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Circana’s Growth Insights podcast series delves into the data to reveal consumer, shopper, and other insights that fuel market changes and growth for those in the CPG, retail, health care and media industries. Join Circana thought leaders, industry partners and guests to learn how opportunities, trends and market disruptions will impact your business.
Episodes
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023
Turning the Tide of Tech
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023
Consumer tech purchases for school, work, and entertainment were high during the pandemic. Tech items also have a long lifecycle, with replacements occurring on average every four years. The net result is a sluggish consumer tech industry in 2023. Circana’s Mike Crosby, executive director, industry advisor for commercial and consumer technology, and Paul Gagnon, vice president, industry advisor, consumer technology, share their outlook on the consumer tech market for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024.
Highlights:
- Most tech sales take place at the end of the year, from back-to-school season through the winter holidays. Retailers and manufacturers should use digital platforms to encourage consumers to shop in store, an easier place to showcase wares and adjacent products.
- Innovation in consumer tech took a back seat to production during the pandemic. Look for the innovation pipeline to fill again at the close of 2023 and into 2024. There’s excitement around AR/VR as Meta ups its game and Apple enters the arena.
- Consumers might be ready for tech upgrades and replacements, but budgets are tight. Many consumers will look for ways to extend the life of products they already own. Retailers and manufacturers should be prepared for the upcoming holiday season with optimal innovation or promotions — or both.
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
How CPG Retailers Can Rewrite Their Summer Playbook
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Inflation is high, which might limit discretionary spending and travel for many. Still, it’s summer and consumers are making the most of pandemic investments made in outdoor spaces, grills, and smokers. Now is the time for retailers to rewrite their summer playbook and merchandise for a new generation. Learn some tips and tricks from Jonna Parker, principal of Circana’s Fresh Center of Excellence and Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 210 Analytics.
Highlights:
- Meat might still be king of the grill, but its increasingly sharing space with vegetables, plant-based meat alternatives and different types of protein.
- Brands that cross-promote across categories and retailers that highlight convenient solutions see a bigger sales lift. Consider the opportunities of educating and inspiring consumers with products from across the store to build bigger baskets around the theme of grilling, for example.
- With more retail channels competing in fresh, too many are selling the same products and traditional price promotions aren’t delivering lift. Consider digital ads and messaging to target and connect with shoppers and get them to make the trip to the store.
- Retailers don’t necessarily need to change their assortments, but they should rethink how they merchandise. Consider different colors and merchandising strategies to position products in new ways.
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
Bold, Healthy Options Lead the Sweets & Snacks Innovation Awards
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
Innovation is a foundational attribute of Circana, so its sponsorship of The Sweets & Snacks Expo’s Most Innovative New Product Awards makes perfect sense. Sally Lyons Wyatt, Circana’s executive vice president and practice leader of client insights, and Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 210 Analytics, share insights on the winning trends and attributes.
Highlights:
- Sweets and snacks are often an impulse purchase, so innovation in this area is particularly important. Older consumers look for innovation from their trusted brands, while younger consumers are attracted to global flavors and interesting experiences.
- Award-winning products made the most of packaging. They presented a sophisticated and clean front panel and told the brand/company story on the back panel.
- While bold and fun flavors dominated, other winners included sustainable products, allergy-friendly options, and products that mixed function with fun (such as energy- and vitamin-boosting candies).
Monday Jun 12, 2023
Complete Wallet’s Total Omni Shopper View
Monday Jun 12, 2023
Monday Jun 12, 2023
The merger of IRI and NPD ― now Circana ― brings together data and expertise from 20 industries, including CPG, general merchandise, and foodservice. These combined resources across 30 shopping channels, hundreds of retailers, and more than 1,200 categories enable Complete Wallet™, the most complete view of what, where, how, and when consumers buy. Patty Altman and Michelle Bennett, executive vice presidents of Consumer and Shopper Insights at Circana, describe the opportunities Complete Wallet unlocks.
Highlights:
- Timely information — fueled by receipt panel data, consumer surveys, and myriad other data sets and technologies — identifies consumer lifestyle shifts as they happen in real time.
- Brands, retailers, and other industry players are able to expand their perspective on the shopper to identify new opportunities for growth.
- This more complete view also identifies consumer purchasing priorities across all categories as well as by shopper type, from SNAP recipients to generational cohorts.
Tuesday May 30, 2023
CPG Retail’s Role in Lifting Consumer Confidence
Tuesday May 30, 2023
Tuesday May 30, 2023
CPG retail is feeling the impact of tumbling consumer confidence. Ongoing inflation and anticipation of a recession have consumers pulling back on stock-up trips and instead shifting to quick trips and sticking to their shopping lists. In this Fresh Pulse episode, Jonna Parker, principal, Fresh Center of Excellence at Circana and Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 210 Analytics, share proven strategies that inspire shoppers and drive loyalty.
