🎯 How do you turn Target’s improving momentum into a bigger growth opportunity for your brand? MPG’s latest OmniPulse report takes a closer look at what is changing at Target, where progress is showing up, and what could shape the retailer’s next leg of growth. 🎥 Today, MPG InsightsLab’s Trevor Finc, MBA breaks down what brand suppliers should be watching, including: ➡️ What Target’s latest performance says about the progress of its turnaround ➡️ How Target is rethinking assortment and space to give guests more reasons to choose the retailer ➡️ Where differentiation, value, and execution are coming together, and what that could mean for brands 🔍 Want a deeper look at what these findings could mean for your Target strategy? Connect with Trevor and the MPG InsightsLab team to explore the opportunities most relevant to your category and business. ✨ Each quarter, the MPG OmniPulse: Quarterly Retail Insights report goes beyond a trend recap, diving into shopper shifts, retailer dynamics, and the biggest growth opportunities ahead. Trevor Finc, InsightsLab, at Market Performance Group.

AI isn’t creating competitive advantage. Better decisions are. Teams are drafting content, summarizing research, tracking competitors, and building scenarios faster than ever. But speed alone is not the advantage. The value is whether that speed leads to better decisions and stronger business outcomes. That’s the progression brands need to make: from activity, to productivity, to decision advantage. Inside the business, they need to improve how work gets done and decisions get made. In the market, they need data, content, evidence, and performance signals that AI systems can understand and act on. Miss either side, and the advantage breaks down. A faster organization with disconnected market signals can still lose visibility. A brand with strong signals but a fragmented operating model will struggle to act on them. Many companies still haven’t moved much beyond activity. Teams are applying AI in different ways, without a shared view of which use cases matter most, who owns the decisions, or how the work connects to business performance. That’s where activity needs to turn into productivity. A good place to start is by mapping AI to a few clear jobs: research, decide, execute, and review. That shifts the conversation from tools to where AI can create real business value. And it means being clear about where AI should create speed and where human judgment still has to lead. AI is well suited to high-volume work that can be checked and corrected. Competitive monitoring, research, retailer tracking, scenario development, and content development can all move faster with the right oversight. Here’s what this can look like in practice. Recently, a leading men’s personal care brand used AI-powered analysis, guided by ecommerce and retail expertise, to benchmark its Walmart.com PDPs against two direct competitors across ten quality dimensions. The brand led on certifications and review volume, but its top SKUs lacked product video, a gap its closest competitor had already closed. Armed with that quantified finding, rather than a general sense that “content could be better,” the team prioritized video for its five highest-traffic listings this quarter, a targeted fix that could have taken weeks to surface through an unaided manual audit. And that gets to an important point. Many decisions still require experienced human judgment and clear ownership. Scientific claims, regulatory responses, sourcing standards, pricing moves, and the promises a brand makes to consumers cannot be left to an unnamed system. AI can strengthen the inputs, but someone with the right expertise still has to make and own the call. We’re helping many clients map those choices: where AI can accelerate the work, where judgment must stay in human hands, and what safeguards are needed to turn experimentation into a repeatable capability. That map should draw a clear line. AI can run high-volume, reversible tasks with human oversight. It can support analysis and drafting where an experienced person still makes the call. When brand, scientific, legal, or ethical accountability is at stake, human judgment stays in charge. That’s where productivity becomes decision advantage. Start with one 90-day move: accelerate one workstream, name the human checkpoint, and identify one judgment call you will deliberately protect. But the operating model is only half the equation. AI search systems, shopping agents, and retailer models are reading product data, claims, evidence, availability, shopper relevance, and operational performance. If those signals are inconsistent across the organization, the brand becomes harder to understand, recommend, and support. That is the advantage most brands are missing: a stronger operating model inside the company and one clear, connected brand truth in the market. The companies that win won’t be the ones using the most AI. They’ll be the ones making better decisions because of it, and turning those decisions into stronger execution. Jason Reiser is Chief Executive Officer, Market Performance Group

