Geared towards manufacturers and also applicable to retailers, Gladson’s NEW whitepaper, “From Start to Finish.” discusses how Gladson’s product content and services help deliver a seamless shopping experience online and in-store.
How to Effectively Monitor SD-WAN and SASE Environments with ThousandEyes
Gladson Whitepaper From Start to Finish
1. A C G T W H I T E PA P E R
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The Increasingly Complex Path-to-Purchase
The shopper’s path-to-purchase has undergone a
massive transformation with the dawn of the digital
age. Currently, there are more than 2,500 unique
new purchasing pathways with consumers regularly
switching back and forth between digital and physical
channels. Furthermore, more than 80% of shoppers
visit three or more channels to carry out their consumer
packaged goods (CPG) shopping journey, according to
IRI’s 2014 Times & Trends Report, “Channel Migration:
The Road to Growth Has Many Lanes.”
Clearly, the rules of shopper engagement and retail
execution have changed as the shopper’s path-to-
purchase becomes more complex and fragmented.
More and more CPG manufacturers have come to
understand that consistent and compelling product
information is essential to streamline consumer
engagement (B2C) during the consumer’s “pre-shop”
phase. But, that’s only half the story. More work must
be done in order to ensure flawless retail execution
(B2B) — carrying the seamless shopping experience
into the store and guiding the consumer effortlessly
toward a sale.
In combination, product content-fueled efficiencies
power a seamless omnichannel path-to-purchase
that positively impacts consumers’ relationships
with a manufacturer or retailer and loyalty toward a
particular product or brand.
For these reasons, it is imperative that CPG manu-
facturers and their retail partners present consistent,
accurate, updated and appealing product content at
every point along the extended path-to-purchase. It
is the foundation for optimal product and category
performance both online and on-shelf, and failure to
provide such could mean a lost sale or, worse, lost
consumer loyalty.
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PRODUCT CONTENT FUELS A SEAMLESS SHOPPING EXPERIENCE ONLINE AND ON-SHELF
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2. The Role of Product Content Online
For fast moving consumer goods in the food,
drug and mass merchandising segments,
ensuring that products and brands are
accurately represented online has never been
more vital to consumer relationships and sales.
Today, the shopper experience most often
begins online with product research. During
the discovery or “pre-shop” phase that occurs
online, the manufacturer’s products are
subject to intense scrutiny on the part of the
shopper before he or she will even consider
adding them to a shopping list. In just a few
swipes of a finger on a device of his or her
choice, a shopper expects access to everything
he or she wants to know about a brand or
product as well as for all competing products
in a category: Images, detailed product
attributes, customer reviews, complimentary
product recommendations and so on.
Complicating matters further is the fact
that the shopper gathers this information
from more than one source — from
corporate brand and retail websites, mobile
apps and social media pages to word of
mouth from friends in the social and physical
spheres. They also gather information from
newspapers and magazines, and an infinite
amount of third-party websites or apps
(such as nutrition and recipe sites, health &
wellness blogs and search engines).
The impending boom of e-commerce
initiatives within the CPG segment makes
digital product content initiatives all the more
important for future success. Between 2013
and 2018, online grocery sales will grow at
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a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
21.1%, reaching nearly $18 billion by the end
of the forecast period. For comparison, offline
grocery sales will rise by 3.1% annually during
the same period, according to a January 2015
report from BI Intelligence.
To stand out and unify the brand
experience across the vast ecosystem of
touch points and platforms, manufacturers
are planning to offer even more digital
product content. According to a CGT/
Gladson Custom Research report, “Current
and Consistent Product Data” (May, 2015),
in the next six months, the majority of
manufacturers plan to offer more product
images/views; expanded product details,
including “why-buys” and romance copy;
value-added content, including recipes,
product reviews and pairing suggestions;
digital coupons; and video to both corporate
websites and retailer websites — all in the
name of creating a more engaging online
experience for the shopper.
The Role of Product Content In Store
Yet, satisfying the shopper’s hunger for
product content online — and getting a
product on his or her shopping list — is only
half the battle. While technology enhances
the shopping experience online, the physical
retail store remains king as consumers’
preferred channel for completing a
transaction. In fact, 94% of all retail sales
take place within the confines of a physical
store, according to “The New Digital Divide”
from Deloitte Digital (April, 2014). Therefore,
it is equally important that manufacturers
and their retail partners extend and execute
a flawless brand experience inside the store.
