eCommerce Tops CART Fast Moving Consumer Goods Index

Of the top five solutions-oriented areas of interest to retailers, online shopping in general, and eCommerce in particular, is at the forefront of their agendas at a rate 2.15 times the average, so finds Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART)'s inaugural Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Retail Innovation Report.

Based on a proprietary scoring index it developed on the search and related activity of more than 30,000 users representing every state in the U.S., CART's insightful FMCG Retail Innovation Report provides industry executives objective insight and guidance to the specific areas of innovation their peers are focused on.

Noting that eCommerce initiatives provide both risk and reward for FMCG retailers and brands, CART believes there are ample opportunities for brands to collaborate with retailers to influence online purchase decisions in real-time through product suggestions and targeted promotions communicated through the online user experience.

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

As a growing portion of industry sales move online, FMCG retailers must adapt or risk losing share to retailers that are embracing eCommerce, affirms Hawkins.

Tablet POS and mobile checkout, inventory management, in-store marketing, and mobile workforce management rounded out the top five solution areas of interest for retailers in FMCG.

“It is apparent when reviewing the data generated by users of the CART platform that the retail industry is evolving rapidly,” said Hawkins. “While there is a lot of talk about the growth of eCommerce and online shopping, the importance to retailers of developing capability is driven home when seeing objective data showing that this is the number one area of interest. Likewise, understanding industry focus on transforming the checkout experience, along with merchandise assortment optimization, in-store marketing, and mobile workforce management clearly calls out what retailers must focus on to keep pace with their competitors.”

CART also found that retail innovation interest was predominant around the periphery of the country. The report shows that retail innovation is thriving in key areas as six states (California, Washington, New York, Illinois, Virginia and Texas) drove nearly 60 percent of platform use.

For more information or to download the report, click here.