MARKET WATCH
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Comprehensive e-Content Offering for Brands Available
A new service offering giving manufacturers a turn-key solution for managing the creation, hosting and delivery of e-content is available from Gladson, a provider of syndicated consumer packaged goods (CPG) product images and content,
The e-Content Made Easy solution aims to give manufacturers an efficient and secure way to create e-content using processes certified by GS1 US and direct the distribution of that e-content to specific retailers and websites. The e-content creates is ready for supply chain and B2C applications and distribution through the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN).
The new offering is designed to help brand owners create e-content that complies with the requirements of their online partners and with emerging GS1 Standards. With the e-content hosted on Gladson servers, a flexible delivery system allows brand owners to tailor distribution of product information for specific marketing and merchandising programs and take advantage of Gladson’s network of hundreds of online retailers and mobile apps.
Gladson, a participant in the GS1 US B2C Alliance, announced the solution at the GS1 Connect conference in Las Vegas earlier this month.
“With the growth and importance of independent information sources, which include retailers and their websites, shopper websites, mobile apps and advertising media, brand owners face increased complexity in providing complete and consistent product content, images and information to all their online partners,” said Sue Sentell, Gladson’s president and CEO. “They may have some product images and required information, but this content is not typically complete or structured for the wide variety of uses online and in stores.”
Data-Management Leaders Team up to Benefit CPG Brands
To help brand manufacturers to meet the increasing demands of information-hungry consumers, 1SYNC and itemMaster have formed a marketing development agreement.
1SYNC, the leading product-data-synchronization provider in consumer packaged goods (CPG) will market itemMaster services to its 6,000 customers, extending itemMaster’s market reach. In turn, itemMaster, a digital content provider, will make its product images and data available to 1SYNC customers, making it easier for those companies to get a broader range of trusted, authentic information to consumers.
The two companies also agreed to work together on a next-generation approach to more efficiently distribute trusted, high-quality and extensive product data to the retailers, e-commerce providers, search engines, and application providers that enable “smart shoppers.” The data includes expanded nutritional and ingredient information - including allergens - and marketing copy.
The announcement was made earlier this month in Las Vegas at the GS1 Connect Conference, where 1SYNC was the conference’s Diamond Sponsor.
IBM Launches Virtual Briefing Center for CPG Innovation
The Consumer Products Virtual Briefing Center is designed to be a gateway to IBM’s innovation, thought leadership and solutions expertise for the consumer products industry.
“We share new ideas and creative approaches to help make your business smarter, enabling it to grow amid the many challenges facing this dynamic field,” aid company officials.
Here are the components of the center:
- Consumer Marketing: A vision for consumer products companies that provides a holistic, integrated information platform that addresses the analytic needs of marketing, sales and supply chain
- Customer Collaboration: Collaborating with channel partners to align execution and priorities focused on the right product at the right time to the consumer
- Supply Networks and Manufacturing: Provides the ability to accommodate new data feeds, tighter harmonization between planning and execution, and leverages advanced visibility and analytics to enable today's best-in-class companies to build “smarter” supply chains
- Enterprise Information Management: Delivers fully integrated data from internal and external sources to provide superior insights for all areas of the consumer products organization in a consistent, robust, and accurate fashion.
Smartphone Shopping Behavior Varies Per Store
Consumers use their phones differently depending on the type of store they are in, says a recent Nielsen survey of U.S. smartphone owners who report using their mobile phones while shopping.
For example, mobile couponing (either using or requesting a coupon) is most popular at grocery stores (41% of mobile shoppers reported using coupons there), department stores (41%), and clothing stores (39%).
The more considered the purchase, the more smartphone shoppers rely on their smartphones: At electronics stores, the vast majority of smartphone shoppers read reviews (73%), compare prices with other retail outlets (71%) and scan QR codes to get more product details (57%).
Online Ad Campaigns Using Purchaser Data Nearly Triples ROI
Consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands can experience a return of almost three dollars in incremental sales for every dollar spent in online advertising that has been precisely delivered using purchase-based information, according to research from Nielsen Catalina soluotins (NCS), which measures ad performance using purchaser-based analytics.
These findings indicate a turning point for the digital medium as marketers seek to better leverage their advertising budgets across multiple channels, according to officials.