The stakes are high. For example,
suppose a shopper enters the store with the
intent to buy a new beauty product after a
thorough “pre-shop” session online. Before
she even steps foot into the store of her
choice, she is familiar with its packaging
and she is prepared to use the store’s
“The rules of shopper engagement
and retail execution have changed as the
shopper’s path-to-purchase becomes
more complex and fragmented.”
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3. promotional offer. Unfortunately, upon
entering the store, she is confronted with
one or more of the following obstacles: the
product is out-of-stock (or in stock but not
available on-shelf), the product in store
does not match the product image she
viewed online, and/or the product details
she reviewed online do not match with the
information on the packaging.
The inconvenience of not finding the right
product in the right place at the right time
leads to one major outcome: A lost sale.
She will leave the store and find the product
elsewhere, opting to either purchase it online
or at a competing retail chain.
Therefore, optimized product content is
not just an online initiative. The benefits of
a comprehensive product content strategy
extend far beyond the browser and into
the store for manufacturers and their retail
partners. Thus, providing the shopper with
the same level of satisfaction that they
experienced in the “pre-shop” phase is critical
in making sure a manufacturer’s brands or
products reach the point of purchase.
As mentioned, inconsistencies between
the online and physical representation of a
product in regard to appearance, on-shelf
availability and product details can threaten
a sale. To that end, manufacturers and their
retail customers are working in collaboration
to actively optimize product and category
performance inside the store to meet
changing shopper expectations. Robust
product images and information are, again,
the foundational elements that support
manufacturer/retailer collaborative category
management initiatives in the store:
• Store Optimization and
Assortment Planning
With the store still reflecting one of the most
valuable yet limited assets for retailers, they
are challenged more than ever to determine
the best use of their physical space. For
example, how can a retailer optimize
planogram, fixture, and department footages
and adjacencies? Which products are most
likely to be purchased in store? And, how
should product assortments differ according
to the geographic or demographic confines
of a region? According to the CGT/Gladson
research report, 41% of respondents are
actively partnering with retailers on store-
specific assortments. Up-to-date product
content plays an integral role in helping
manufacturers plan, visualize and execute
store and assortment plans that maximize
total store productivity, thereby improving
profitability.
• Planogram Development
Once a retailer knows which categories will
utilize space in a specific store and which
mix of products will populate its shelves, it’ll
sometimes ask a trusted supplier to come
up with a plan — or planogram — for the
shelf. And often times, a manufacturer will
take the initiative to suggest a planogram
to the retailer that will better promote the
manufacturer’s items, while enhancing
overall category growth. Up-to-date product
content feeds planogram programs for
optimal shelf planning that hits sales targets
at every store. Survey results also indicate
that CPG manufacturers are exploring
the power of virtual reality for category
management, specifically focusing on
how 3D imagery can improve planogram
development, thereby directly contributing to
an enhanced shopper experience.
• Virtual Research and Merchandising
Armed with information-driven planograms
and assortments, manufacturers and retailers
“While technology enhances the shopping
experience online, the physical retail store
remains king as consumers’ preferred
channel for completing a transaction.”
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4. are leveraging virtual merchandising tools
to simulate a store environment. Virtual
store research can help reveal why shoppers
select the products they ultimately buy at a
fraction of the cost and time of traditional
market research techniques, like in-store test
environments. Once again, the combined
impact of a high-quality product content
database and virtual store models enables
CPG manufacturers to create precise replicas
of stores in the virtual space, dramatically
reducing speed-to-market times and improving
the effectiveness of insights captured from
merchandising and marketing efforts.
• Shelf Edge Solutions
Shelf-edge merchandising solutions are
popping up in stores across the country as
retailers realize that on-shelf availability is
a top prerequisite to meeting the needs of
the shopper and maximizing revenue. These
image-enhanced shelf tags and strips support
store personnel in their task to set and reset
shelves accurately and in real-time in line with
the optimized planogram. Manufacturers are
stepping up to help, with 44% reporting that
they are collaborating with their retail partners
to not only improve planogram compliance
but the on-shelf availability of products using
innovative on-shelf merchandising tools.
Beyond stocking of the shelf, shelf-edge
merchandising tools can assist with at the shelf
marketing to the consumer, such as promoting
nutritional information or product promotions.
Should the product be unavailable on the
shelf, the image allows the shopper to know
that the retailer does in fact have the product,
prompting him or her to ask for the product
instead of assuming that the store does not
carry it.
