KANSAS CITY, MO — Optimizing sales and expanding distribution are two fundamental goals for every company, whether it’s an early-stage brand or an established commercial baking company. To achieve those goals, brands rely heavily on data and analytics that provide insights about competitors, consumer purchasing behaviors and channel preferences.
Yet, those insights can come with a significant price tag that requires discretionary funds few emerging CPG companies can afford.
During a recent live master class hosted by Julie Pryor, CEO of EmergeCPG — a company dedicated to shortening the learning curve for early-stage entrepreneurs through access to industry leaders, 1:1 coaching and live monthly classes — Brandon Casteel, VP of partnerships, and Daniel Harari, general manager of e-commerce solutions at the consumer data insight company SPINS, shared information about two affordable ways early-stage entrepreneurs can gain the insights they need to growth their companies: SPINS Ignite and Amazon Analytics.
“SPINS Ignite is a new program that is 100 percent complimentary,” Casteel explained. “Our goal is to help emerging companies leverage some insights that can be advantageous when trying to get more product on the shelves in more places.”
According to Casteel, the SPINS Ignite program has three core elements: quarterly performance reports that include current market trends data; the Knowledge Vault, which features foundational knowledge and skills focusing on best practices that can help drive strategic growth; and opportunities to learn from and network with industry experts.
The quarterly performance report breaks down what is occurring in different channels in various regions across the US. It arrives in video format four times a year, and users can sign up for multiple subcategories, which is beneficial if a brand participates in different parts of the store.
“Brands have access to regional growth at retail that they could use to either deepen their penetration sales in their current market or identify new markets for growth,” Casteel shared. “They can also see what attributes are important to the consumers who are purchasing goods with those retailers, which can be helpful in their pitches and growth story.”
He added that the program was built with the brand perspective in mind, and the data can help reveal the root causes behind what’s driving consumer behavior and purchase patterns.
“Our goal is to help emerging companies leverage some insights that can be advantageous when trying to get more product on the shelves in more places.” — Brandon Casteel | VP of partnerships | SPINS
SPINS also launched its Amazon Analytics program, which allows brands to develop innovative products based on Amazon data that identifies emerging trends.
“We’ve taken all of the Amazon data that ClearCut Analytics had available when SPINS acquired it and matched it to the SPINS brick-and-mortar hierarchy in an effort to have Amazon just be another retailer in the feed ecosystem that SPINS provides,” Harari said.
The goal is to help brands identify trends much earlier than they could using only brick-and-mortar data. Users can see which categories are growing and the factors driving that growth, which enables them to identify not only what categories they should consider expanding into but also new product development opportunities.
“The data will help companies track their business and their competitors as well as understand what trends are coming,” Harari added. “Then they will be well-positioned to build those trends into their innovation pipeline and be successful on Amazon and beyond their brick-and-mortar.”
The Amazon program is still in its infancy, with the majority of data currently tailored to the health and wellness industry. Using a phased approach, SPINS plans to add other shelf-stable, non-perishable categories over time. Amazon Analytics is available to emerging brands at entry-level pricing.
Reliable and accurate insights and analytics are essential to early-stage brands that need to make smart, financially sound decisions as they plan and execute their growth strategies including how — and where — to grow. With access to affordable data, brands can zero in on the categories and channels where their money will take them the farthest.
