Decoding the data of today and tomorrow

How CPG data guides every step of the product life cycle

In the dynamic world of CPG, data and analytics play a crucial role in success; but all too often, CPGs have data stacks that are disconnected or isolated across organizations.

Scroll to see how an “end-to-end” data provider can optimize a CPG product journey from start to finish.

Innovation

Every product journey is different.

This one starts with innovation, a major driver of growth for CPGs. A new product launch can yield great results or hurt your bottom line.

You’re part of the team at Crispology, a CPG manufacturer looking to launch a new snack for health conscious consumers.

You want to make decisions that give your product the best chance of success—so you partner with an end-to-end data provider that offers connected solutions backed by comprehensive consumer and performance data.

First, you need market research to understand the entire innovation landscape.

NIQ Omnisales offers in-store and online insights on market trends and white space—you learn that online Salty Snack sales increased 15% over the last year, overtaking in-store sales growth.

You need to understand who buys health snacks—where, how, and why they buy them.

NIQ Omnishopper gives you access to both online and offline shopper purchase patterns, while consumer panel insights reveal Millennials in high-income households are buying snacks with additive benefits, specifically protein-packed options, a gap in the salty snack segment.

A chart showing cpg manufacturer data and analytics

How did you identify an unmet consumer need in your CPG category?

You used NIQ Product Insight data to evaluate the snack category based on product attributes:

cpg grocery data based on consumer behavior

Check out your newest product concept!

Thanks to omnichannel insights and granular product attribute data, you now know that to capture growth with your new innovation you need to focus efforts on online sales, target a younger, health-conscious consumer, and build a protein-packed product to capture growth.

Make that a “2x Protein!” symbol, and a shinier color for the background.

You used BASES Quick Screen to refine your packaging using overnight consumer feedback.

a graphic demonstrating consumer feedback data for cpg manufactuers

New products that fail to satisfy consumer expectations only have a 5% chance market success.

So after product development, Crispology can also test the product in consumers’ homes with BASES Quick Use.

With quick-turn testing results, the team adjusts packaging and ingredients to better meet customer expectations and win the marketplace.

Pricing and Promotion Planning

Ready to conquer the pricing and promotion game?

Pricing and promotion are two of the most important marketing levers for your CPG brand.

But the pricing and promotion game has changed. See how our (mock) CPG brand, Crispology, works with an end-to-end provider to build a more effective strategy for a new post-pandemic era.

Which price pack architecture should I take to market?

You want to maximize the ROI of your innovation. NIQ BASES Line & Price Optimizer simulates a range of potential prices, pack sizes, and configurations for your new product. You determine an optimal point of entry is a 7-oz bag, followed by a 4-oz bag and multi-pack.

What promotions will help me boost market share in a post-pandemic landscape?

Shoppers have seen scant promotional activity since COVID-19 — with nuanced, detailed, category- and product-specific data, you revaluate how promotions now fit with Crispology’s brand and pricing strategy.

pricing and promotion trends and data for fmcg

How do we avoid over promotion and wasted trade spend?

You now optimize your pricing and promotion strategy with NIQ Revenue Optimizer. In real time, you use this toolbox to maximize profitability, eliminate wasteful trade spend, and ensure you have the right pricing and promotion strategy.

With pricing strategy set, you set your sights on distribution.

Distribution Strategy

Your success hinges on getting your new snack into the right stores and online retailers.

This is a complicated undertaking that you can simplify with precise, relevant data and analytics.

You need to know which channels, markets and stores are the biggest opportunities for your product.

With NIQ Omnisales you can see how your category’s sales are shifting across channels. Store-level and demographic data from NIQ Spectra and SSI complete the picture for your multi-channel strategy. See who is shopping—and who could be shopping—in stores in your target regions, and eventually rank the sales potential of products in specific stores for precise local strategies.

And continue optimizing once the product is in market.

After launch, your team can leverage interactive tools like NIQ Precision Areas, to zero in on the fastest-growing locations within your category and competitive set, at a neighborhood level. You’ll gain an edge when your team can plan execution more efficiently, gauge its potential, and create hyper-local strategies.

You have the perfect plan for ideal retailers; now it’s time to plan the right assortment.

Assortment Planning

You need the right snack assortment in the right places to delight your customers.

But planning for in-store pickups, click-and-collect fulfillment, annual shelf resets, and putting the right products in the right stores is a massive logistical undertaking.

The right data at the right time can make a big difference.

With tools like NIQ Shelf Architect, designed to visualize and optimize shelf space, you can more easily develop and manage optimal strategies for each retail partner and location, while minimizing risk—a win for CPGs.

retail and shelf visualization data for fmcg and cpg brands

Securing shelf space is the #1 way to drive sales for CPGs

Assortment is never the same between retailers. However, with tools designed to visualize and optimize shelf space, you can more easily manage the potentially massive logistical undertaking of developing an optimal strategy for each retail partner and location.

Time to simplify online assortment management

When your product launches, a full service provider can offer e-retailer level analytics, like NIQ’s Digital Shelf Analytics, to help you manage out-of-stock rates, improve search rankings, and, ultimately, boost marketing ROI.

Your optimized CPG assortment strategy in set!

Retailer Collaboration

Working closely with retail partners is essential for your new product’s success.

Comprehensive data and collaboration tools simplify the process of partnering and preparing CPGs for retailer meetings.

Understand your retailer’s target consumer and category dynamics

You can tap into NIQ’s RMS, Panel, and Omni data-driven market research. With this data, your team can confidently demonstrate how your product seamlessly fits into the retailer’s assortment strategy.

niq panel data identifies shopper behavior

With an optimized assortment strategy in place, you’re ready to launch your new product!

NIQ data can offer evidence that your target consumers align with the frequent visitors to target retail stores.

Equipped with powerful data, you can showcase the overlap in consumer profiles and highlight how your product can contribute to increased foot traffic and sales at your target retailers.

Unlock new levels of success

You tap into the power of collaborative platforms like NIQ Activate, AI-driven, predictive analytics that provide crucial insights, optimize trade and marketing budgets, and supercharge joint business plans with retailers.

With an optimized collaboration strategy in place, you’re ready to launch your new product!

In-Market Activation

You’ve launched your new product — the cycle of optimization and improvement continues!

See how your hard work is paying off

Your product’s unique value proposition has helped it find firm footing in the snacking category without stealing sales from your other snacks. Fitness enthusiasts are loving the extra protein boost!

NIQ RMS and Omnishopper data gives this insight into where sales are coming from and which buyers are purchasing.

data to increase sales throughout the cpg product life cycle

Measure fulfillment methods for your new CPG product

NIQ Omnisales also empowers your team to trace the consumer’s digital path to purchase, from online ordering to delivery and in-store pickup.

chart showing retail and online sales data

You’ll need tools to stay competitive and inform future CPG product iterations

Your team needs to stay agile and monitor how consumers are using your product and how to iterate. You can leverage NIQ’s Consumer Insights Consumption Moments to understand when and why shoppers chose your new product. NIQ’s Omnichannel, Amazon, and location-based data takes it one step further, allowing you to better allocate resources so you can spend more time and money on the channels, retailers, and geographies that are growing your brand the most.

Your team is thrilled with the new product’s success! The power of data helped guide them in the right direction.

In today’s competitive CPG landscape, data and analytics are vital for success. By partnering with a trusted data supplier that covers a Full View of the market and every stage of the product lifecycle, CPGs can successfully navigate modern challenges.

Share the journey with your team

Download your copy of the full journey to review, share, and learn more about how you can master the product lifecycle and simplify decision making with end-to-end data and analytics.