The CPG industry has been slow when it comes to adopting new technologies and digital maturity, including data analytics and insight generation. Only about 42% of CPG companies were actively tracking analytics that could help digitally transform organizations to become more scalable.

As CPG companies are less agile than other industries, it becomes harder to achieve desired results, especially with fragmented decision-makers and lengthy processes involved in implementing technology. However, considering the changing needs of consumers, volatile markets, and scrambling companies looking forward to adapting newer technologies, it’s time to simplify the insights game so that it’s more accessible and implementable for companies.

What should CPG companies look to achieve to ensure wins?

Everything a CPG company does to win at sales falls into these three main categories:

Self Analysis 

Companies must understand where they stand concerning profits, competitors, and achievements to progress in the right direction.

End-Result

Companies must envision what they hope to achieve year after year. They need to understand their current positioning using data to estimate their projections to help them achieve their annual goals.

Roadmap

Organizations need to plan a strategic pathway toward achieving their goals. To execute this, they need a vision and an executable roadmap to help them achieve their goals over time.

KPIs for Insights Generation

For CPG companies, achieving certain KPIs is essential to understand their growth and revenue.

1. Margin improvements 
Incorporating technologies like Direct Store Delivery has allowed companies to reduce transactional intermediaries. It also helps companies to improve their margins on each product sold. Also, a reduced workforce means a general decrease in overheads for the company.

2. Cost reduction 
CPG companies with a higher technological adoption rate have managed to reduce their overhead costs with planning and execution. For instance, companies that track seasonal sales data can stock only the required quantities in warehouses effectively. It helps them save on inventory, warehousing, and production costs, thereby helping them with cost reductions.

3. Returns Handling
For the food and beverage industry, the reasons for returns mostly revolve around packaging issues, handling mishaps, and temperature-controlled storage for specific products. It’s also the highest contributor to loss in the industry. Any damage to the packaging or closer to the expiry date means products are deemed unusable and wasted. With data, companies can stock only products that will sell within the stipulated time. It reduces returns and allows brands to handle stocks that are sure to sell.

4. Lines per Call
CPG Manufacturing companies associate Lines per Call (LPC) with their sales. The more lines a seller acquires during a visit, their sales volumes are better. Higher sales volumes meant improved profitability through increased sales.

5. Market Share and Growth
Understanding how products have grown in some markets is attributed to market share. How these products grow in use year on year is their market growth. These measures captured over 12 months ensure optimal data attributing to effective share and surge in the market.

6. Value on Outstanding Orders 
Businesses must track outstanding payments and credit statements to stay ahead of the competition while maintaining a healthy profit and loss statement. Striking a healthy balance and charting out defined rules is essential for the welfare of the business.

Some of the leading CPG players consider more parameters to assess their progress. As a business, you need to identify specific parameters that would work for your business. Every business is unique and requires different strategies for growth. Striking the right balance between deriving insights and achieving growth is essential to thriving.

Who benefits from CPG Data Analytics the most?

Data shows that moderate CPG users benefited greatly until a few years ago. However, the heavy CPG users have been showing sustained growth and performance over time because of their early investment in data and integration into their existing system.

Heavy users in CPG saw the benefits of Insights and Analytics in their metrics. It has further pushed them to invest in insight generation technologies which helped them develop a future-ready system. It improved productivity, efficiency, cash positiveness, and cost-effectiveness in operations.

What is the way forward?

A couple of years ago, companies used to focus majorly on core areas. Adopting automation was only to achieve performance and improve the quality of delivered tasks. The dawn of 2015 saw an explosion in marketing practices and social media. Also, because most companies had moved to the agile methodology by 2015, they were willing to deviate their focus from core areas because the business demanded it.

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Conclusion

The analytics market is said to reach USD 33.3 Billion by 2025. This data proves that companies look forward to achieving sustainability through business intelligence solutions like Ivy Insights, which would help them achieve great results and growth.

Incorporating advanced technologies can improve their speedy insight generation efficiencies, allowing stakeholders and decision-makers to make insights-driven decisions with minimal effort. By doing these things, companies stand a better chance of winning profits.

Are you looking for a unified platform that integrates with your distribution management system software or inventory management software? Book a Demo with us!