How To Align Retail Goals With Consumer Insights

Is traditional category management struggling to keep up with today’s retail complexities? 🛒 The rise of the “endless aisle” online. 🚗 Shoppers bouncing between in-store, delivery, and BOPIS. 🏬 Retailers gaining the upper hand with superior data capabilities. 🛍️ Brands should focus on bridging online and in-store strategies, using data like clickstreams, shopper behavior, and out-of-stocks to create seamless omnichannel experiences. “Ultimately, it’s about: “How do I make an effective decision of what portfolio to optimize not just for the retail margin, but also to defend against all of the internal cost pressures that I have? All of that you can answer through data, which you just need to have set up in your organization properly to execute.” Imteaz Ahamed 1️⃣ Crawl: Build the basics. Focus on digital shelf optimization, product content, and metrics like Brand Share Index. Without these foundations, categories underperform online. 2️⃣ Walk: Align online and offline. Work with retailers on taxonomies, shared KPIs, and growth plans. Prioritize full-basket models (e.g., grocery orders) over single-item “spearfishing.” 🎯 3️⃣ Run: Drive innovation. Use AI 🤖 for personalization, testing, and demand forecasting. Shoppers love mission-based solutions like “holiday party kits” or event bundles. 🎉 How Brands & Retailers Can Build Growth Together 🤝 Collaborate on insights: Share data like clickstream behavior and category performance to uncover growth opportunities. 📊 Test and learn: Partner on rapid experimentation (e.g., optimizing taxonomies or testing product visibility). 🌮 Focus on solutions: Build mission-based shopping experiences (like “taco night” kits) that span multiple categories. 🛍️ Personalize shopper journeys: Use AI to create tailored digital shelves and seamless omnichannel experiences. “The teams were beginning to say if an item wasn’t accepted in-store then it should go on Amazon, and we took a step back and said we need to develop a new product with the lens of what the product looks like for the retailer. How we define that is through beginning to develop ecommerce category management.” Ash McMullen Are you crawling, walking, or running? 🚀

Your customer avatar is probably wrong. It’s not your fault. The entire industry has been running the same lazy playbook for years... But there's a better way to truly understand your audience—I'll break it down for you step by step: First, it's important to note: most marketers confuse *data* with *insight*, and most brands only know their customer’s basic info. They'll run entire marketing campaigns based on minimal insights: • Male • 25-45 • Likes fitness But that’s not a profile. That’s just a demographic checkbox. To actually connect, you need to go deeper… I use a 5-point system to build customer avatars that actually work. The 5 pillars are: 1. Identity 2. Emotion 3. Generation 4. Seasonal purchasing behavior 5. Cultural movements Here’s how it works: 1. We start by researching Identity. Your audience isn’t just a group of people—they see themselves as someone specific. Are they: • Hustlers? • Achievers? • Rebels? Their core identity drives what they believe, which is why we start with the core and layer things on top. 2. Next we get insight on Emotion. Emotion drives buying decisions, not logic. Understanding which emotions fuel your audience is key: • Fear of missing out? • Desire for control? • Pride in their achievements? If you can nail the emotional hook, your offer becomes irresistible. 3. We then move on to Generation. Boomers, Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X aren’t the same. Each grew up with different values, tech, and cultural experiences. Even subtle things like humor or world event references can make a huge difference. We add this to the mix along with: 4. Seasonal Purchasing Behavior Your audience doesn’t buy the same things year-round. Track when they’re most likely to spend and align your campaigns with their *natural habits*. E.g.: Fitness goals spike in January, outdoor gear in spring. Timing is everything. 5. Finally, we study Cultural Movements. What’s happening in the world that aligns with your audience? If we’re gonna tap into shared beliefs, trends, or societal shifts to make your brand feel relevant, we need to know how to go from “just a product” to a movement. When you understand these 5 layers, you stop guessing—and start connecting. You stop throwing spaghetti and start painting a masterpiece. TLDR; If your avatar is built on a static template from 6 years ago, you’re in trouble. Avatars are as fluid as the humans they’re built on. Knowing how to track the 5 most important those changes (and build a strong marketing strategy from them) is the key to real growth. 🔑

