Consumer Markets

In order for Consumer Product and Retail (CPR) actors to keep their current customers and to pursue growth in the long-term run, it is essential not only to get insight of future consumer behavior but to get an extended foresight. The watchwords for this challenge are anticipation, prediction, and customization of the customer experience. To do so, not only companies need to keep collecting data and to multiply entry points, but they need to treat and analyze this data efficiently and to produce concrete usable and personalized forecast for each customer.

The pre-covid Consumer Markets macro-sector was already a very disrupted sector with the adoption of new technologies and usages before the Covid-19 crisis. The global pandemic effect on the sector was to force and accelerate the adoption of these new consumer behaviors such as online payment, click & collect, fast delivery… It is quite a challenge for companies to adopt these new tools, especially as they have to do this rapidly. Building an integrated omnichannel customer experience with all of these tools is now the standard leading the industry. It is essential that this experience is simultaneously based on data exploitation and on the adoption of new technologies (web and mobile applications, order via voice assistants…) in order to retain customers and to create loyal communities. UpWider helps companies to integrate these tools to the organizational structure with agility and efficiency.

The modern consumer is not the same we knew at the beginning of the 21st century. Today’s consumer is more cautious and more aware of its social impact, especially after the various hard lockdowns that most of them experienced. The more discerning consumer represents an opportunity for companies to attract them. It is essential to understand what the consumer is now seeking for in a product, brand, or company in a more customer-centric experience. The affordability of services and goods is becoming a less important concern for the customer, but the environmental impact, the personal experience and the health are today’s customer fastest growing concerns. That means companies have to rethink their catalogs, their products, packaging, marketing, and even their infrastructures in some cases.

A challenge that the actors of the Consumer Markets industry are facing for years now is the arrival of newcomers that are challenging the entire sector. These actors are formidable competitors as they often benefit from greater economy of scale, more freedom in their actions than traditional players, and they offer cutting edge experiences to the consumers such as contactless shops, new technology, super targeted and personalized content… For the traditional actors this means adaptation with new marketing strategies, a refocusing on food and groceries for stone & mortar stores, and an overall improvement of the user in and off-store experience.