From Insights to Retail Wins: Brand Solutions that are Delivering in Grocery

From Insights to Retail Wins:
Brand Solutions that are Delivering in Grocery

To gain an insider’s view on the strategic approaches needed to drive exceptional results in today’s fast-evolving Food/Grocery channel, we sat down with MPG EVP Chris Skyers, a highly recognized industry thought leader. With his unyielding focus on the consumer, Chris has led high-impact teams and strategies for Shoprite, Price Rite, The Fresh Grocer, and Dearborn Market. As Vice President of Wakefern’s Own Brands, he spearheaded the successful overhaul of ShopRite private label through the creation of Basket Bowl and Paperbird, and led the reinvention of the organization’s better-for-you brand, Wholesome Pantry. At MPG, Chris has been instrumental in building and shaping MPG’s Food Team to provide high-value solutions delivering positive results for brands in this complex channel.

Chris, what’s needed for success in this channel?

The Food/Grocery landscape is transforming very quickly, so it really comes down to keenly understanding the needs of individual retailers and their customers, creating connected omnichannel strategies based on actionable insights, and of course, executional excellence.

In this channel, it’s critical to remember that one size doesn’t fit all, given its uniquely splintered nature. Customization and tailored marketing strategies are critical to success. Understanding the nuances of national, regional, and local retailers is essential. To that end, our people have deep experience on both sides of the desk, and we have continued to aggressively expand our team to grow brands at 146+ retailers and distributors. We’ve aligned our structure to that of our CPG partners: Regional, Strategic Food, and National Food. And we are absolutely passionate about having individual teams dedicated to each retailer; teams that can carefully mine retailer-specific data for the insights needed to succeed there. Finding the right talent mix by client and by retailer is key in this fragmented channel. We carefully curate a mix that understands the client, the specific retailer, and the consumers who shop there.

Can you talk a little more about the expanding role of analytics, given the ongoing consumer shift to online purchasing?

The key for any supplier is having a maniacal focus on the shopper through actionable analytics. With retail media rapidly evolving in this channel, it’s important for brands to be able to get their arms around the mountain of granular first-party data that’s becoming available. If you’re not tailoring your messaging and promotions, you’re hurting the likelihood of conversion and customer loyalty. One of MPG’s biggest differentiators is the deep analytic expertise we have dedicated to our Food & Grocery business. With over 115 years of combined experience in CPG categories, our Food Insights & Analytics team leverages multi-sourced data to understand what's driving business at a category, channel, and retailer level. These insights allow us to craft strong sell-in stories and highly targeted and effective retail activation strategies across digital and in-store.

What’s the right mix of digital vs. in-store?

You want to ensure there's a clear line of sight to the consumer for every dollar spent. This requires balancing eCommerce growth with appropriate trade spend and partnering with retailers to drive profitability and consumer satisfaction. The goal should be to create cohesive strategies where digital complements in-store experiences, ensuring a seamless shopping experience.

Digital is playing a significant and growing role in driving not only online sales but also in-store purchases. We use a number of methods to understand how digital interactions may be driving in-store purchases, such as tracking online-to-offline conversions and analyzing consumer behavior data. Make sure you’re integrating your digital tactics with what’s happening in the physical store. This can be achieved, for example, by ensuring inventory visibility online, providing options for click-and-collect services, and using mobile apps for in-store navigation and self-checkout. The key is to offer a consistent and convenient shopping experience, where customers can easily transition from online research to physical purchase with minimal friction. Developing a seamless shopping experience across all channels — online, mobile, and in-store — is vital. Integrate online and offline. Offer in-store pick-up for online purchases. Drive traffic to both your physical stores and online platforms using social media campaigns. And it should go without saying: Ensure your brand message is consistent across all touchpoints.