How to gain market share in the CPG sector

The IRI Infoscan report shows that in 2020, turnover in the food sector increased by 7% in the online channel specifically, at a cost of 75,339 million euros ($88,384M USD).

Meanwhile, Canada ranks second on the countries list of the fastest ecommerce growth in 2020 at 75% growth, in part as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ecommerce isn’t just a trend – it needs to be an important part of your sales strategy. In the online channel, where four main factors – distribution, content, price, and positioning – affect conversion, the analysis and control of both your own and competitor’s products are just as necessary as in the physical channel.

Many CPG brands track their products from traditional points of sale (Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, etc.) as well as from online retailers (Walmart, Amazon) in an automated way to increase their market share.

To do so, they need to know:

• What’s the price retailers are selling their own products at, as well as their competitors?
• Where are the points of sale where pricing details, promotions, image, product description, reviews, etc. are found?
• How many points of sale are shared with the competition, and what are they?
• What are the exclusive points of sale for the competition, and how many are there?
• What websites are products being talked about on, and what’s the sentiment? How does that compare to competitors?
• What page are products positioned on within the ecommerce product category?

To ensure ecommerce success in the CPG sector, monitoring your presence – as well as your competitors' is key.

Just a few years ago, it was common to see employees taking notes detailing their product presence and competitor info in physical stores; in the online ecommerce market, the same strategies are translated to the digital shelf.

Having this information available on a daily basis allows your brand to keep a close eye on your competitors' movements, discover new opportunities, adjust your margins for future negotiations, replenish stock, and improve your position in the market. In addition, tracking distribution and availability are necessary to adjust prices, taking into account market coverage, trends, stock, and competitor prices to increase sales in the online channel.

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