There was a time when a supplier could walk into a retailer meeting with a strong story, a few solid charts, and a shelf recommendation that looked good on paper and leave feeling pretty good about the conversation. Those days are over. Retailers are now navigating changing shopper habits, faster merchandising timelines, nonstop digital commerce, and growing pressure to make smarter, faster decisions. That has fundamentally changed what they need from suppliers. Category leadership is no longer just about shelf layout or showing up for a line review. It is about helping retailers grow the category in ways that are measurable, executable, and relevant across the entire shopper journey. The pressure is higher because the shopper path is more fragmented than ever. Shoppers move fluidly across physical stores, retailer apps, search, social platforms, and digital marketplaces, often within the same purchase cycle. Digital behavior is now embedded even in everyday categories, which changes what retailers need from suppliers. At the same time, many consumer products companies are operating in a tighter growth environment, with price carrying more of the load than volume in many categories. That makes every assortment decision, modular change, and merchandising investment more important. Growth is harder to come by, so suppliers need a clearer point of view and a stronger case for action to stay relevant. I’ve seen that evolution from both sides of the table, and our Deep Dive Category advisory team sees it every day across retailers and categories. One thing is clear: the brands creating the most value today are the ones that turn category thinking into real-world execution. They aren’t just bringing recommendations. They’re bringing a stronger point of view, better proof, and a clearer path to action. That’s what merchants are looking for. In a tougher market, that can make a real difference in growth and credibility. And this is where many brands lose ground. Even the right recommendation can stall if the support behind it is inconsistent. The modular strategy may be right, but the submission is late. The analytics may be sound, but the digital shelf does not align with the in-store story. The reset happens, but the follow-through is uneven. When any one of those breaks down, the gap becomes the story, and credibility starts to slip. Retailers increasingly see disconnected execution as a sign of organizational misalignment, not isolated mistakes. That’s why the strongest brands are approaching category captaincy differently now. They’re treating it less like a presentation and more like a business capability. It starts with an unbiased, shopper-led story that is build a foundation of stronger first-party insights and omnichannel analytics, carried through into assortment strategy, modular development, digital shelf health, and post-reset follow-through – a full cycle process. Put simply, the category story has to work everywhere the shopper sees it. If it only works in one place, it’s not enough. Retailers are not simply evaluating products anymore. They are evaluating which suppliers can help drive smarter category decisions and execute them consistently across channels. That is the new category conversation. The question is whether brands are still preparing for the old one or ready to lead the one retailers are having now. Jason Reiser is Chief Executive Officer, Market Performance Group

If you sell on Amazon as a 3rd party (3P) seller through the Amazon Marketplace, you know the drill. Build the listing, dial in ads, earn reviews, watch velocity climb, and think you’ve cracked it. And then your Amazon honeymoon is over. Growth slows, costs rise, and the questions start to come: Should I stay in the Amazon Marketplace and keep trying to scale as a 3P seller? Or would I be better off on as a 1st party (1P) direct supplier to Amazon, where Amazon buys inventory directly from me? Would the 1P model, where inventory becomes PO-driven and Amazon owns the retail rules day to day, even work for me? Yes, 1P can unlock purchase orders that move numbers. But it also comes with a different operating cadence: forecasting, purchase order cycles, compliance, chargebacks, and extending payment terms in a way that turns sporadic volume into consistent, scalable revenue. Here’s the reality: The capabilities that got you traction in 3P are not the ones that win in 1P. In 3P, you can outwork the system with content, conversion, and media. In 1P, you win with operational discipline. But if all of that still sounds like the “promised land” and fits your model, the next question arises: How do I even get an invitation to become a 1P vendor to Amazon? There is a third way, and what I’ll call democratizing 1P: creating a practical path to vendor-style scale without waiting for Amazon to tap you on the shoulder, and without rebuilding your company into a wholesale operations and finance organization overnight. So what does that look like? Brands are using operating partners who already have vendor-grade infrastructure and established 1P relationships, and can selectively bring new assortment into that 1P motion. Product gets produced, staged and stored in the right places, and positioned to support sell-through. The partner runs the vendor cadence day to day (forecasting, POs, compliance, chargebacks). You keep your team focused on product and demand. The other piece is capital, and it’s not optional. In 1P, payment terms can stretch 60 to 90 days, while inventory is funded months ahead. For a brand growing 40% year over year, that timing gap can strangle cash flow. Capital support matters because it bridges that gap so growth isn’t limited by balance sheet timing. One important nuance: this isn’t automatically “better” for every brand. Some will do better under 3P. Others under 