All totaled, optimizing product and
category performance inside the store
ensures that retailers and manufacturers
continue to meet the expectations that a
shopper formed about a brand or product
online. But, are CPG organizations equipped
with the right product content to make this
type of impact inside the store?
Partner for Success
Manufacturers’ ability to integrate B2B and
B2C processes is imperative to meeting
shoppers’ omnichannel expectations. The
first step is to establish a consistent base of
product information for corporate use and for
distribution to retail partners. Unfortunately,
the majority of CPG companies do not have
an organization or system set up to gather,
distribute or update product images and
content in an efficient and consistent way.
According to CGT/Gladson’s research report,
almost 75% of manufacturers report that 15%
or more of their product portfolio is updated
each year as a result of changes to packaging,
ingredients, marketing claims, regulatory
compliance and so on.
“Managing product data has become one
of the thorniest issues facing organizations
— a high priority project with wide-ranging
implications, that is becoming more complex
and costly,” according to Aberdeen’s “Reap
What You Sow; Better Product Data Leads to
Better Product Sales” (June, 2013).
Given the high stakes, this is one
initiative that can’t wait. More and more
manufacturers are turning to a third-party
content provider, like Gladson, for help in
addressing the immediate need for optimized
consumer engagement and retail execution.
The good news is that leaders in the
CPG manufacturing industry have realized
the extensive benefits of adopting a
product content management strategy —
“Shelf-edge merchandising solutions are
popping up in stores across the country as
retailers realize that on-shelf availability is
a top prerequisite to meeting the needs of
the shopper and maximizing revenue.”
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5. About Gladson
Gladson delivers the most
comprehensive product
content solution on the market
today. The company combines
the industry’s largest and
most dynamic database of
consumer product images and
information with high-impact
category management and
Store Optimization Services to
maximize sales and operational
efficiency.
Gladson’s enterprise-ready
digital product content fuels
strategies for e-commerce,
space planning, marketing,
advertising, supply chain,
market research, mobile
applications, master data
management and other critical
business processes.
Gladson helps manufacturers,
retailers, and service providers
plan and execute more
effectively so they can meet
shopper expectations across
the path to purchase.
For more information, visit
www.gladson.com.
either outsourced or internally
developed — to power omnichannel
brand strategies, as well as
internal enterprise processes and
technologies.
Partnering with a digital content
provider helps to mitigate the most-
commonly cited challenges associated
with keeping product images and
information up-to-date, such as a lack
of internal resources to create, host
and maintain the content; the sheer
volume of platforms, media and other
resources that require this content;
and the lack of internal resources to
manage the distribution of content to
retailers and other third parties.
Once a manufacturer optimizes the
creation, maintenance and distribu-
tion of its digital product content
assets with a partner like Gladson,
essentially achieving “one version of
product truth”, the benefits ripple
throughout an organization to include:
• Efficient and effective support
for the requirements of internal
audiences, including sales team
requirements, market research,
research and development,
operations and shopper
insights;
• Greater brand consistency
across all media channels,
including retailer marketing
programs, websites, mobile
apps, etc.;
• Internal systems and processes
that run at peak performance
through the availability of
accurate product data;
• Distribution of product images
and content to an extensive
network of retailers, mobile
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apps, search engines and third-
party websites;
• The foundation for e-commerce
as online CPG sales volume is
projected to grow at staggering
rates.
Meanwhile, Gladson’s Store
Optimization Services help eliminate
organizational challenges associated
with a lack of resources and time by
combining content, expertise and ana-
lytics to help manufacturers improve
their products’ representation — and
performance — in store. By leverag-
ing Gladson’s experienced team to
optimize stores and planograms,
and then using Gladson’s Shelf Edge
Solutions, including image strips, tags
and promotional talkers at the shelf,
manufacturers can increase product
sales, improve planogram compliance,
promote on-shelf availability, and
most importantly, enhance the shop-
per experience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the benefits of a
comprehensive product content
management strategy extend
throughout the entire path-to-
purchase, making sure that shoppers
consume complete and accurate
product information when and where
they want to see it – at home, on
a mobile device and in the store.
The combination of robust product
content and high-impact store
optimization services from a partner,
like Gladson, empower manufacturers
and their retailer partners to guide
the consumer through a seamless
omnichannel shopping experience
from start to finish.
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