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The shift from the path to digital road to purchase is starting to cause pain points outside of just brick & mortar retail

Both Coke and Pepsi made comments recently reflecting how their businesses are being negatively impacted as more consumer no longer visit malls driving down purchase incidences (think less people buying in food courts and vending machines). It also seems that CPG, which has long relied on the 3-tier process of getting their goods into the hands of consumers, have just watched the behemoth of Amazon mow down brick & mortar chain one after the other with little regard that is until that same behemoth bought Whole Foods. If anything it should be a wakeup call for CPG marketers to begin racing (not walking) to devise new ways for their products to get in front of and be purchased by their target consumers (see Millennials). But to do so as the below article calls out requires a change in their go-to-market strategies. CPGers that rely on warehouse models may be less affected because one would think they can shift the use of those warehouses to go from stores to homes (can Uber pick-up a delivery at a warehouse?). But it may prove more nettlesome for companies like Pepsi that have a tremendous amount invested in a bottling system designed for delivery to stores. Dismantling that or even considering approaching it would mean running headlong into the frozen middle (see General Motors reference from Roger Smith era). BUT that isn’t to say that everyone will suddenly flip a switch one morning and NEVER go to a brick & mortar to buy a Coke again. So the rationalization begins on how much they should invest, what resources should be allocated to it, what happens to the core store business? A good start would be for CPGers to look at what tech companies that are B2C have done. Especially if they started with a brick and mortar and expanded to omnichannel. What are your thoughts? How or should CPGers even start making the move (and I’m not just talking about selling their products on Amazon either)? Or should their shareowners be content with a shrinking pie that produces predictable profits? http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/pepsico-decries-consumer-trends-battering-retail/309736/?utm_source=digital_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage&ttl=1500573289&utm_visit=682760
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