1P. The right answer is math, not emotion: margin structure, ad efficiency, cost-to-serve, returns and chargebacks, and what happens to total contribution when you shift models. Quick fit checklist. You’re a stronger candidate for a partner-enabled 1P path if you have proven velocity, a SKU set that can support forecasting and wholesale cadence, enough margin to absorb wholesale terms, and a real constraint (ops bandwidth, vendor readiness, or capital timing) blocking the next stage of scale. In some cases, brands are leveraging partners (including firms like MPG) to pressure-test 3P vs. 1P vs. hybrid models and to fill the operational gaps that often stall progress – such as vendor cadence, supply chain and compliance requirements, warehousing and inventory flow, and the working capital constraints created by extended payment terms. And for anyone who assumes 1P is automatically a margin killer, it’s more nuanced than the hot takes suggest. One industry survey found 56% of surveyed vendors reported profit margins with Amazon that were equal to or above those with other retailers. So, now that the honeymoon is over, are you trying to scale Amazon on a model that still fits the business you’re building, or are you forcing a structure that’s quietly capping your growth? Jason Reiser is Chief Executive Officer, Market Performance Group

Last issue, we talked about agentic commerce and why it’s shrinking the shelf. When AI becomes the front door to shopping, it doesn’t just recommend. It narrows brand options, builds carts, and can complete checkout. Fewer options means the basics matter more than ever, because “not recommended” becomes a sales problem. That was the downstream change.  Today, we’re focusing upstream. Before an agent can recommend anything, influence has to occur. And the consumer influence system that brands have depended on for years has been rewired. There’s a new consumer influence system. Individuals create the proof, platforms distribute it, and LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overview turn it into a shortlist of what gets trusted, considered, and bought.  Let’s start with the proof layer: consumer and creator content. Reviews. TikTok demos. YouTube explainers. Reddit threads. Group chat screenshots. All of it is raw material shoppers use to decide.  Then there’s distribution. Commerce moved into feeds and creator ecosystems. Influence became infrastructure. The global creator economy is projected to grow from $191B in 2025 to $528.39B by 2030. TikTok Shop had about 2.3M active affiliates in the U.S. as of February 2026. On Black Friday, 10 million affiliate videos were posted. That’s a machine at scale. There are 246 million U.S. social media users, more than half of whom have made influencer-inspired purchases.  But now, add the filter layer. This is where the game changes.  LLMs don’t just surface information. They compress it. We’re moving from keywords to conversation, from lists of links to a shortlist and a recommendation. “Best gluten-free chicken recipe for guests” becomes “my in-laws are here, one is gluten-free, and I need to impress them.” The system reads across sources and gives a recommendation. Sometimes it drives a click; sometimes not. Either way, the influence still happens.  That’s why measurement starts to break down. Not so long ago, influence drove a click, and the click was your proof. In this world, intent can be satisfied before the click, which means decisions can get shaped without a visit to your page. And if you’re not present in the inputs the LLM pulls from, you don’t just lose share of voice. You lose share of consideration.  So how do you activate this system without chasing every shiny object?  First, acknowledge that consumer engagement is becoming human as LLMs become a dominant form of influence. Then determine how your brand can create authentic conversations organically. Not slogans. Truth. Use cases. Tradeoffs. Who it’s for, and who it’s not for. If you don’t define that in the places where people discuss the category, the category will define it for you.  Second, earn presence where the category gets decided. Reviews need a strategy. Creator partnerships need to be utility-driven, not just reach-driven. Community participation needs a point of view and expertise, not brand speak.  Third, modernize measurement. If you can’t see how often you show up in LLM recommendation sets for the category questions you should own, you’re flying blind. The metric isn’t just clicks. It’s share of shortlist.  We’re already working with brands on exactly this: Mapping the category questions that matter, determining how to improve share of shortlist, and building a repeatable cadence to keep it moving.  I leave you with this. When a shopper asks the question you should own, are you influencing what the market (and the model) says back, or are you hoping your ad shows up after the decision is already made?  Time to build the influence engine that earns visibility before the click, in the shortlist, and at the point of purchase.  Jason Reiser is Chief Executive Officer, Market Performance Group

