How Retail and CPG Firms Successfully Navigate the Data Crossroads with Data Management

What do PepsiCo, Kroger, Hershey, Southern Glazer’s, Alshaya Group, Burton Snowboards, Super Retail Group, Great Clips and more have in common? Sure, they all live in the retail and CPG ecosystem. But the real answer is, they were all speakers sharing their data management story at Informatica World in Las Vegas earlier this month.

This was also my very first Informatica World as Informatica’s Chief Strategist for Retail & CPG. I’m excited to share here highlights of how our customers are achieving big wins with data management.

In retail and CPG, the data that companies need to successfully run their businesses lives at the crossroads of customer data, supply chain data and product data. How they navigate these crossroads determines the winners and losers. Here are a few key examples from Informatica World:

1. Customer Data – Retailers want to get closer to the consumer, wholesale distributors want to get closer to their retail customers and CPG companies want to do both. With a myriad of tools available in the market, where does a low-margin business begin to get a complete picture of their customer?

It starts with mastering not just digital data but all customer data and relationships. Burton Snowboards VP Global IT & Analytics Kyle Wierenga summed it up nicely in the Informatica World keynote: “We want you to snowboard, but we also want your family to enjoy snowboarding.”

2. Supply Chain Data – The Retail & CPG Industry Forum at Informatica World highlighted a recent Deloitte study indicating nine out of 10 retail and CPG companies surveyed were investing in supply chain optimization and operational excellence.¹ The conclusion? These supply chain investments did not differentiate organizations from one another, because every company was investing in the same capabilities.

However, growing retail and CPG companies were differentiating with supply chain data. They did this by sharing that data:

• With customers for smart labels so consumers can make more educated decisions
• With key trading partners for harmonizing logistics between partners
• For use cases in tracking and traceability

3. Product Data – In a live Informatica World interview with Super Retail Group on product data challenges, Michael Wyper, Master Data Improvement & Compliance Manager, detailed the many sales channels the company uses: 690 brick and mortar stores, e-commerce and eBay Marketplace, including endless aisles with 1.6 million product / vendor combinations. By mastering product data in one place, Super Retail Group ensures product is available on all properties, and if items are out of stock, can immediately understand when those products will be back in stock. Not only does this reduce lost sales, but it also results in fewer “where is my product” calls into the support center.

Data is everywhere in the real world. I spoke to hundreds of attendees, partners, and customers at Informatica World. Not one company keeps all of their data in one place (or two or three). The data landscape is complicated, and no amount of source system consolidation will allow a large retailer or CPG company to rationalize all legacy source systems. Likewise, point solutions for discovery, integration, governance, data quality, privacy or consumption will never be able to handle the complexity that large retailers and CPG organizations live with on a day-to-day basis.

An enterprise-grade data management platform that works with data on-premises, in the cloud and in hybrid environments through the cloud provider of your choice is the answer to this complexity. This is the reason that Informatica introduced the Intelligent Data Management Cloud™ (IDMC) for Retail and CPG. Not to solve simple data problems, but to solve hard data problems at large sophisticated enterprises. Two great examples: Kroger avoided millions of dollars in lost sales because products were delivered on time to its warehouses and stores, while Unilever reduced supplier onboarding time by up to 80%.

Kroger and Unilever are just two of many examples shared at Informatica World that show how enterprise retail and CPG companies trust Informatica to bring data to life. I am already looking forward to Informatica World 2024. In the meantime, check out our upcoming Informatica World Tour as we take our show on the road this fall.

To explore more about how you can advance your retail or CPG business with intelligent data management, read our white paper, “Delivering Highly Engaged Retail Experiences with Fit-for-Purpose Data.”

_{¹ https://foodindustryexecutive.com/2023/01/cpg-companies-think-beyond-costs-to-boost-profitability-in-2023/}