The Promotion Optimization Institute Releases Retail Execution Vendor Panorama and Identifies Best-in-Class Vendors

USA - English

• USA - English

Wyckoff, New Jersey (PRWEB) June 27, 2016 -- The Promotion Optimization Institute (POI), the leading resource for trade marketing and merchandising executives, today released its POI 2016 Retail Execution Vendor Panorama, a detailed analysis of the Retail Execution market and the technology vendors that support it. The POI also identified eleven best in class vendors across eleven functional areas that are helping Retailer and CPG executives improve their in store execution. The 2016 POI best-in-class vendors are Accenture CAS, Accenture News Page, Asseco, eLeader, Ivy Solutions, Kantar Retail Xtel, Pitcher, RW3, SAP, Spring Mobile and StayinFront.

“The 2016 Panorama is a compelling piece of POI research because it embodies survey-based research from actual consumer goods practitioners along with insights and best practices to help POI members improve their retail execution capabilities, regardless of where they do business,” said Dale Hagemeyer, partner and board member of the POI.

POI designed the Retail Execution Vendor Panorama 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. In a POI 2015 TPx and Retail Execution Survey of 75 consumer goods companies of varying sizes, one third of those surveyed said they did not execute at the store level well. Only 20 percent responded that they were executing at the store level well.

Key Insights from the 2016 POI Retail Execution Vendor Panorama
The 2016 Panorama reported four key insights for trade marketing and merchandising executives to consider including:

• There is often a gap between planning and execution. POI suggests that planning appropriate product assortments and a strong lineup of promotions means very little if they are not executed correctly. Field sales personnel ought to have the tools necessary to understand issues and how to effectively address them.
• “Winning at the shelf” is relevant in both the modern trade and traditional trade. Traditional trade is an important opportunity in emerging markets given the amount of growth there in.
• Technology is only one component to promotion and distribution of consumer goods. Other important factors include change management, providing best practices, and having appropriate support available in local markets.
• A single, global solution for retail execution and monitoring is often insufficient due to various disparities in solution cost, underlying business process, and ability to provide localized support.

Recommendations from the 2016 POI Retail Execution Vendor Panorama
In order to execute effectively, the Panorama has a number of recommendations including:

• Prioritize functionality above delivery method. The lines between SaaS, managed services, hosted private cloud are blurrier that ever. Consumer goods companies’ first decision is whether they will be customizing their solution since that will help determine where the technology will physically reside.
• Prioritize capabilities that will help users to be more effective. The capabilities companies need to prioritize include retail activity optimization, image recognition, guided selling, social selling, gamification, voice recognition, and in-flight analytics. The POI 2015 TPx and Retail Execution Survey found that 80 percent of respondents do not have the sell more capabilities which in turn provides companies who have sell more capabilities a significant competitive advantage.
• Recognize that a single solution is not likely to meet 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 has found that most global companies utilize three to five solutions.
• Don’t neglect the needs of managers and office-based personnel. POI has found that some solutions are quite mature for field users but can have significant limitations for those who have other roles.
• Ask for best practices from your vendor. The POI 2015 survey found a wide disparity between expectations for best practices and what best practices were actually delivered. Make sure to find out the background of the individuals who will be delivering the best practices. Then document the best practices requires and make this part of the scope of work.

Vendor Evaluation for POI Best-In Class
In the 2016 POI Panorama, 21 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.

“This POI research, identifying best-in-class capabilities, and recommendations for excellence helps all POI Retail and CPG Members achieve better results when collaborating to serve their shared shoppers and consumers” said Michael Kantor, founder and CEO, 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, 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) poinstitute (dot) com.

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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]