Industry leader brings deep commercial and retail experience to accelerate client growth HOLMDEL, NJ — April 13, 2026 — Market Performance Group (MPG), a leading omnichannel commerce agency delivering integrated commercial solutions that accelerate profitable brand growth, today announced that Michael Walton has joined the company as President and Chief Commercial Officer, reporting to Chief Executive Officer Jason Reiser. In this role, Walton will lead Omnichannel Commerce, Growth Strategy & Solutions, Retail Insights, and Strategic Intelligence. These practices, which are central to how MPG helps clients drive growth, will continue under their current strong leadership. Walton brings exceptional depth and breadth of commercial leadership experience, with experience at Sam’s Club, including headquarters and in-club roles, and senior leadership roles across Dole Packaged Foods, Unilever, and Elida Beauty (now Evermark). Given his expertise across both retailer and brand organizations, he brings a deep understanding of where the most meaningful growth opportunities exist, how to focus on the priorities that matter most, and how to translate commercial strategy into growth. “Michael is a highly regarded industry leader whose depth of commercial experience and retail perspective will bring immediate impact to how we help clients identify and capture growth opportunities in an increasingly complex market,” said Reiser. “He brings sharp commercial judgment, a clear understanding of where growth can be created, and the kind of perspective that helps clients move with focus and confidence. His appointment reflects our continued investment in the talent, expertise, and capabilities needed to help clients win in a dynamic retail environment.” “I’m excited to join MPG and to work alongside high-performing, experienced teams that are deeply committed to helping clients grow,” said Walton. “There is a real opportunity ahead, and I’m looking forward to helping clients unlock growth in meaningful ways.”

Pacvue’s commerce operating system enables MPG to advance its operating model across retail media, ecommerce operations, and performance analytics Pacvue, a leader in AI-powered commerce and retail media technology, and Market Performance Group (MPG), a leading omnichannel commerce agency accelerating profitable brand growth with end-to-end solutions, today announced an expanded strategic partnership designed to deliver a more unified, data-driven approach to commerce, and advance MPG’s integrated commerce operating model.    As part of this expansion, MPG is deepening its integration of Pacvue across its broader commerce infrastructure, connecting retail media, ecommerce operations, and performance analytics into a more integrated and scalable system for its clients. This builds on the companies’ longstanding relationship and reflects a shared commitment to eliminating silos across the commerce lifecycle.    As retail media and ecommerce operations become increasingly fragmented, brands and agencies face growing pressure to deliver a more connected, data-driven approach that enables brands to move faster, make better decisions, and more directly tie media investment to business outcomes. Pacvue enables this shift by unifying data, automation, and measurement in a single platform, empowering MPG to operationalize a more connected commerce strategy at scale.    By leveraging a unified platform approach, MPG enhances visibility across channels, accelerates optimization cycles, and improves the ability to translate insights into action, ultimately driving stronger, more measurable growth for its clients.    “This is about fundamentally improving how we drive growth for our clients,” said Danny Silverman , EVP of Digital Commerce at Market Performance Group. “Commerce today requires media, operations, and analytics to work as one system. By advancing a more integrated model, we are giving our clients faster access to actionable insights, greater operational efficiency, and a clearer connection between investment and results across major retail media ecosystems, including Amazon.”    The expanded partnership also strengthens MPG’s ability to leverage AI-driven automation, real-time data, and advanced analytics to improve performance across the full commerce funnel, from media execution to retail outcomes.    As part of this collaboration, MPG and Pacvue have introduced enhanced mobile capabilities that allow teams to monitor and act on performance in real time. This increased accessibility enables faster decision-making and greater agility in managing campaigns and commerce operations.    “MPG’s expansion with Pacvue reflects a broader shift toward integrated commerce, where media, operations, and analytics work together in one system,” said Melissa Burdick, President and Co-Founder of Pacvue. “We’re proud to power that transformation with technology that helps teams move faster, operate more efficiently, and drive stronger business outcomes.”    This partnership represents a continued investment in building a more connected, AI-enabled commerce ecosystem, designed to help brands navigate complexity and unlock more efficient, profitable growth.    About Pacvue Pacvue is the only fully integrated Commerce Operating System that seamlessly unifies retail media, commerce management, and advanced measurement to power growth across 100+ global marketplaces, including Amazon, Walmart, Target and Instacart. Fueled by industry-leading AI technology, real-time data, and actionable insights, Pacvue’s first-to-market platform enables over 70,000 brands and agencies to maximize advertising performance, increase profitability, drive incrementality, capture market share, and expand their reach throughout the commerce universe – all from a single mission control. As of 2025, Pacvue powers 12% of total retail media ad spend worldwide. Leveraging the combined strengths of Pacvue’s enterprise suite and Helium 10’s SMB solutions, Pacvue delivers the industry’s most comprehensive platform for businesses of all sizes. To learn more about Pacvue capabilities, visit www.pacvue.com .    About Market Performance Group Market Performance Group (MPG) is a leading omnichannel commerce agency delivering end-to-end commerce solutions, from strategy to reality, that accelerate profitable brand growth. MPG’s team—industry leaders from top retailers, CPGs, and digital platforms—connects brands with consumers across the full funnel commerce landscape, delivering right-sized strategies, strategic go-to-market plans, advanced analytics, and deep retailer relationships for exceptional results.

