Making the Experience Easier
As findability and availability become the baseline for purchase, brand loyalty goes by the wayside. For CPGs, this poses new opportunities to attract new customers and build relationships to strengthen retention long after the crisis subsides.
Brands can foster consumer loyalty by becoming the go-to source for availability data. For example, adding a “where to buy” button to a brand’s website and strengthening search – both backed by real or near-real time local inventory data – will enable consumers to find what they need when they need it. Increasing the channel options beyond brick-and-mortar to include retailer websites, marketplaces and direct sales can provide consumers with more options to purchase.
Managing Inventory
CPGs can use AI and machine learning algorithms to optimize supply chain and dynamic inventory management to ensure products are on the physical and digital shelves with the most demand by leveraging consumer shopping behavior, search data and other dynamic demand predictors. For brands struggling to keep up with demand, offering replenishment timeframes or even an alternative product option, including a value brand or white-label brand made by the manufacturer may result in diminished sales in the short-term, but can increase brand affinity in the long run.
Building Consumer Trust
While the last decade has seen a shift toward healthy products across all consumer goods categories, COVID-19 is likely to add a new dimension to the needs related to product health and safety. While the pandemic has had fairly widespread global effect in its first round, future cases may be centralized in key hot spots. CPGs can create trust and ease consumers concerns over the safety of their products, especially food product, with supply chain transparency, ingredient information and readily-available consumer support.
Looking Ahead
The world will forever be impacted by this pandemic. New, digitally-engaged consumers will bring a different set of expectations and new opportunities for brands. For many CPGs, e-commerce has not been a primary driver of business, with their existing digital channels and operations not optimized for shift in demand. Now is the time for consumer goods companies to quickly seize the opportunity to become truly consumer-centric and build a scalable omnichannel presence.