In the popular fairground game Whac-A-Mole, you’re constantly reacting to unwanted moles invading your land. Take care of one, another instantly appears. Whilst hitting the mole feels rewarding in the moment, you never seem to complete the game and it goes on, and on, until your money runs out.
This fun game offers a pretty tight analogy to how business problems are addressed in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. Urgent problems get addressed with tactical solutions, leaving the underlying root cause buried beneath the surface, ready to pop back up again.
In this blog, we explore how a focus on these tactical solutions has led to expensive legacy debt, stifling innovation and leaving real business problems, such as margin control, unresolved. Let’s jump into the reasons behind this and discover a smarter approach to future-proofing strategies.
The Legacy of CPG IT Strategies
The CPG industry witnessed a shift towards ERP-centric IT strategies in the early 2000s. At the time, manufacturing and supply chain operations took precedence over customer-centricity.
Unfortunately, the legacy of these ERP-centric strategies has left many CPG companies with on-premise solutions and monolithic ways of thinking. While effective in their time, these outdated approaches no longer cater to the rapidly changing needs of retail customers and consumers.
A Mishmash of Tactical Solutions
As the needs of retail customers and consumers evolve at pace, many CPG companies struggle to keep up. To address specific gaps, they often resort to deploying tactical IT solutions, creating a fragmented landscape. This usually begins with the implementation of one application for a particular channel, followed by additional systems for different business units and new markets.
Over time, a mishmash of disconnected applications, underpinned by outdated legacy platforms, becomes a tangled web that stifles growth and innovation.
Playing It (Not So) Safe
The safe option for CPG companies is to keep adding point solutions to fix immediate issues, passing on the underlying problem to the next IT owner. However, this approach proves ineffective in the long run.
Whac-a-mole solutions hinder innovation and agility, severely impacting the ability to respond to the ever-changing needs of the business. Solving critical business problems, such as protecting margins across all channels, becomes increasingly challenging with a stovepipe approach. The fragmented ecosystem lacks the end-to-end connectivity to address business challenges.
It’s Time for a Smarter Approach
To break free from the shackles of whac-a-mole solutions and foster innovation, CPG companies must adopt a smarter approach that empowers the business and future-proofs their strategies.
The key lies in implementing a platform that centres on the customer, and connects planning to execution across all channels. By adopting this approach, companies can confidently control margins and effectively respond to the dynamic needs of the business.
The impact of this shift can be significant, boosting overall operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and revenue growth.
Dedicated to Consumer Goods, Aforza delivers a strategic, customer-centric platform that connects planning to execution on every channel. Supporting both direct & indirect routes-to-market, Aforza empowers you to Visit, Sell and Promote your products to the most profitable customers.
The platform allows you to take control & protect margins with best practice industry uses cases, ensuring your strategy is executed by:
- Prioritising Profitable Customers
- Detailing Your Brand’s Value Effectively
- Recommending the Entire Order
- Executing Penny-Perfect Promotions
- Guaranteeing Promotion Compliance
- Acting on Insights in Real-time
The platform is built on an industry-leading technology stack across Salesforce, Google Cloud, Apple and Android, allowing you to get live fast and benefit from continuous innovation.
This level of business connectivity and innovation is simply not possible with tactical point solutions.
A.G. Barr + Aforza
A Strategic Success Story
A.G. Barr, a leading soft drinks manufacturer based in Scotland, serves as an excellent example of a CPG company that embraced the smarter approach.
Facing the challenge of legacy solutions, including On-Premise CRM and a tactical SFA solution, AG Barr decided to embark on a transformational journey.
In less than five months, they successfully consolidated all their convenience retail business units onto a unified platform. This modern cloud-based solution seamlessly connects telesales, field sales, logistics, drivers, and online channels.
As a result, AG Barr can now exercise complete control over margins across their convenience retail channels, fueling growth and driving operational excellence.
Getting Started and Take Control Today
It’s time to unravel your tactical stovepipe solutions and embrace a customer-centric platform strategy for innovation, agility, and margin control. Based on our experiences of working with customers around the world, we recommend the following steps to get started:
- Align on your strategic business objectives for the next 5 years.
- Evaluate the existing IT landscape and its ability to empower your objectives.
- Develop a comprehensive platform strategy that prioritizes customer-centricity and agility.
- Implement modern cloud-based solutions that connect various channels and streamline operations.
- Foster collaboration and knowledge sharing across business units and departments.