Promotions and new product launches challenge CPG companies in the Corona crisis

Why CPG companies must act now

Bad Salzu­flen, 04.06.2020 The indus­try is also affec­ted by the Corona crisis, although retail store were always open and some products were allo­wed to expe­ri­ence a real boost in sales through so-called hoar­ding. But there are very big chal­lenges in this time. On the one hand, of course, that sales force visits for promo­ti­ons or new listings may no longer take place in some cases, but also that promo­ti­ons were often only possi­ble to a limi­ted extent, and that it is curr­ently diffi­cult to agree on acti­va­tion measu­res with retail­ers.

Shelf promo­ti­ons instead of secon­dary place­ments

Since merchan­di­sers or sales repre­sen­ta­ti­ves are not welcome in stores due to cont­act rest­ric­tions, it is diffi­cult to conduct certain promo­ti­ons such as tastings with adver­ti­sing staff or display setups.

Here there are alter­na­ti­ves for promo­tio­nal products or inno­va­tions. Since in many cate­go­ries shelf sales account for the majo­rity of sales, it is important to try to find solu­ti­ons to promote these products on the shelf.

Marking products as high­lights

Perma­nent plas­tic displays are the ideal solu­tion for this purpose, with their striking shapes and colours that make the new product or promo­tion on the shelf a real eye-catcher, or various other POS mate­ri­als. From easy-to-attach and replaceable frames or flags that can be tempo­r­a­rily atta­ched to the shelf, the wide selec­tion ranges from these simple tools to eleva­ted plat­forms for disrup­tion on the shelf, where the adver­ti­sing message and product bene­fits can be easily commu­ni­ca­ted. A shelf display with push­feeds ensu­res that the product is always at the front of the shelf and cannot be over­loo­ked by the custo­mer. Lumi­nous mate­ri­als or crea­tive bran­ding as well as hanging displays at the edge of the shelf draw addi­tio­nal atten­tion to the promo­tion. Examp­les of such displays can be found here.

Retail­ers are often willing to support a new product or promo­tio­nal merchan­dise in this way if the indus­try part­ner provi­des the solu­tion right away. The results of such sales-promo­ting tools are often at least as good as those of secon­dary place­ments. In addi­tion, the proba­bi­lity of secu­ring distri­bu­tion is increased if the product has a sales aid on the shelf, since a gap due to sell-out is not simply closed by store staff.

Digi­tal evalua­tion of promo­ti­ons

In order to be able to evaluate the promo­tion well, digi­tal aids are requi­red if the product does not have a sepa­rate EAN.  With good scan­ner data you can see the uplift of an exis­ting product if it was alre­ady listed before. But what to do with a new product?

POS TUNING offers with the Neoalto tech­no­logy a good possi­bi­lity to track every product at every loca­tion on a daily basis, if the goods feed behind the product is equip­ped with a so-called Stock Beacon. So you don’t have to wait 4 weeks for market rese­arch data or send employees to the stores, which is espe­ci­ally diffi­cult in corona times. Even with a double place­ment on display and on the shelf, the Neoalto Retail Service Cloud finally allows you to see the exact split of sales, which was previously not possi­ble with check­out or market rese­arch data. More infor­ma­tion about digi­tal market rese­arch can be found here. Howe­ver, this tech­no­logy not only enables the evalua­tion, but also the early detec­tion of out of stocks. They can some­ti­mes lead to a false assess­ment of perfor­mance during a new launch or promo­tion, if you don’t know that the product was tempo­r­a­rily not available on the shelf and ther­e­fore sales drop­ped.

Espe­ci­ally now in these times one should look for crea­tive alter­na­tive solu­ti­ons to get the custo­mer exci­ted about products, because many people now walk faster through the store and do not shop in peace because they are afraid of infec­tion or find the mouth­guard unplea­sant. So it can happen that new products or promo­ti­ons are comple­tely unno­ti­ced, even though they cost the indus­try a lot.  Ther­e­fore, it is all the more important to high­light products and make them visi­ble with auto­ma­tic, clever solu­ti­ons without the need for perso­nal field service on site.

Press cont­act

Maren Brett­meier

m.brettmeier@postuning.de

05222/36965–646

www.postuning.de

info@postuning.de

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