In one of Deloitte's latest studies on the outlook for the retail sector, published in 2022, the authors analyse the opportunities and challenges of the industry, based on various international experience.  

Common features of the strategic plans for the future include an emphasis on expanding digitalisation capabilities, equipping the workforce for future challenges, automation, modernising supply channels and improving data protection and security capabilities.   

In an increasingly competitive environment, FMCG players are also relying more on the latest digital solutions. One such solution with versatile capabilities is the Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud, which can significantly help FMCG companies.   

One of the industry's newest Salesforce solutions is Consumer Goods Retail Execution – it focuses primarily on effective communication and collaboration between brands and stores, supporting the efficient operation of retail stores and helping to plan visits.

– said István Szegedi (Solution Architect), Senior Manager of Deloitte Hungary's Technology Consulting business.

Salesforce, as the world's number one CRM and Customer 360 solution provider, has made significant developments and acquisitions in recent years with the aim of adding various industry-specific solutions to its product portfolio, in addition to standard platform capabilities (sales, marketing, business analytics). The Consumer Goods Cloud includes a significantly extended data model defined according to industry needs, pre-defined components supporting business processes and elements to customise the user interface. The solution, which also includes smartphone support (a dedicated Consumer Goods Cloud app can be downloaded for Apple and Android devices), supports the following areas without any extra customised development:  

Detailed information on shops and products, as well as promotions. Consumer Goods Cloud includes billing and delivery addresses of stores, opening hours, preferred visiting hours, products and promotions. 

Merchandise territories and merchants can be grouped together using the Salesforce Maps functionality. By displaying the commercial areas and stores on a map, the solution enables the definition of optimal commercial areas and the efficient allocation of retailers.  

Another Salesforce Maps-based solution supporting the planning of visits to shops. The software plans the best route according to the commercial areas, priorities and number of visits. 

Support for tasks related to visits to shops. Store visiting members of the retail team can easily check promotions, stock and product placement, as well as place orders, either from a browser on a laptop or using the dedicated mobile app from their phone. It is also possible to fill in questionnaires this way. 

Statistics and KPIs for the stores.The software supports a variety of metrics that allow retail managers to define KPIs and compare stores based on how well they have met product placement or promotional expectations. In addition, the CRM Analytics solution can be used to create dashboards to better understand team or product performance. 

Thanks to recent developments, the solution can also be integrated with the Salesforce Customer Data Platform.This integration also enables support for customised marketing campaigns and loyalty programmes.  

The future is smart commerce solutions. The more effectively we can support businesses and brands, the more successful they can be and the better equipped they can be to meet the challenges of the market and the times.

– said István Szegedi.