Virtual Fireside Chat: The Consumer Digital Wave’s Impact on Trade Planning & Retail Execution

Retail execution came to a standstill when the pandemic hit, and today’s consumer goods companies are spending their days learning how to pivot in order to meet new and fluctuating demands. To explore how CGs can remain agile enough to shift and still stay successful when it comes to retail execution tools and strategies, CGT hosted a virtual fireside chat with two industry thought leaders. Joining CGT managing editor Lisa Johnston were Chris Rice, SVP sales and marketing Americas, Exceedra by TELUS, and Phil Sweeney, VP strategic accounts, AFS Technologies by TELUS. Read on for an overview of the chat and watch the entire conversation, which includes leading practices for today’s brands and the tech they can leverage to fuel their innovation. When examining the state of the CG industry, using the term “shift” doesn’t quite do the environment justice. From the supply chain to grocery retail to food service, the entire landscape has been upended, flanked by high unemployment numbers and travel restrictions. All of this, of course, is spurred on by the rapid e-commerce acceleration. To manage the disruption, companies are taking hard looks at their tech investments in order to determine whether they should refocus or improve things that may have already been in their roadmap. Many of these changes are combining to cause great interference within CG operations — and thus hindering a company’s potential to compete and gain that competitive edge. Although consumer behavior continues to shift with each new step in the pandemic, it’s already apparent that some changes are here to stay. For many companies, this can serve as a bright spot, as well as new opportunities for those able to meet the customers seeking such things as curbside and home delivery for the first time. The pandemic has also opened up opportunities in new product categories (as anyone who picked up a decorative face mask for a birthday or holiday gift can attest). Perhaps most significant is the expectation for consumers to have more stringent requirements for cleanliness and safety moving forward. Some of these behavior changes are anticipated to linger even when the pandemic has come to a close. In order to be successful, it’s crucial that today’s CGs have a solid understanding of their consumers. In addition to examining the gulf between the companies that have laid a foundation of technology and those that have failed to invest, Rice, Sweeny and Johnston discussed the details behind the companies that are “getting things right” during the health crisis. The talk also included insight into leading practices for today’s consumer goods companies. Watch the full video to learn more.

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