• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 20, 2018

“CPG have traditionally done everything in the offline world and bought in-store,” said Ryan Rolf, vice president of data solutions at Lotame. “Now there’s a massive shift by brands bringing products online from soups to cereals. That data is fascinating and there are a lot of companies sitting on that data like Amazon and Walmart.”

Still, marketers at brands like P&G and Unilever have made it clear they will take a more active role when it comes to how agencies spend their company’s advertising and marketing budget as consumers begin buying more consumer packaged goods online.

For U.S. marketers across the consumer product goods (CPG) industry, the validity and precision of the data collected and how it is sourced and used remains a top priority. In fact, U.S. marketers will spend an estimated $12.3 billion on data this year, up to $15 billion in 2019, according to OnAudience.com .  

Developers at data company Lotame have been creating analytics capabilities to build profiles that attribute where the data originated and verify the quality. It’s all about making sure third-party data remains transparent, he said.

Rolf said he’s tried ordering products from meal-delivery services like Plated and Blue Apron, along with fresh fruit and vegetables. The consumer searches online and then orders online for pickup in the store when it is convenient for them.   

“We will see that the data from CPG companies is very different once companies analyze the links to find the connections behind the behavior,” he said. “I think the data will show they look a lot different than what we have seen in years of data related to offline purchases.”