Although COVID-19 has affected every industry, there are some it has changed more than others. Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) are two such industries that have undergone irreversible transformation. Fortunately, most changes driven by the pandemic will prove to be positive in the long term. For the moment, however, CPG organizations are trying to decode the changes and examine how technological interventions can be applied for a stable and sustainable response to new consumer behavior. The experience of our global CPG clients shows that the answer lies in creating a digital, agile and real-time data-driven organization. To begin with, new consumer segments have emerged, there is a growing demand for new products, the buying behaviors have changed and the fulfillment channels have shifted from physical to digital.

They have to strike a balance between maintaining top-line revenue growth and managing sustainable profit margins. The reason why the task becomes difficult is because they have to do so while managing a dynamic set of operations. Moreover, a shift in consumer preferences, advances in data & analytics, channel shifts, and pandemic-led disruptions have created new challenges for retail and CPG companies. However, in the current market scenario, they also have the opportunity to upgrade RGM, thereby creating equilibrium between growth and efficiency. They can increase the use of complex and action-oriented analytics across the product catalogue, optimize value capture approaches, use automated technology, and partner with retailers for shared value creation. Competitiveness has considerably intensified within the CPG industry.

Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked startups developing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. The insights of this data-driven analysis are derived from the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 1.379.000 The platform gives you an exhaustive overview of emerging technologies & relevant startups within a specific field in just a few clicks.

There are several techniques in use in various stages if maturity in retail and e-commerce. Many different tools and techniques feed into AI powered price optimization for retailers. When used together these can drive very significant top line and bottom-line results for retailers, and allow them to be much more agile in their response to changes in market conditions like competition, costs, inventory levels, and more. Here are the top 10 "need to know" concepts in the use of AI in price optimization for retailers. The first key in optimizing pricing is understanding how to group together like products, stores, and potentially customers.

As with most businesses today, those in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry have, and continue to undergo a rapid transformation in the age of new and emerging technologies. In this typically resource-intensive space, enterprises are increasingly looking to harness the power of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and advanced analytics to augment the roles of human teams. Given the highly fragmented, complex nature of the CPG industry, there are several factors involved in creating an optimal trade promotion strategy. As per a report by the Promotion and Optimization Institute, businesses spend as much as 15-20% of their total revenue annually on trade promotion and related activities. However, traditional trade promotion approaches left much to be desired.

Peggy explains how innovation is impacting CPG (consumer packaged goods). She explains how CPG is different from retail, reasons why CPG companies need to be thinking about innovation and the IoT (Internet of Things), and challenges. She explains how CPG companies need to start planning now how they are going to get their products in front of consumers.

Consumers today enjoy new levels of shopping convenience, brought to them by the rise of click and collect, home delivery and subscription models. Channel blurring, or consumers moving purchases of a product to alternative channels, has had a noticeable effect on where consumers shop, what products manufacturers and retailers sell, and how they sell them. According to IRI, online sales of consumer packaged goods rose 35.4% in 2018, with more than half of purchases coming from pure-play online retailers. Thus, in order to remain successful, CPG companies must be able to quickly and accurately identify opportunities for growth beyond traditional store formats. Technology powered by artificial intelligence can better understand where consumers are shopping, as well as their purchase preferences and habits, in order to optimize a CPG's approach to marketing and promotions.

But first, let's dive a little deeper into understanding AI and how it uses various technologies to create practical applications for the CPG industries: Making intelligent business decisions is critical for any industry, but particularly so for the CPG segment. Effective decision-making across a variety of business areas forms the backbone of the CPG business. These decisions have to be made fast and with utmost accuracy. But how can businesses achieve this when they're bogged down by massive amounts of data? Coupled with the sheer amount of data is the challenge of not being able to leverage any manner of advanced technology to convert it into actionable intelligence.

I've been to dozens of retail-related conferences in the past year, most of which were attended by retailers, brands and early-growth companies seeking to gain traction in the retail ecosystem. Over the year, I've seen a continuous increase in the number of AI-driven technologies and companies showcasing solutions for retailers. I've also observed growing interest in these innovations among retailers. Because as multichannel retailers continue to fight age-old problems such as inaccurate inventory, stockouts and overstocks, overstretched and undertrained store associates, and suboptimal pricing, advances in AI targeting these problems are proving their ROI. AI, or machine intelligence, is human-like or intelligent behavior exhibited by computers and machines that are "trained" by data to make autonomous decisions.

I've been to dozens of retail-related conferences in the past year, most of which were attended by retailers, brands and early-growth companies seeking to gain traction in the retail ecosystem. Over the year, I've seen a continuous increase in the number of AI-driven technologies and companies showcasing solutions for retailers. I've also observed growing interest in these innovations among retailers. Because as multichannel retailers continue to fight age-old problems such as inaccurate inventory, stockouts and overstocks, overstretched and undertrained store associates, and suboptimal pricing, advances in AI targeting these problems are proving their ROI. AI, or machine intelligence, is human-like or intelligent behavior exhibited by computers and machines that are "trained" by data to make autonomous decisions.