Crafting a Winning CPG Sales Program with Enterprise Retail customers
Crafting the Perfect CPG Sales Program for Big Box Retail — A Symphony of Data, Strategy, and Execution Mastery
Crafting a successful Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) sales program for Big Box retail involves a comprehensive approach that integrates retail marketing tools, data analytics, custom marketing programs, strategic sales planning, and post-program analysis.
1. Research and Understanding:
Get to know your retail customer. Understanding the individual needs Retailer enables you to adapt your product offerings, marketing messages, and sales execution to align with the preferences and trends of the retailer.
Different retailers often have unique requirements, ranging from packaging specifications to labeling standards. Understanding these requirements ensures that your products meet the standards set by each retailer, avoiding potential issues or delays.
2. Harnessing the Power of Data
The data landscape can be vast and confusing. So make sure to chose the data sets and platforms that are relevant to your customer. Retailers are undergoing a digital transformation and upgrading their data platforms.
It is critical that your retail management team has the skill-sets and access to syndicated data such as Nielsen, Circana and SPINs, or has access to the Retailer Customer Marketing (RCM) platforms such as Krogers 84.51 Precision Marketing, Walmart Luminate and Alberston’s Media Collective.
Retail marketing data encompasses a diverse range of valuable insights that empower retailers to understand and connect with their target audience effectively.
Point-of-Sale (POS) data provides transaction details and purchase history.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) data captures customer profiles and loyalty program participation.
Individual Customer Profiles (or Personas) use demographic and psychographic data help retailers segment their audience based on demographics, lifestyles, and preferences.
E-commerce data offers insights into online purchase behavior and preferences, while social media analytics reveal engagement metrics and follower demographics.
Foot traffic and location data shed light on in-store patterns and popular areas, complemented by market research and surveys offering feedback and preferences.
Competitor analysis delves into pricing strategies and market positioning.
Inventory and supply chain data ensure efficient stock management, while promotional performance metrics measure campaign effectiveness and return on investment.
Customer feedback and reviews contribute qualitative insights, and website analytics and email marketing metrics provide crucial data on online interactions.
By harnessing this wealth of information, you can align with your retailers using transparent and tailored marketing strategies, personalize customer interactions, and optimize overall business performance for a competitive edge in the dynamic retail landscape.
3. Customized Value Proposition:
Develop a tailored value proposition that directly addresses the retailer’s customer segments and aligns with their brand identity. Showcase how your products/services fulfill specific needs or desires identified through customer data.
Use your insights to create a compelling and measurable sales plan. Utilize this data to set realistic sales goals that include projected lift on sales, units and volume across the store footprints. Implement key performance indicators (KPIs) such as conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and ROI to measure plan effectiveness. Provide forecasts to both retail and internal stakeholders to highlight the total marketing investment and projected sales outcomes.
Important Note: Use visuals, charts, and graphs to make complex data easily digestible. Incorporate compelling storytelling to engage the audience and demonstrate the real-world impact of your strategies. Do not “Data Dump”
4. Personalized Marketing Strategies:
Creating a custom marketing program can be as complicated as navigating the the Retail Marketing data.
Generally, this process requires the collaboration across multiple divisions within your company. Assemble a cross-functional team encompassing brand teams, digital and trade marketing, creative and importantly…legal.
Project Plan: Clearly define objectives and allocate a budget that aligns with your goals. Explore strategic partnerships and adopt a multichannel approach, combining online and offline strategies. Be clear on delivery timelines and align with retailers expectations
Brand Teams: Aligning a customer marketing plan with brand standards ensures a consistent, recognizable brand image, building trust, and loyalty. It reinforces brand values, facilitates clear communication, and contributes to a positive customer experience, ultimately differentiating the brand and enhancing long-term equity
Digital and Trade Marketing: Develop a compelling content strategy and establish a timeline with milestones. Create a feedback mechanism for customer and stakeholder input.
Legal: Consider legal and ethical standards throughout the planning process and make sure you are adhering to federal, state and local laws.
Retail marketing companies provide a range of versatile marketing program options to cater to diverse client needs. These encompass…
Traditional in-store promotions, enticing customers with point-of-purchase displays and discounts, and cutting-edge digital marketing campaigns utilizing online advertising, social media, and email promotions for extended reach.
Loyalty programs foster customer retention through personalized incentives, while product launch campaigns strategically introduce new offerings to generate excitement.
Tailored seasonal campaigns align promotions with consumer behavior during specific times, and co-branding collaborations leverage partnerships for mutual brand exposure.
Content marketing, experiential events, and cause marketing build brand affinity, while affiliate programs enlist influencers for product promotion.
Mobile marketing targets consumers on their devices, and trade promotions incentivize retailers.
Personalized Marketing tailors strategies to individual preferences, and referral programs encourage customer advocacy. Cross-sell and upsell initiatives boost transaction values.
By offering an array of programs and tactics, you can create holistic and effective campaigns, enhancing brand visibility, customer engagement, and overall business success.
5. Aligning with Sales Objectives:
Make sure you have a firm understanding of sales trends within your category, your price tier, your competitive sets and with your brand. Make sure you are choosing the correct brand that has the most optimal chance of success. Brands have different strategies. New item distribution and trial, targeted share growth, defensive share protection and so forth. Understand the needs of your sales division regarding brands, goals and overall integration of your Key Account in achieving company objectives. To the best of your ability, use your consumer, sales and pricing data to model the overall impact of any pricing changes, marketing spend and have strict KPI’s ready to monitor performance during the period. Ensure that goals are set, pricing is confirmed and approved and that inventory is ordered and ready to ship.
6. Merchandising Excellence:
The execution layer plays one of the most pivotal roles in the success or brands at retail and can be the most challenging given the multi-state, multi-unit footprint and the manpower needed to provide merchandising services.
Merchandising is the visual and strategic presentation of products within the retail space. In big box retailers, where the competition for consumer attention is intense, effective merchandising is a critical differentiator. It involves creating a visually appealing and customer-centric display that not only showcases products but also tells a compelling story. The arrangement of products, use of signage, and overall aesthetic appeal contribute to an immersive shopping experience. Merchandising in big box retailers is about more than just product placement; it’s about creating an environment that resonates with the target audience, encourages exploration, and ultimately drives purchasing decisions.
Because of this, teams need to know well in advance what the retailers in-store expectations. Which Point of Sale elements are available, approved and align with brand standards. Forecast expected sales and volume lifts to optimize stock levels, minimize overstock or stockouts, and ensure a steady flow of products to meet consumer demand, and meet the pricing and margin requirements to achieve target shelf price for and during promotional activity. Establish accountable KPI’s with your merchandising team and create a feedback look to monitor and track feedback from the field regarding compliance, successes and to document your efforts.
7. Post Program Analysis:
A critically overlooked step in closing the Retail Management cycle is using the results of your sales and marketing programming to promote ongoing optimization, collaboration and the reasons that retailers should continue to select your brands over your competition. Communicate wins, be honest about misses and turn them into opportunities for further marketing and collaboration with your retail partners.
Internally, the post-program analysis can be used to measure the effectiveness of your advertising spend, justify or recruit further resources for future programs and help drive more predictable sales and volume revenues against the broader company goals.
