The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB are joined in this episode by Wendy Liebmann, CEO and Chief Shopper at WSL Strategic Retail and host of the shopper-centric podcast Future Shop.

The three retail/CPG industry thought leaders explore a number of relevant topics:

1. 6 months into the pandemic...what shopping habits have been disrupted and are they irreparable?
2. Can a company, regardless of size, survive without an omnichannel strategy now?
3. Why are super regional food & beverage retailers successful in digital consumer engagement vs others? Small, regional retailers have leveraged Instacart as have the big guys like Kroger and CVS, but HEB, Wegmans, and Meijer are investing in unique CX. Why is that resonating with consumers?  
4. Store closures are on the rise, is the store apocalypse here? 
5. The first Amazon Fresh store opened in SoCal, will consumers embrace cashierless grocery shopping at scale?
6. Brands are scrambling to build DTC, is it only for the big brands with deep pockets?
7. Will dollar stores emerge as victors in the economic disaster and what will drive this?
8. How does an eCommerce leader sell the necessary omnichannel capital investment to senior management?
9. How does private label thrive in a digital world?
10. Will the US see contactless payment “cross the chasm” to ubiquity and when? Are shoppers ready to adopt contactless payment at scale? If not, what are the obstacles? How can retailers overcome them?

To learn more about the strategic consulting services of WSL Strategic Retail, visit:
https://wslstrategicretail.com/

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The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB are joined by Cathy Lewenberg COO of Drizly, the alcohol delivery eCommerce marketplace

Topics discussed:

1. After a successful run leading omnichannel digital at CVS Health, a Fortune 5 company, you decided to join Drizly as its COO. What appealed to you about the company and the role?
2. You arrived at Drizly 2 months into the global pandemic as its sales were skyrocketing and everyone there was working both overtime and often double duty. I heard that senior executives were even answering the customer service line. What were your learning priorities from day 1?
3. How do you effectively lead an operational team when everyone is highly distributed during the pandemic? Any particular behaviors you have adopted to make it work well?
4. Drizly isn’t a retailer, it is a retail marketplace. Can you explain this to our audience and why this is important for legal compliance? And what exactly are “Tied House Laws?”
5. Drizly, a privately-held company, recently released a consumer survey report around alcohol shopping attitudes and has shared performance metrics from sales at 2,600+ network of stores. Why does Drizly openly share Bev Alc Insights and what do you hope the industry learns from it?
6. What types of insights do you share with your retail clients and with brands?
7. How do you help alcohol brands engage with consumers through your marketplace, particularly as it relates to retail media?
8. What are the core elements of customer experience that your team is focused on enhancing?
9. Given Drizly’s rapid growth, you must be bringing on more people to support the demand. For our omnichannel audience listening, what are some talent areas in particular that Drizly is seeking.
10. When you look back after year 1 of your time at Drizly, what do you hope to deliver to the organization?

Brand interested in engaging Drizly consumers should visit http://brands.drizly.com

If you want to access bev alcohol insights, visit https://bevalcinsights.com/

If you are a retailer interested in joining the Drizly marketplace, please visit https://bevalcinsights.com/become-a-retailer/

If you'd like to work at Drizly, visit https://drizly.com/open-roles

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

Sri & Peter explore the supply chain components of eCommerce

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Carol Krakowski, Director of Insights at PowerReviews, joins The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB to reveal the results of a new attitudinal report of over 5K shoppers as to their 2020 holiday shopping plans. The following questions are covered:

1. What types of insights does PowerReviews provide to its brand and retail clients and what makes this different than its competitive class?
2. PowerReviews just released a Holiday Consumer Report 2020, please share with us the details behind this including the sample size?
3. What have we learned about consumer expectations this holiday season from the survey that you fielded?
4. Any big surprises given what we are currently experiencing during this pandemic?
5. From what the results show us, consumers are still planning to spend this holiday season. Why do you think there’s as much optimism/willingness to spend your results indicate?
6. How should retailers and brands think about this dramatic shift to online and what can they do to adapt?
7. Most of this so far has been “good news”, was there any “bad news” for brands or retailers?
8. If 30% of shoppers aren’t concerned at all about the store - what do the other 70% think and what can retailers do about it?
9. What does all of this mean for PowerReviews?
10. What is PowerReviews looking to establish from a trending perspective in sharing this research with the omnichannel community?

