March 28, 2017 Industry news
Harshal Gore, Industry Engagement Director at GS1 UK, explains why high quality product data is essential to meet the needs of today’s shopper
Digital DNA is bringing retailers and brands together to create a common industry approach for managing product data across the UK grocery sector. It’s recognised that everyone must work together to remove inefficiencies that are holding back industry growth and innovation. But when I talk to people, whether they’re from a retailer or a brand, one thing I always hear is that it’s all about the shopper and all about improving the shopping experience.
Today’s shopping habits have of course changed. It’s about convenience – whether that’s buying online, popping into a local store on the way home from work, or arranging a delivery at a time that suits the shopper, not the retailer. The ways in which shoppers find, compare and buy products has changed too, with more research and comparison being done online, frequently on the move using mobiles. And today’s shopper also has access to more information about products than ever before, and to a growing number of them this information is vital – whether it’s to help choose a product that matches their lifestyle or beliefs, or because of strict dietary or allergen requirements. If they can’t find the information they need they might shop elsewhere, or even end up buying the wrong product – with all the problems that this causes.
This is why it’s essential that shoppers always find complete, accurate and consistent information about every product – wherever they shop, whenever they shop. This means ensuring the same information is shown online and on product packaging – especially when you consider that latest reports show that a quarter of shoppers use nutrition labels to make their choices. For Britain’s two million people who have food allergies getting accurate information is not even a matter of choice – they need to know exactly what they’re getting. And yet, today we’re still faced with the fact that something like 80% of available product data is inconsistent (something that is usually hidden from shoppers).
This is where Digital DNA comes in. The aim of the programme is to ensure shoppers get complete, accurate and consistent product information across every channel they use to shop – in-store or online. This will support their buying decisions based on dietary and allergen requirements, as well as lifestyle choices based on health and wellbeing. And of course this helps protect the shopper from buying the wrong product – which protects the retailer and brand too. And it will help the industry’s bottom line too, by driving brand loyalty and sales.
But Digital DNA is also about building a retail environment that’s fit for the future. Coop Italia’s digitally-led ‘store of the future’ presents shoppers with information through innovative digital touchpoints, screens and interactive technologies, all aimed at enhancing the shopping experience. But imagine doing that with incomplete, inconsistent or, worse of all, incorrect product information? This is why Digital DNA is needed. It’s why retailers and brands are working together – to provide shoppers with the information they need to make safe and confident purchasing decisions, based on their lifestyle choices.
This common industry approach will transform how product data is managed – removing many of the headaches that retailers and brands suffer from within their organisations. It’s an area that should be non-competitive, leaving retailers and brands to focus on what they do best – innovate and grow.
We’re also working with IGD, to see how the Digital DNA programme can help their Healthy Eating programme, which spans the entire food chain and has been co-created by IGD and industry. Like us, they recognise the benefits of working with and through companies, with the ultimate aim of encouraging healthier eating in the UK.
We’re seeing an enormous appetite for change across the industry – it’s why we’re working on Digital DNA with a group of leading retailers and brands. And it’s why we never forget that it’s all about the shopper.
Further reading
Digital DNA - An industry programme to deliver high quality product data
Collaborating to transform product data management for today's grocery world