CRM | Challenges facing the Consumer Goods industry
| Reducing margins, increasingly lower brand awareness, increased regularity of promotional activities and concentration of the retail trade are amongst the issues businesses in the consumer goods industry are confronted with on a daily basis. Retailing trade within complex structures There is another customer between consumer goods manufacturers and their end customers: retail trade. It does not just represent the slender interface to the consumer - it is also the point at which important information converges, information to which the manufacturer does not have easy access. The different interests do not make interaction any easier: Manufacturers want good listings, promotions at Point-of-Sale and reasonable pricing. In the 1:N relation to industry, retailers have balanced product ranges and the price war with their own competitors on their mind. |
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"We opted for update because the solution is flexible enough to implement processes, and hence the project as a whole, extremely quickly – are we are also in the position to configure processes such that they match our expectations. An important criterion in our decision-making process was the European presence of update and the provision of support in those countries." (Paul Salemans, Project Manager, Pernod Ricard in Europe)
The path to information is a long one
In order to optimise sales and production planning, the fast moving consumer goods industry needs a broad range of information: Just how well are products going down in certain regions and markets? Why is a product not on the shelf? How does retail advertising affect revenue? You generally need to find the answers to these and many other questions yourself.
Close customer relationships
In Germany the situation in the consumer goods industry has peaked. 90% of manufacturer turnover is achieved with the five top customers - EDEKA, REWE, METRO, MARKANT and Tengelmann. The situation is similar in other countries and is also increasing in Eastern Europe. Customer relationships with trade organisations are therefore crucial. "Consumer businesses have adapted CRM technologies comparatively slowly. Use of solutions that ease working with customer-oriented processes only applied to isolated divisions or departments. As a consequence, CRM efforts remain disparate and optimisation potential lies unaddressed", states the Gartner Market Research Institute in a study on CRM in the consumer goods sector.
With our CRM solution you will achieve quick recovery and precise evaluation of your customer relations data. You will also receive support for your entire CRM strategy.