If your ecommerce plan still assumes the shopper will land on your product page, you’re betting on a path to purchase that’s getting shorter by the day. Up until recently, digital commerce was predictable. Search, browse, product page, cart, checkout. If you controlled the shelf and the story, you had a fighting chance. Welcome to agentic commerce, where AI doesn’t just recommend. It curates options, builds carts, and is starting to complete checkout. More consumers are beginning their shopping inside AI experiences that feel less like search and more like a conversation, and more of those conversations are ending in transactions. Instead of using keywords, shoppers describe real situations in natural language: “What’s a low sugar electrolyte for workouts?” “What’s a detergent for sensitive skin?” AI interprets the context, narrows options, and recommends a small set or single best answer. And in some cases, can execute the purchase without the shopper ever visiting a website. This isn’t creeping in slowly. AI adoption has reached roughly 800 million global users in just three years , outpacing the internet’s early curve. At the same time, mobile commerce and AI engagement are no longer siloed: nearly two-thirds of purchases now occur on mobile devices, over one-third of adults report having used AI guidance while shopping, and trust in agent-led purchasing is high among consumers who engage. Here’s why this matters for brands. When AI surfaces fewer options, visibility stops being about winning a page and starts being about being understood in a structured, machine-readable way. We humans tolerate messiness. A shopper might squint at an image, guess a size, shrug at a slightly wrong title, and still buy. Agents don’t. If availability is wrong, pricing is messy, attributes are incomplete, or item setup is stale, you don’t just lose conversion. You risk not being recommended at all. That’s the shift. This isn’t a lower rank problem. It’s a visibility problem. You’re competing to even make the cut. And the pipes are getting built to make this mainstream. OpenAI and Stripe introduced the Agentic Commerce Protocol, and Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol, designed to connect agent driven discovery to cart, checkout, and post purchase workflows without forcing retailers to rebuild their stacks. Retailers are rolling out their own agentic experiences too. Amazon has Rufus inside the Amazon Shopping app. Walmart and Target have each partnered with OpenAI to enable shopping experiences inside ChatGPT. Different wrappers, same direction: The agent is becoming a real gatekeeper, influencing what makes it into the cart, and sometimes completing the purchase. Here’s what it looks like when it works. A clean beauty brand partner applied AI forward practices and saw a 101% sales increase on a hero bundle by upgrading imagery, refining backend data, rewriting copy, and updating content regularly. Not glamorous. Very effective. When content is built to be interpreted cleanly and kept current, performance follows. So where should you start, without boiling the ocean? Pick a handful of SKUs and the missions they should win: Replenishment, routine personal care and wellness, meal planning and pantry building, seasonal needs. Then get ruthless about pack and variant logic, decision attributes, taxonomy mapping, item content syndication, and governance that keeps your brand source of truth aligned with retailer item setup. Here’s the question I leave you with. If a shopper describes the consumer need-state you should own, in plain language, will your product even be eligible to show up as the answer? Because in an agent-driven world, you’re either in the set, or you’re not in the conversation at all. Time to tighten up your item discoverability for agentic commerce. Jason Reiser is Chief Executive Officer, Market Performance Group

At MPG, we are driven by our commitment to provide you with extraordinary talent – talent who continue to raise the bar, going above and beyond to deliver exceptional performance. Working as OneMPG, they provide our clients with the expertise and unrelenting dedication they can count on. Please join us in celebrating our MPG Inspirational Performance Award winners. We are so grateful to have these amazing professionals on our team, and we hope you are, too! And please extend a special congratulations to CPG by MPG’s Liz Bakken, recipient of the annual Rhonda A. Johnson Inspirational Performance Award, presented in honor of our dear friend and colleague, in honor of our dear friend and colleague, who always brought incredible passion, commitment, and the highest levels of performance to her clients.

