Mark Wilkinson joins Profitero as VP Sales EMEA from leading market research and technology company IRI. Mark has worked with many of the world’s biggest FMCG brands and in this post, reveals why he’s taking a leap into the world of eCommerce with Profitero.
I’m an FMCG man at heart, having spent the last 18 years at IRI. During my time there, I worked closely with many of the world’s leading consumer brands, including Kellogg’s, Danone, Mars and Nestle, to address business critical issues such as global performance management, multi-channel and on-shelf availability.
However it’s safe to say that for FMCG brands today and over the next few years, the real opportunity lies in eCommerce.
Not a week goes by without new data being released which illustrates the explosive growth from the online channel. For FMCG specifically, recent statistics show that more than 50% of the industry’s growth is expected to come from digital over the next few years.
But it’s not just all about eCommerce sales, as online is shown to have a significant impact on brick-and-mortar sales as well. A recent study from Deloitte highlights digital’s influence on consumer spending in physical stores, which has grown fourfold over the last three years.
Given that digital is set to influence 64 percent of retail store sales by the end of 2015, any FMCG brand today has an urgent need to gain better visibility into their performance across all sales channels in order to maximise this immense eCommerce opportunity.
Getting timely insights into how your product is performing online – from understanding how your product ranks in an online retailer’s search ranking through to knowing what consumers are saying about your brand online – are critical success factors to overall sales.
Which is why I was compelled to join Profitero, a company I selected for its expert team, vision and industry-leading eCommerce analytics solution.
Profitero’s proprietary digital monitoring technology and eCommerce analytics are key to providing consumer brands and retailers with the strategic insights and recommendations that are essential to improving sales on both the digital shelf and in-store.
It’s only week two but I’m truly excited to be joining this business at such a pivotal time for the FMCG industry: to help brands fully understand and exploit the eCommerce opportunity in 2015 and beyond.
Prior to joining Profitero, Mark was Technology Sales Director at IRI where he helped FMCG brands and retailers achieve profitable growth by leveraging insights to optimise their business processes.
