participants exposure to potential investors, retailers and media. Participation is open to startups of all stages worldwide at no cost.
For more details and to apply, please visit: http://www.advancingretail.org/innovation.
New Guideline to Share Product Attributes via GDSN
GS1 US has released a new retail grocery industry guideline called the “GS1 US Guidance for Sharing Product Attributes via GDSN in Retail Grocery” for users of the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN), an interoperable network that allows brands to share product data with their customers and trading partners.
The guideline offers best practices for sharing product details and descriptions to help trading partners keep pace with the growing consumer and industry demand for complete and accurate product information. It was developed by the GS1 US Retail Grocery Initiative Product Information and Images Workgroup, which is comprised of retailers, manufacturers, distributors and solution providers working to address product information and image sharing challenges by applying GS1 Standards.
Southeastern Grocers, Quotient Technology Launch Media Hub
Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of BI-LO, Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie stores, has partnered with Quotient Technology to form the SEG Media Hub, a media platform that gives shoppers more relevant digital ad messages and savings.
The platform, powered by Quotient, enables a consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand to target SEG shoppers with relevant and effective digital advertising that ties back directly to sales. For shoppers, that means better content to help them save money and find the things they want and need.
With SEG Media Hub, brands can tailor their ad campaigns to target the right shopper across all SEG’s digital properties, Quotient’s flagship consumer brand, Coupons.com, and third-party properties across the web, including major digital publishers and social media channels.
“We’re excited to expand our relationship with Southeastern Grocers to become its exclusive digital media partner,” said Jason Young, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Media for Quotient. “We believe that SEG Media Hub is a large opportunity for CPGs to influence shoppers by giving them offers and content they want to see, and more effectively measure digital ad spend.”
This relationship is a natural extension of the current partnership between SEG and Quotient. Already, Quotient powers SEG’s digital savings program through its Quotient Retailer iQ platform, which connects to point-of-sale systems and uses a blend of proprietary purchase data and online behavior data to deliver relevant digital coupons to shoppers at the right place and right time, primarily via their smartphones.
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