To download the report, please visit: https://www.powerreviews.com/insights/holiday-consumer-survey-2020/ 

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Sri and Peter are joined by Gia Cyrier - founder of Twenty20 Boutique, an online fashion apparel retailer

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In the first part of The CPG Guys series on eCommerce profitability, Sri & PVSB tackle the econometrics of eCommerce with a detailed breakdown of an eCommerce pro forma.

Companion documents may be found on http://CPGguys.com

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The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB are joined by Patrick Burke, Chief Revenue Officer at Fetch Rewards, a mobile app-based brand-building loyalty platform.

In this episode, we cover the following topics with Patrick:

1. Where does Fetch fit into the loyalty space? What is your core proposition for B2B and B2C?
2. How does the application work for users? How is it different from other “comparable” applications like some of the well-known rebate platforms?
3. Why would a brand choose to work with you versus investing in other options like retailer personalization platforms, FSIs, etc?
4. Who are the users of the application? How are you acquiring them?
5. How many users do you have on the platform? What is the “active or engaged” users metric that you promote and why is that meaningful to brands seeking to invest in loyalty mechanisms? 
6. Who are your brand partners? Are there particular categories that your solution delivers better value to brands?
7. How do you work with your brand partners to build meaningful campaigns and what kinds of measurements do you provide to your clients to prove your value?
8. Where have your brand partners found success? Any best practice case studies to share with us?
9. How has your business vertical been impacted by the pandemic? How have you needed to adapt?
10. What is next for Fetch? What is on the horizon?  

To learn more about Fetch Rewards, please visit: http://www.fetchrewards.com

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB are joined by Omar Haque, VP of eCommerce for the Acelerada business unit of Grupo Bimbo's Bimbo Bakeries USA division.

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Josh Rider head of brand partnerships at Instacart joins Sri & PVSB on the CPG Guys podcast to discuss the explosive growth of eCommerce grocery sales in the pandemic era. 

Questions answered by Josh include:

1. The pandemic radically altered the shopping habits of consumers across the world. In particular, we’ve read a great deal about Instacart’s response to this new demand for home delivery and click & collect commerce solutions. Would you please share with our audience some thoughts on this and how you’ve been able to scale so successfully?
2. Are you able to share with us any metrics about Instacart’s overall penetration and share of grocery eCommerce since the pandemic started and what new retail verticals you’ve entered beyond groceries?
3. Instacart is not only a domestic marketplace, where else have you expanded your coverage?
4. In the midst of the pandemic, Instacart launched a new media platform to help connect brands with all the shoppers on its marketplace. How are you positioning this to brands?
5. You describe this as a self-serve platform. What are the variables that brands have in building campaigns?
6. Are brands able to target purchase-based shopper segments?
7. How is this solution “pay for performance?”
8. What are the metrics that brands can expect to receive when they execute a campaign?
9. What do you think sets Instacart Ads apart from other retail media solutions?
10. What has been the response to this offering by the brand community?

To learn more about Instacart Ads, visit http://ads.instacart.com

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

Sri and PVSB are joined on this episode of The CPG Guys podcast by Kiri Masters, Founder of Bobsled Marketing, an Amazon Consulting Agency & host of the eCommerce Brain Trust podcast.

Topics covered include:

1. What really is happening in the world of Amazon and 3P marketplaces - so much noise everyday?
2. What insights has bobsled found on this during the pandemic? Is it category specific? 
3. Advice for startups - amazon or dtc?
4. Media and Search - are they the same? Should one just double down on AMS?
5. AMS : what are the various tactics available to small brands? Are they any different for scaled brands?
6. What’s the importance of copy for an asin PDP? Does SEO matter?
7. Is winning on amazon an everyday hack or strategic goal setting and staying the course ?
8. What is your advice for q4 and holidays?
9. Walmart 3P is in your wheel house? What’s the construct here and why?
10. Walmart Plus? Serious or a trial? Why?

Learn more about Kiri's business at http://www.bobseldmarketing.com

Subscribe to Kiri's eCommerce Brain Trust podcast here.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.