Hershey Bolsters Go-To-Market Strategy: Investments in Demand Planning, Consumer Insights, and Media
The Hershey Company is undergoing continued digital enhancements supported by an ERP implementation to better meet consumer needs.
During the recent CAGNY conference, Steve Voskuil, SVP and CFO of Hershey, shared that 95% of its global business is on one instance of the new ERP platform and is already seeing benefits such as accelerated innovation.
Building off of that, Hershey is implementing integrated demand planning to “tie the demand signal on one side to the supply chain response and fulfillment response on the other side.” To do so, it has partnered with Kinaxis, which uses machine learning, data, and AI to make real-time adjustments to manufacturing and supply chain operations depending on demand.
As part of these efforts, the company has looked to gain a better understanding of consumer behavior, using shopping behavior analysis and promotion feedback and intersecting the data streams to inform customer investment and promotional dollar strategies. The proprietary solution, built with an outside partner, kicked off last year and is currently active in 40% of the company’s U.S. portfolio with continued plans for expansion, Voskuil said.
These two initiatives, led by IT leader Gene Kholodenko, currently account for 15% to 20% of Hershey’s digital transformation savings and work in tandem to build supply chain resiliency to drive new efficiencies.
Right Product, Right Place, Right Time
The company has continued work to improve its go-to-market strategies, from adjusting formulations to overhauling packaging to rewiring how it reaches consumers across a variety of channels.
Using its consumer insights strategy, Hershey has been able to pivot its packaging and merchandising to better attract shoppers. Within salty snacks, for example, the company has expanded its multipacks (now the No. 2 pack type in the category). For its Reese’s peanut butter-filled pretzel innovation, the company used consumer data to move away from bag to box. With its acquisition of SkinnyPop, Hershey is reinvigorating the brand in 2025 by overhauling graphics as well as offering new price pack architecture to offer new sizes and price points.
Also read: Hershey Acquires Sour Strips Candy
“We are increasing product visibility and optimizing the flow of the aisle with some changes that we're making to our packaging,” said president and CEO Michele Buck. “We are more and more going to be using the aisle to communicate to consumers' occasions to create that top-of-mind perspective on when and where they can use our products and organize the aisle in that way. And all of this will culminate in an increased value impression to the consumer.”
It goes beyond the store experience as well. The company has more than doubled its digital media spend from 2017 to 2024 to reach consumers via streaming on Netflix, TV, podcasts, and social with influencer partnerships.
“We know that consumers and all of us are consuming media in very different ways,” said Buck, who added that the company is working closely with retailers to understand what consumers are looking for in different shopping experiences, including social commerce.
“Over the years, there's been a lot of retail evolution and that continues, and we are staying on top of shopper behaviors, making sure we have the right insights and evolving as the retail landscape evolves,” she said.
