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THE OMNI-CHANNEL FUTURE
A COMPLETE RE-THINKING AND RE-ORIENTATION OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IS IN STORE.
BY JIM PREVOR
When the phrase “Omni-Channel” is used in vain. Retailers, sometimes intentionally, sometimes
mentioned, most people immediately think of digital, and with the acquisi- tion of Whole Foods by Amazon, the colossal issue of combining the “bricks”
with the “clicks” has dominated retailing.
Indeed, there is a real reason for the production, distri-
bution and marketing elements of the produce industry to pay careful attention.
Already, it is quite common for major marketing companies, which have spent fortunes to build their brand identities, to  nd out that their investments in building consumer allegiance may be
18 / JANUARY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
through negligence — or because services such as Instacart have dif culty keeping up with what is happening in the stores — will market branded product on their websites and in their apps, but then deliver totally different product to consumers.
Actually, the issue may be that branded players don’t see this at all. They have not set up mechanisms for monitoring websites and apps, identifying how their brand is used and, even if the branded players had this data, they would be uncertain what to do with it. Of course, the branded marketers could notify the webmaster or store’s marketing department of the error, but it might


































































































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