Top-line growth through expansion areas is often the go-to but prioritising assortment optimisation can yield far greater benefits for long-term success. Attaining new top-line growth may seem simple—launching new categories or stores can quickly boost year-over-year revenue. However, without focusing on your business's current inventory health, such actions can lead to long-term complications and a less sustainable business. True merchandisers 🤓 find great satisfaction in revitalising and optimising struggling categories, locking in reliable and sustainable growth in a dynamic retail landscape. To safeguard profits, drive revenue, and enhance sell-through rates, all while maximising your product's potential, consider the following strategies: 💡 Leverage Inventory Health Check Metrics Gain a deep understanding and competitive edge when you have clarity on both driving factors and hindrances to business performance. Favourites include: Newness %, Sizing Availability, Core Line Out-of-Stock Rate, Markdown: Velocity & Depth of Discount, GMROI at all levels. 💡 Ensure Comprehensive Product Attribution Enrich product data with great attribution to accurately gauge customer demand by any product facet. This is invaluable insights for decision-making. 💡 Optimise Price Points Identify and capitalise on the pricing sweet spot, not only the sweet spot that’s acquiring you customers but also the sweet spot which is upselling and retaining customers for you. Invest and build on these and adapt as the market or customer base changes. 💡 Identify Core and NOOS Lines Prioritise Core and Never Out of Stock items to maintain consistency and meet ongoing demand. These items usually have higher margins and should have great stock turn due to predictable demand. 💡 Focus on Top-Performing Products Apply the 80/20 rule, concentrating efforts on the top 20% of products contributing to 80% of sales, while streamlining the long tail. The goal is to continually adapt and meet the customer where they’re at in terms of their demand for product. Focusing on key metrics that matter empowers teams to drive sustainable growth and adapt to the evolving market dynamics effectively.

When I interviewed Stephan Waldeis, VP of eCommerce Europe at Husqvarna Group, he said this about tracking real-time data and retailer partnerships. “We track customer behavior, we track inventory levels at our partners, we track sales performance — and of course, we possibly... we track all of that in real time. Imagine, our robots — at least the ones from the last 10+ years — are all connected. So, we have a lot of insights in which gardens they are driving, when they are operating, etc. And that is data that we are leveraging, but also data that we are sharing with our channel partners. That’s great even for the channel partners who are not really interested in operating an eCom site. We provide them with a lot of insights… what kind of products are interesting in your area, because we know exactly from visits on our site, which products in a particular region are more relevant — in Amsterdam versus in Berlin versus in Munich.” 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵? 1️⃣ Activate Real-Time Retailer Collaboration Track and share real-time consumer behavior, inventory, and sales data with retail partners — even those with limited digital capabilities — to strengthen joint decision-making, optimize local assortments, and drive smarter sell-through at the shelf. 2️⃣ Localize Product Strategies with Regional Demand Signals Use geo-specific browsing and purchase data to tailor product recommendations, promotions, and stock levels at the city or neighborhood level — what sells in Amsterdam might flop in Berlin if you don’t read the digital shelf signals correctly. 3️⃣ Turn Connected Product Data into a Competitive Advantage Leverage connected device insights (where available) not only for product innovation but as a marketing and retail sales weapon, identifying usage patterns, seasonal trends, and regional preferences that can feed back into supply chain, DTC, and retail media strategies. 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 ecommert® 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟰,𝟬𝟬𝟬+ 𝗖𝗣𝗚, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘁® : 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. About ecommert We partner with CPG businesses and leading technology companies of all sizes to accelerate growth through AI-driven digital commerce solutions. Our expertise spans e-channel strategy, retail media optimization, and digital shelf analytics, ensuring more intelligent and efficient operations across B2C, eB2B, and DTC channels. #ecommerce #dataanalytics #CPG #FMCG #data Milwaukee Tool Bosch Makita U.S.A., Inc. STIHL Mondelēz International Nestlé Mars Ferrero General Mills L'Oréal Henkel Beiersdorf Colgate-Palmolive The Coca-Cola Company Unilever L'Oréal Coty Kao Corporation adidas Nike New Balance PUMA Group the LEGO Group Sony Panasonic North America Bose Corporation