- 40% of shoppers report combatting inflation by stretching meals and minimizing waste. Produce benefits from quick trips, as consumers buy only what they need and consume what they have. With produce considered essential, retailers should hone their EDLP strategies.
- Retailers don’t have to “own” the entire meal. Fresh items can complement both convenience items or meal components sourced from foodservice.
- With promotions still down compared to pre-pandemic, retailers should leverage their digital assets, including coupons, social media and QR codes, to make recommendations for shoppers.
Monday May 22, 2023
Consumer Insights from Mobility and Transportation
Monday May 22, 2023
Monday May 22, 2023
Why, where, and when people drive changed dramatically during the pandemic. Many of those shifts are proving sticky — with big implications for the CPG and retail industries. In this podcast, Circana’s Nathan Shipley shares insights on the impacts these changes are having on the auto aftermarket. He also explores how remote work and consumer mobility trends are affecting CPG consumption and how shifts in local and distance travel could change retail.
Highlights:
- Working from home has meant more local trips and more demand for on-the-go products from untethered workers who are combining business with leisure travel.
- Airline disruptions have driven more people to drive for travel, as has the pandemic boom in RV purchases.
- New car sales are coming back but are tempered by high interest rates. Many Americans are continuing to invest in their current vehicles to defer the purchase of a new car.
Friday May 19, 2023
Leveraging the Complete View of the Beauty Market
Friday May 19, 2023
Friday May 19, 2023
Insights that are anything but skin deep. Circana’s Larissa Jensen, vice president and beauty industry advisor, describes the power of Circana’s Complete Beauty™ capabilities, including a full view of mass and prestige sales and consumer behavior across skincare, makeup, hair and fragrance.
Highlights:
- A majority of beauty sales occur in brick-and-mortar stores, given the experiential nature of products like color cosmetics and fragrance. But the technical side of beauty, including key ingredients and promised performance, fare well online.
- Learn how beauty products are part of consumers’ shifting attitudes toward wellness.
- Consumers are turning to beauty to satisfy their treat mindset. Learn which categories are answering the call.
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Observations and Insights Across the Retail Landscape
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Circana’s Don Unser, president of thought leadership and Marshal Cohen, chief industry advisor for the retail industry, share observations and insights into the nearly $3 trillion U.S. retail landscape. Tapping into Circana’s Complete Store™ measurement of online and offline sales across CPG, general merchandise and foodservice, retailers, manufacturers and operators will learn how consumer behaviors are impacting shopping today, and how they can plan for what comes next.
Highlights:
Consumers view of grocery shopping is an exercise of “extreme essentials,” indicating they are grudgingly paying higher prices for fast-moving consumer goods. Consumers’ approach to general merchandise, however, is with a “discrete discretionary” mindset, where they need to replenish items that are nearing the end of their lifecycle, such as for well-worn activewear.
Retailers and manufacturers have been focused on share growth, but by the end of 2023 and into 2024, expect a shift in outlook to be about margin growth. The pie, folks, isn’t getting any bigger.
Learn the impact that economic indicators such as jobs, wages, online shopping, even work-from-home is having on consumer spending, particularly for “potent purchases” and “impact purchases.”
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
Food and Beverage Consumer Trends — Frugal Fatigue
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
As consumers wrestle with inflation and resume busy lifestyles, it’s critical to stay ahead of their shifting consumption trends. Circana now provides the most complete view of the $1.5 trillion CPG retail and foodservice landscape in the U.S. — from supply chain through consumption — so you can unlock business growth. Circana’s Joan Driggs, Vice President of Content and Thought Leadership and David Portalatin, Senior Vice President and Industry Advisor, Food and Foodservice, highlight the clarity this new capability uncovers.
Highlights:
- Identify the daypart that reverted to pre-pandemic volume.
- Understand how the notion of home centricity started before the pandemic but accelerated between 2020 and 2021.
- Explore the ways the industry’s affordability can uniquely support consumers experiencing frugal fatigue and seeking to reward themselves or boost their mental and emotional well-being.
Friday Mar 24, 2023
Fresh Pulse: Strategies Amid Declining Volume
Friday Mar 24, 2023
Friday Mar 24, 2023
Volume is down more than 4% across the store in February, but a little less so in fresh departments. Despite the dim outlook, Jonna Parker, principal of Circana’s Fresh Center of Excellence, and Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 210 Analytics, highlight some bright spots in fresh and share some creative promo strategies they’ve seen, as well as some valuable insights on pricing.
Key takeaways:
- Fresh – and especially the meat department – is a three-legged stool for 2023: affordability, permissibility, and favorability.
- As cash-strapped and frustrated shoppers search for deals, consider “stacking promos” or shelf tags that remind shoppers how much prices have dropped for certain products.
- Be careful with pricing strategies, however. Use data to understand price sensitivity and learn which tactics will “move the needle.”