Digital CPG Blog

BrandWeek reports:

It’s time for brands to bring the commerce experience into their on-  line ecosystems.

How? Companies like Procter & Gamble and Columbia Sportswear are taking the first small steps in this direction by choosing to become e-tailers in their own right, even as they continue to sell their goods and services through their traditional retail partners. They’re linking to products on retail-partner sites, sharing transaction or revenue, and redirecting customers based on product availability. Whatever the tactic, these companies are gaining a first-mover advantage in a rapidly growing trend in online retail. Product brands are wresting control of their customers’ online shopping experience away from the retailers.

Certainly, here at Alice, we’re very cognizant of this trend and the desire manufacturers have to build a more direct relationship with the consumer. E-commerce is one way that manufacturers are going direct in order to gain access to the data that retailers have traditionally held onto to increase brand loyalty and sales.

While non-CPG brands find it easier to go online and direct, CPG brands have it a bit more difficult as the article points out. No one wants to go to ten different sites and ten different checkouts and receive ten different boxes for a purchase that is usually bundled in real-life. Marketplaces like Alice help replicate that real-life shopping experience  for the customer and allows manufacturers access to a shared industry cart. By allowing the manufacturer to hold the relationship with their customer, we also transfer all the benefits and savings to the consumer as well. The direct-to-consumer trend will certainly be exciting to watch as it takes hold of the CPG industry.