Business Process Management Solutions for CPG Consulting Firms
Some years back, you found people frequenting the departmental stores and malls where they could get the entire stock of monthly consumables at a single point. This trend was a marked shift from the earlier practice of purchasing goods on an individual basis from retailers. Customers found it comfortable to buy their products at a single location because of obvious reasons.
Today, the trend has changed with people ordering their daily requirement items online from a single ecommerce retailer rather than visiting a departmental store. Thus, you see a tremendous shift in the consumer packaged goods industry trends over the years. This shift has given rise to the new concept of CPG consulting firms.
Let us look at outsourcing and the role of business process management consultants for CPG consulting firms in the following paragraphs.
CPG industry is different from the retail sector in many ways. CPG comprises goods that are perishable and hence consumed quickly. Therefore, the demand is high. At the same time, competition is high as well because people have many alternatives. If a particular brand A is not available at any instant, the customer has the opportunity to switch over to its rival brand B within no time. Thus, you find constant shifting of consumer preferences in the CPG industry. The role of a
is to study these trends and provide solutions to overcome the competition.
BPM solutions for CPG consulting firms
One has to concede that the level of competition is the fiercest in the consumer packaged goods industry. Brands are fighting with each other to gain the confidence of the ultimate consumer. You can experience this if you open up any menu in a particular category in an ecommerce retailer website. Select ‘toothpaste’ from the menu, and you find more than twenty brands vying for your attention.Similarly, if you visit a departmental store, you find dozens of soaps and detergent brands lined up on the shelf. It can confuse the consumer. Hence, the primary objective of any product is to establish customer loyalty. Secondly, it has to ensure that its brand is always available on the shelves. The role of the CPG consultant starts here, as they have to frame strategies whereby they gauge the demand and supply position on a real-time basis to replenish the supply from time to time.
CPG category is volatile. It does not take time for a consumer to change his/her mind and thereby the brand. Therefore, you need effective marketing with innovative advertising campaigns to retain consumer interest in the product. Outsourcing your CPG activities is a suitable method of ensuring effective marketing of your products.
Effective marketing is one aspect of CPG consultancy. Ensuring that stocks are available on the shelf is a critical part of the CPG industry. Hence, you should have effective sales strategies whereby you maintain the right inventory. Note that consumer packaged goods have less shelf life. Therefore, you should ensure to remove the expired stock from the departmental store shelves and replenish them with fresh ones. This activity requires vendor compliance. Hence, there should be effective coordination with the individual vendors in this regard.
Participating in trade shows and introducing innovative campaigns is part of sales enhancement. You should ensure that the product is never out of the consumer’s mind at any time. For example, when he/she thinks about toothpaste, your product should be the first one that comes to mind. An effective sales enhancement campaign can ensure this.
No consultancy activity will be complete without a sales analysis. This aspect involves obtaining sales figures from different outlets and comparing the popularity of your product across different sections of society. According, you can concentrate on your target audience. You also need to obtain consumer feedback and analyze his/her preferences. Respect the opinions of customers and strive to improve the marketing of your brand.
Note that the consumer is always the king. It is more so in case of CPG industry because the demand is continuous and competition is at its highest level. A good business process management consultant can see to it that the consumer gets maximum satisfaction.