“Not only can we prove that online advertising drives sales, but the returns on ad spends are significant when purchaser-based data is used to optimize the media buy,” said Mike Nazzaro, CEO of Nielsen Catalina Solutions. “The marketer’s ability to precisely reach the desired consumer segment in the right media enabled by shopper-based analytics is changing the way advertisers plan and buy media.”
Nielsen Catalina Solutions and Nielsen completed more than 800 studies over the past seven years, collaborating with more than 300 CPG brands and 80 companies to measure the correlation between online advertising and offline consumer purchases.
New Coffee Kiosk Debuts in Mass Market Stores
Coinstar’s new Rubi coffee kiosk featuring Seattle’s Best Coffee beverages will begin rolling out this summer in the grocery, drug and mass merchant retail channels. About 500 kiosks expected in position by the end of the year and thousands of machines in the next several years. Initial installations will be in the northeast and west coast regions.
The kiosk grinds and brews fresh whole beans in a single-cup process on demand and around the clock. It serves brewed coffee and specialty drinks including mochas and vanilla lattes with price points starting at $1.00. The kiosk occupies approximately nine square feet and is designed to provide increased foot traffic and a turnkey solution for retailers, creating operational efficiencies.
The Rubi kiosk is Coinstar’s third automated retail business, joining the Redbox movie rental machine and the Coinstar coin-counting kiosk.
“We believe our coffee kiosk reimagines the coffee experience for consumers,” said Paul Davis, chief executive officer of Coinstar, Inc.
“This relationship is a logical next step in our strategy to bring great coffee to new and unexpected locations where it's traditionally been hard to find great coffee,” said Jim McDermet, senior vice president and general manager of Seattle’s Best Coffee.
Improving Product Returns Key to Better Online Shopping: Study
While nearly nine of ten consumers (86%) are satisfied with the overall experience of shopping online, retailers still have significant opportunity to improve customer satisfaction and their competitive position by making the process of returning or exchanging items easier.
That’s the key takeaway from Online Shopping Customer Experience Study, a report analyzing consumers’ online shopping behaviors and preferences pertaining to the post-purchase experience, from comScore and UPS.
The report highlights which factors lead consumers to return items, to recommend online retailers to friends, their requirements for a smooth checkout process, and which shipping services they find most valuable.
Few factors figure more prominently in improving customer satisfaction in online shopping than an easy-to-understand and convenient returns process. Nearly two of three online shoppers (63%) look at a retailer’s return policy before making a purchase. Nearly half said that they would shop more often and recommend a retailer with a lenient returns policy, indicating its value in driving customer loyalty. Hassle-free returns and exchanges rank above average in terms of importance for shoppers, but rank low in terms of current customer satisfaction, showing a significant area of opportunity for retailers.
Center for Ecommerce Excellence Launches
Responding to the rapid growth of ecommerce and the strategic importance CPG companies are placing on optimizing sales and marketing efforts in this space, consultancy etailing solutions has formed the Center for Ecommerce Excellence. The mission is to help advance the shared interests of all players across the ecommerce ecosystem.
CEE will serve as the first-of-its-kind repository of insight reports, best practices and events aimed to inform and create interaction among retailers, brands and service providers spanning the burgeoning ecommerce sector. CEE members have access to an insights portal that features proprietary research, the latest industry trends and opportunities to interact with other industry professionals through conferences, webinars, share groups and steering committees.
“Despite all the buzz and traction that etailing is gaining among CPG brands, retailers and suppliers, ecommerce is relatively immature in the U.S. in terms of adoption and best practices,” says Jason Katz, EVP and General Manager of etailing solutions. “CEE breaks new ground as the first singular organization dedicated to advancing the learnings and shared interests of all players within ecommerce.”
New Book on EDI, Best Practices for Supplier Compliance
Everything you wanted to know about electronic data interchange (EDI) is contained in a new book,
Ask Mary: Making EDI and Supplier Compliance Simple by Mary Kleepies, director of supply chain consulting for DiCentral.
Highlights from the book include an exhaustive review of the history of EDI, a step-by-step guide for EDI and supplier compliance program implementation, and a discussion on the benefits of measuring supplier performance.
“My main goal in writing this book is to provide a guide for members of the retail industry that discusses the most important aspects of the supply chain, and specifically addresses the challenges that they face,” said Kleespies. “My hope is that this book can be a resource for the retail industry when questions arise concerning vendor compliance, EDI implementation, and other hot button topics that I often discuss with retailers.”
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