New offering helps brands, retailers recover value, improve efficiency, and strengthen compliance HOLMDEL, NJ and SOUTHINGTON, CT – February 12, 2026  – Market Performance Group (MPG), a leading omnichannel commerce agency, and Reverse Solutions, a leader in returns management and sustainable product recovery, today announced a strategic partnership that expands MPG’s Retail Logistics offering with end-to-end reverse logistics and product recovery support. Together, the companies will deliver a comprehensive, data-driven solution that helps brands and retailers recover lost value, improve operational efficiency, and enhance compliance across the supply chain. The partnership brings together Reverse Solutions’ deep expertise in returns management, refurbishment, recommerce, and zero-waste recovery with MPG’s full-funnel commercial capabilities, including right-sized strategies, strategic go-to-market plans, advanced analytics, and deep retailer relationships, said Tom Rinck, SVP – New Business Development. Returns, overstocks, damages, and non-compliant product movement represent a significant financial and operational blind spot for many organizations. This partnership extends capabilities upstream, helping clients not only manage returns efficiently, but also prevent future losses through smarter go-to-market strategies and stronger retail execution. “Brands and retailers are under constant pressure to protect margin while meeting compliance requirements and keeping product moving,” said Jason Henney, General Manager – Business Development. “By pairing MPG’s Order-to-Cash and Retail Logistics execution with Reverse Solutions’ proven returns and recovery capabilities, clients gain a clearer view of where value is leaking, plus a practical path to recover it and reduce repeat issues across the retail network.” With returns volumes rising and retailer requirements continuing to evolve, coordinated execution across forward and reverse flows has become increasingly critical. Market Performance Group offers end-to-end Order-to-Cash and Retail Logistics services tailored for today’s brands and retailers. MPG’s experienced team delivers seamless execution across 150+ leading retail partners, including Walmart, Target, Amazon, and major grocery and drug chains. From order management and retailer EDI to AR and deduction recovery, MPG provides comprehensive supply chain management solutions, including warehousing, transportation, inventory management, and order fulfillment, so every step of the logistics process is covered. About Market Performance Group Market Performance Group is a leading omnichannel commerce agency delivering integrated commercial solutions that accelerate profitable brand growth. MPG’s team—industry leaders from top retailers, CPGs, and digital platforms—connects brands with consumers across the full funnel commerce landscape, delivering right-sized strategies, strategic go-to-market plans, advanced analytics, and deep retailer relationships for exceptional results. MPG delivers strategic and executional excellence across the omnichannel path to purchase with end-to-end capabilities that include Strategic Consulting, Omnichannel Commerce, Marketing + Communication, Analytics + Insights, and Order-to-Cash and Retail Logistics. About Reverse Solutions Founded in 2001, Reverse Solutions is a full-service reverse logistics provider specializing in returns management, refurbishment, recommerce, warehousing, and zero-waste recovery solutions. For more information, visit: https://www.reversesolutions.com .

