The Introduction

By:Giri Kumar May 23/2019

Consumer Packaged companies (CPG) have to deal with a lot of challenges owing to economic unpredictability, price sensibility, changing demographics, rise of offers and discounts and coupled with quick changing retail needs. The growth of leading CPG players is stagnant and there is a relentless competition as countless firms are wandering into the CPG and retail field. Subsequently, CPG companies are understanding that deep Analytical capabilities could be a key differentiator in this exceedingly competitive space. The utilization of Analytical tools, data, and system integration framework is encouraging CPG companies to boost the value of their investment and dive profoundly into consumer minds. Retailers and CPG firms encounters a large volume of data on a regular basis. The data offers a vast gamut of consumer information that can be utilized carefully to make strategic business decisions. A ton of CPG companies are utilizing Data and Analytics to encourage growth. Lets understand, what separates these companies apart and what are the basic for growth?

Identifying and gathering data

Data is all over the place. Identifying and dealing with the data is the initial step towards insights generation. Data resides in almost all the divisions in consumer and retail companies. Data can be sourced from customers, social media and through various other channels which bolster basic business decision-making. By consolidating data from different sources, businesses would most likely unlock a plenty of opportunities that will help them to staying ahead of their competition. However, CPG and Retail companies need to develop a proper process that would extract, clean and store the data before it is provided for Analysis.

Setting Up and managingthe IT infrastructure

The subsequent step in the wake of identifying the Data sources is to build up a solid IT foundation and operating model that would help in storing a huge volume of Data exuding from different sources. This requires close coordinated efforts with different teams within the organisation to safeguard the business requirements are effectively met. It requires time and substantial investments for the insights however the time spent on such activity is worth the wait. One thing that should be incorporated as an additional to this process is to outline a effective data governance and administration policy that would shield the priceless data from mala fide intentions

Utilising right analytical tools and techniques
Over the years we have gathered enough experience in Data and Analytics and therefore one can understand that, as Businesses transform into Data-Driven Enterprises, data technologies mapped with appropriate Data Strategies are needed to start delivering value. While Data and Analytics are extensively used to predict customer behavior in CPG and retail companies, the same can also be applied to achieve the following:

• • Trade Promotion Optimisation
• • Marketing Mix Modelling
• • Sales Forecasting
• • Sentiment Analysis
• • Distributor channel insight
• • Pricing and Promotion
• • Inventory optimization
• • Brand Positioning
• • Multi-Channel Advertising Analytics
• • Assortment Intelligence

To achieve the best results, all these would require different techniques such as market-basket analysis, clustering, sentiment analytics, business optimization, time-series forecasting, conjoint analysis, among others. To generate business value, you need a method thatcombines complex mathematics and creativity. This would necessitate organisations to leverage mature data models, KPIs, metrics, and visualization to deliver powerful insights.

Conclusion

The CPG industry has enormous opportunity to move forward and benefit from Data and Analytics. It impacts so many different aspects of the commercial process that they have an explosive multiplier effect on cost reductions and profits. Every area on the value chain, from manufacturing to supply chain to packaging, is benefitted by Data and analytics Solutions.The insights generated from all the models using different techniques will create a significant impact once the processes are streamlined and put into effective action. Data and analytics would help CPG companies understand how their customers are using their products and services, how their supply-chain operations are performing, how to manage inventory and workforce, and how to mitigate risk. Organizations must infuse analytics into decision-making in order to yield substantial results. A structured analytics-driven organization can help CPG and retail companies successfully undertake the journey from translating data into insights.

About the Author

Giri Kumar –
Senior Consultant- Data, Analytics & AI

With 15 years of experience, Giri Kumar is currently part of the core team and plays a pivotal role where he oversees the activities of the junior data analysts, ensuring proper execution of their duties, and alignment of activities with business’s overall vision and objectives. He has to also ensure that the data science department adopts the best in class processes and techniques for statistical analysis and modeling as well as leading the roll out of Big Data capabilities, consumer initiatives, analytic framework, and best practices within the department and the Data and Analytics department.In this capacity, Giri also ensures that the data scientist department is constantly building effective working relationships and building data-fuelled solutions that drive the business closer to its overall goals and objectives. Giri also provides mentorship and guidance to junior data analysts while simultaneously guaranteeing statistical integrity, accuracy, and adequacy within the department.