Retailers tame consumer goods supply chain with e-commerce tools

Retailers are turning to new technologies to help them manage the logistics of keeping their shelves stocked with consumer packaged goods, driving new demand for e-commerce software, a new study shows.

Consumer packaged Goods (CPG), also known as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), include consumable items such as beverages, toiletries, and over-the-counter drugs. Market analysts use this category of low-cost, fast-selling goods to contrast with durable goods, such as kitchen appliances and other high-value, seldom-replaced goods.

With their quick turnover and low profit margin, CPGs can present a challenge for retailers that have not developed a lean, efficient supply chain.

In response to this challenge, retailers are seeking solutions in online shopping and other e-commerce platforms, according to the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Retail Innovation Report, a market study released Thursday by The Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART), a Los Angeles-based market research firm.

The five most popular solution areas of interest for retailers in FMCG are:

* online shopping and other e-commerce

* tablet point of sale (POS) & mobile checkout,

* inventory management,

* in-store marketing, and

* mobile workforce management.

CART determined the list by studying the search and related activity of more than 30,000 users representing every state in the U.S., and compiling a proprietary scoring index from the data. The purpose of the study was to provide industry executives with objective insight about the areas of innovation their peers are focused on.

“The eCommerce space is evolving rapidly, and each day that FMCG retailers delay puts them further behind,” CART CEO Gary Hawkins said in a release. “There is an opportunity for brick-and-mortar retailers to learn from digital-only merchant best practices as physical supermarkets move online.”