The Promotion Optimization Institute Releases 2017 Vendor Panorama for Retail Execution and Monitoring in Consumer Goods and Identifies Best-in-Class Vendors

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POI

Jul 18, 2017, 03:00 ET


Wyckoff, New Jersey (PRWEB) July 18, 2017 -- The Promotion Optimization Institute (POI), the leading resource for trade marketing and merchandising executives, today released its 2017 Vendor Panorama for Retail Execution and Monitoring in Consumer Goods, a detailed analysis of the retail execution market and the technology vendors that support it. The POI Vendor Panorama also identified 17 best in class vendors across 12 functional areas that are helping retailer and CPG executives improve their in store execution. The 2017 POI best-in-class vendors include Accenture CAS, Accenture News Page, Asseco, Ivy Solutions, Kantar Retail, SAP, Spring Mobile and StayinFront.

POI designed the Vendor Panorama for Retail Execution and Monitoring in Consumer Goods to help consumer goods companies and their distribution partners execute at the individual store level because if the product is not available, merchandised correctly, and promoted effectively, the consumer will likely purchase from a competitor.

“I’m always amazed at the diversity of geographic coverage and depth of expertise in the retail execution and monitoring space,” said Dale Hagemeyer, Partner, Promotion Optimization Institute. ”There really is an option and means of delivering the technology that will meet every need. Beyond that, we recommend that consumer goods manufacturers focus on the analytical capabilities that can deliver insights, both connected and disconnected, for field sales personnel while at the store. Additionally, we see tremendous power in the 'sell more' capabilities such as gamification, social selling, image recognition and virtual reality that can drive competitive advantage in today’s marketplace.”

The 2017 Vendor Panorama utilizes the data and insights from the POI 2016-2017 POI TPx and Retail Execution Survey by identifying where consumer goods manufacturers are succeeding and struggling in the promotion and distribution of consumer products. The 2017 survey questioned 77 consumer goods companies of varying sizes and geographic presences around the world.

Key Insights from the 2017 POI Retail Execution Vendor Panorama

  • Change management continues to be a big industry challenge, as evidenced by survey data. The vast majority of vendors reviewed offer an approach to change management but either did not adequately utilize it or overlooked it completely due to a desire to get the Retail Execution solution launched.
  • Eighty-seven percent of those surveyed responded they still have issues with change management; 11 percent higher than in 2016.
  • The Retail Execution space is making strides in providing greater off-line capabilities to enable more analytics and complex pricing approaches.
  • Having a single, global solution for retail execution and monitoring is still much closer to aspiration than reality due to disparities in solution cost, underlying business process, and ability to provide localized support.
  • The quality of the user experience (UX) in Retail Execution has benefitted from strong development and configuration tools.

Recommendations from the 2017 POI Retail Execution Vendor Panorama

  • Prioritize functionality above delivery method. The lines between SaaS, managed services, hosted private cloud, and public cloud are blurrier than ever and highly dependent on where the deployment(s) will take place. On-premises is still as popular as cloud (when combining public and private cloud).
  • Continue to prioritize capabilities that will help users be more effective and to “sell more.” These capabilities include retail activity optimization (RAO), image recognition, guided selling, social selling, gamification, voice recognition, and in-flight analytics. The 2017 survey showed that about 75 percent of respondents do not have the “sell more” capabilities, so they give a significant competitive advantage to those who attain them.
  • Recognize that a single solution is not likely to meet all of a company’s global needs. There is just too much disparity in price, suitability to local requirements, and availability of support to be able to do so. POI’s analysis finds that three to five solutions are typical for truly global companies.
  • Continue to focus on the requirements of non-field users, meaning managers and office-based personnel who support the field. POI finds that some solutions are quite mature for field users but can have significant limitations for those who have other roles. The same can be said for system administration tools and related personnel.
  • Ask for best practices from vendors. The POI 2017 Survey found that only 26 percent felt that they received best practices in accordance to their solution.

Vendor Evaluation for POI Best-In Class
In the 2017 POI Panorama, 25 solutions from 20 vendors were evaluated. Sixteen capabilities from each vendor were analyzed and compared consisting of: company viability, geographic strategy, market responsiveness and track record, deployment capabilities, market understanding, vertical and industry strategy, partner leverage, company vision, product aptness and flexibility, delivery flexibility, solution completeness, offline capabilities, user experience, analytical capabilities, product vision, and configurability.

“Our passion for delivering the best research is demonstrated once again in this Vendor Panorama for Retail Execution and Monitoring in Consumer Goods. This report provides our consumer goods and retailer members on how strategy and enabling solutions should be approached to help ensure for growth in challenging times,” said Michael Kantor, CEO and Founder, Promotion Optimization Institute.

About the Promotion Optimization Institute
POI brings together manufacturers, retailers, solution providers, analysts, academics and other industry leaders. Members of the POI share cross-functional best practices in both structured and informal settings. Additionally, members benefit through our industry alliances, the Certified Collaborative Marketer (CCM)™ curriculum and certification, global industry leadership events, and the Promotional Collaborative Capability Matrix (PCCM). POI aims to instill a financial and metrics-based discipline not typically found with other trade groups.

The goal of our innovative approach is collaborative promotion optimization. The focus is on the customer/shopper through sales, marketing, and merchandising strategies. POI is based in Wyckoff, New Jersey. To learn more about the POI, including how to participate in research, how to register to attend or sponsor events, and how to engage with leaders on the CCM, visit http://www.poinstitute.com/ or email Mkantor (at) institute (dot) com.

The Certified Collaborative Marketer (CCM) ™ is a trademark belonging to the Promotion Optimization Institute. All other trademarks are the property of their registered owners.

Theresa Smith, POI, +1 (818) 704-8481, [email protected]