Remember how Mondays used to start? Walmart’s weekly Beats Report would hit your inbox, and you held your breath. If your item price had been beaten somewhere else, you knew what came next: price-protection conversations, maybe an unplanned Rollback, and an awkward huddle with finance. As a Walmart buyer, I watched that same ritual play out with every vendor. Back then, the week had a tempo. Today, the clock never stops. Sophisticated AI price monitoring and Amazon’s algorithm have turned a weekly pulse into a live wire. There’s no hiding, no pause button. A single low price anywhere can echo everywhere. Amazon isn’t just comparing UPCs. It matches by price per unit across families, sizes, and formats. If it’s published, assume it’s visible. That’s how a weekend deal becomes the market price by Tuesday—and why frequent price promotions can punch holes in price integrity that take weeks to close. Feeling pressed? You’re not alone. Across categories, manufacturers say their number one pain point is maintaining price integrity across channels. Transparency, algorithmic matching, and relentless promotions are pulling prices lower, and keeping them there. The ripple effects are real: Margin erosion, brand dilution strained retailer relationships. Add third-party sellers and it’s no surprise that even strong brands struggle to hold the line. Our first instinct? Fight price with price. But that sprint ends painfully. Undisciplined promotions, club packs without guardrails, and siloed, account-by-account decisions only fuel the fire. Decisions made for one account trigger price cuts in others. Swapping counts without changing consumer value doesn’t fool unit-level matching. And single-use promo codes? They get scraped and spread, with leaks everywhere. Those old “configuration tricks”? They rarely work now. So how do you win? Not by chasing price drops. Instead, rebuild discipline in an always-on marketplace. Leaders now treat price integrity as a capability, not a reaction. It’s part of their operating system—governed, data-driven, and strategically aligned. They’re asking new questions: Who owns price in a transparent marketplace? How do we align Sales, Marketing, and Finance when one decision ripples everywhere? How should our assortment, price pack architecture, and promotional design evolve to defend value? These are complex questions, with no one-size-fits-all answer. We’re helping many brands modernize MAP enforcement, rebuild governance, and protect brand equity in an AI-driven marketplace. Quick example. A mid-size health and wellness brand recently faced significant marketplace price erosion, hurting margin and retailer trust. By uncovering root causes of compression and defining targeted actions, they’ve begun regaining control of their narrative and profitability. They’re not done, but that clarity around the drivers, and a  roadmap to address them, has already put them on stronger footing. Price integrity isn’t about being the lowest. It’s about being the clearest and most consistent. Shoppers reward that. Retailers appreciate it. Your P&L depends on it. And if you miss those Monday Beats, think of it this way: They once told you where you stood after a weekend; today the feed updates every hour. The principle is the same. You may not beat the algorithm, but you can protect your brand. Those who listen and act with discipline will stay in rhythm with the market. As for the rest? The beat moves on without them. Jason Reiser is Chief Executive Officer, Market Performance Group

Fresh data signals the Grocery channel is holding its ground: Trips are improving,and promotions are helping steady unit performance. According to new findings from the MPG OmniPulse Q2 Retail Insights report, Grocery’s resilience is clear, but so is the pressure from leakage into Club, Mass, and Online. Today, MPG InsightsLab Sr. Director Lucretia Nesbitt shares a quick top line on: Where trip momentum is building across formats What stabilizing units and promotions hint at for the aisle How value, regional, and fresh-focused banners are carving out momentum Which core trip drivers deserve protection in your portfolio, and where can you recapture leakage to other channels? Connect with MPG InsightsLab Lucretia Nesbitt and Grocery Commerce GM Chris Skyers for retailer-specific plans that turn insights into your category play for greater share of wallet. Our InsightsLab team goes far beyond retail analysis, combining world-class expertise with robust data sources and proprietary tools to turn signals into actions that accelerate growth. Lucretia Nesbitt is Sr. Director and Head of InsightsLab for Grocery at MPG. She joined MPG in 2025 coming from NielsenIQ. Lucretia i s skilled at leveraging marketplace intelligence and cutting-edge solutions to inform business strategy, strengthen customer relationships, and uncover growth opportunities.