Digitization is changing consumers’ lives and hence their
shopping behavior, which affects the “moments of truth,”
the critical points when shoppers make their choices. They
expect to find information through multiple channels and
devices — and they expect to find it quickly. They are looking
for consistency and convergence among different technologies.
And they expect more transparency into product information,
availability and price.
At the same time, demand for resources like food, water and
energy is rising rapidly, particularly as increasing economic
prosperity in emerging countries puts pressure on the world’s
ecosystem. As global demand for resources rises, access
becomes more competitive, with the potential for demand to
outstrip easily available supplies in the next decade.
Through the course of the Emerging Trends/Future Value
Chain project, these two trends stood out as having the
potential to significantly alter the industry landscape. In
addition, they were not already being addressed by The
Consumer Goods Forum’s other Strategic Pillars.
Initiatives to Drive Change
To begin to address these two mega trends the Emerging
Trends/Future Value Chain team identified three key initiatives
for collaborative action:
• Consumer Engagement Protocol: develop a code of
conduct for digital engagement with consumers. This project
is designed to address the technology-driven changes being
witnessed in consumer behavior. The project is focused on
identifying potential risks and opportunities and establishing
guidelines for digital engagement to ensure that initiatives we
drive, as an industry, do not compromise our reputation.
• Next-Generation Product Identification: transform
product identification and information. Today, in a world of
rapidly expanding online commerce solutions, bar codes are
unable to provide consumers with the rich digital product
information they seek. This project is designed to identify a
solution to this issue.