The top US food and beverage companies have lost billions in market share since 2009 with shoppers heading towards specialized, fresher products instead of well-known big brands.
To stand out, you need to go niche and move into microvertical markets to keep up.
Continue reading to learn about the 4 things you can do to prepare your business to take on microvertical challenges.
Topics: Food & Beverage, Chemical, Process Manufacturing, Agricultural
Customers want it fast, they want it free, and they want it cheap. And when the order isn’t quite right, they often want to send it back. Especially in the world of e-commerce. While online shopping has been a boon to brands, retailers, and consumers alike, it also has a dark side: returns.
By some estimates, returns will cost U.S. companies as much as $550 billion by 2020. And perhaps no part of the business will bear the burden more than the supply chain. In this episode of Supply Chain Radio, SEKO Logistics’ Brian Bourke and David Schulhof of Red Hot Penny join Matt Gunn to discuss the rising challenge of returns and the future of reverse logistics.
Topics: Fashion & Retail, Fashion & Apparel, retail software, Converged Commerce
Distribution business trends for 2019, the year of moving strategically.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has a lot of people talking. The fact that those people no longer hail primarily from the world of science fiction is representative of just how far the ideas driving this technology have come. AI has entered the mainstream, and it has the technology world buzzing with excitement. The potential applications of AI are vast and varied. And in truth, that is where the real excitement lies—in finding out just how far we can take AI, and in turn, how far it can take us.
Kelly Squizzero, Infor’s Director, Industry & Solution Strategy, points to five key business trends that are shaping distribution business in 2019.
Topics: Distribution, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
Could AI solve that problem? Speed that process? Five important things you should ask to unearth AI opportunities in your organization.This article by Kevin Casey at the Enterprisers Project which is a community of CIOs discussing the future of business and IT, provides actionable insights on how IT and business leaders can think clearly about where AI might be a good fit.
Topics: AI, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
MASTER SERIES FOR MANUFACTURING: Part 1 - A webinar designed to share a knowledge base for manufacturing sciences & technology and applications to improve production performance.
As we hear more about Industry 4.0; Industrial Internet of Things, and The Digital Factory, it might be a good time to reflect and develop a “Common Language” as it pertains to the word “Manufacturing.”
Since every word has specific meaning, we should ensure that terms such as “Manufacturing” and “Manufacturing Technology” are understood and articulated with a shared language.
This effort could also serve a very useful purpose as we review the developments in the past century and plan ahead for future ones.
“Manufacturing” is the REPETITIVE use of an organized collection of Physical processes, Information Processes and the combination of the two to achieve the “Product” at the required quantity, quality, cost, time and place.
It is the repetitive use of all processes that distinguish “manufacturing” from research, design, product development, etc.
Topics: Digital Transformation, ERP, Manufacturing, Food & Beverage, Webinar, Process Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Fashion PLM
David Dorf of Infor and Emily Rudin of CrowdTwist join us to discuss why you don’t have to give away margin to encourage customer loyalty. They say brand loyalty is a two-way street, and retailers should reward their most valuable customers with priceless experiences that go way beyond member discounts. Listen now to find out how Infor Loyalty powered by CrowdTwist enables retailers to connect with customers in meaningful ways, with experiences that matter to them. Listen now:
Topics: Fashion & Retail, Fashion & Apparel, retail software, Converged Commerce
Bringing products to market to meet the growing demands of consumers is getting increasingly complex. The demand for additive-free, non-GMO, low calorie, and fresh products is not just a fad. Conscientious consumers focus on health, wellness, and social issues as they shop for family meals. They will take into consideration clean labels, visibility into suppliers, humane treatment of animals, and environmental sustainability.
This is adding to the burden on food and beverage companies as they struggle to comply with vague definitions and evolving standards for compliance. Today’s clean label movement is an example of consumer demand for informative labels and products free of added chemicals, colors, and unnecessary ingredients. While food and beverage companies may want to seize the opportunity to appeal to a market that has spending power, the task isn’t easy. Definitions evolve, as do expectations.
Topics: Manufacturing, Food & Beverage, Infor Optiva, CloudSuite Food & Beverage
By Guy Courtin - Vice President Industry & Solution Strategy, Retail and Fashion at Infor Retail
Abandon all hope, all ye who enter stores. Consumers are taking their shopping online, and there’s no turning back. Or is there?
For all the hype and horror-stories concerning retail’s physical demise, data shows that only about 10% of all U.S. transactions came through e-commerce in 2018. While it still accounts for just a small portion of all retail sales, e-commerce continues to grow at a steady rate of about 8% per quarter. Bottom line, physical stores still have a prominent role for retailers and will continue to do so for a long time.
Topics: Retail, Supply Chain, Online Retail, E-Commerce, Technology
According to Gartner, more than 3,000 CIOs ranked Business Intelligence (BI) and Analytics as the top differentiating technology for their organizations. If BI and Analytics is such a game-changer, then why is the average adoption rate in organizations only 32%? Despite the efforts of Cloud BI vendors making it easier for users to acquire, explore, and analyze data sources without IT dependency, lack of data literacy and analytic skills still hinder widespread adoption for data-driven decision making. But the industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation. The mainstream arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) brings with it the potential to finally meet the demand for actionable, enterprise-wide, fact-based decision making.
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Business Intelligence, Cloud BI, Data Visualization, Networked BI
MASTER SERIES FOR MANUFACTURING: Part 1 - A webinar designed to share a knowledge base for manufacturing sciences & technology and applications to improve production performance.
As we hear more about Industry 4.0; Industrial Internet of Things, and The Digital Factory, it might be a good time to reflect and develop a “Common Language” as it pertains to the word “Manufacturing.”
Since every word has specific meaning, we should ensure that terms such as “Manufacturing” and “Manufacturing Technology” are understood and articulated with a shared language.
This effort could also serve a very useful purpose as we review the developments in the past century and plan ahead for future ones.
“Manufacturing” is the REPETITIVE use of an organized collection of Physical processes, Information Processes and the combination of the two to achieve the “Product” at the required quantity, quality, cost, time and place.
It is the repetitive use of all processes that distinguish “manufacturing” from research, design, product development, etc.
Topics: Digital Transformation, ERP, Manufacturing, Food & Beverage, Webinar, Process Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Fashion PLM