Aval Patel

Our very own Cyndi Loza, Senior Editor at the Path to Purchase Institute, joined The CPG Guys podcast to break down the latest Retail Media Networks Benchmarking Report — and she crushed it. Cyndi brought the data, the insights, and the perspective that only the Path to Purchase Institute can deliver. This report has the industry buzzing, and for good reason: Which retail media networks are truly best-in-class? Who’s leading in measurement frameworks? Who’s easiest to work with (and who’s… not)? Which networks are actually integrated with merchants? Some of the findings will validate what you already know — but others might surprise you. And yes, some RMNs missed the mark entirely. Huge congrats to Cyndi on an outstanding episode — give it a listen. https://lnkd.in/eg9kRn78 #RetailMedia #ShopperMarketing #P2PI #TheCPGGuys #MediaMeasurement #RMN #LeadershipMoment Peter V.S. Bond Sri Rajagopalan

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Doug McMillon’s decision to step down marks the end of one of the most significant leadership periods in modern retail. There have been some excellent tributes to his impact but there’s a perspective I think is worth adding. For much of his time as CEO, my work at IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution) involved staying close to Walmart’s global strategy, visiting stores, following the major shifts, and understanding how decisions played out on the ground. That proximity has shaped how I’ve come to view his leadership. Doug made decisions that were bold, sometimes unpopular, and often reversed, and that, for me, is precisely what defined his tenure. Walmart acquired Jet.com to accelerate digital capability, integrated what it needed, and then moved past the brand once the lessons had been absorbed. Pickup Towers were rolled out to understand the next stage of click-and-collect and later removed as behaviour and technology evolved. Across the decade, Walmart tested widely, scaled where the logic held, and stepped back when it didn’t, at a pace rarely seen in a business of this size. Internationally, his leadership was equally decisive. Walmart made a series of major international divestments, stepping back from the UK, Brazil, Argentina and Japan, choices that were never easy, but made with clarity about where long-term competitive advantage truly existed. At the same time, he doubled down on markets where Walmart could win with conviction. These moves reshaped the company’s global footprint and signalled a more disciplined approach to international strategy across the sector. His biggest impact, though, was cultural. Walmart made a landmark wage investment and created the Walmart Academies, structural commitments that rebuilt the capability of the organisation from the inside out. They changed the business more fundamentally than any single technology programme. What stood out, consistently, was his humility. For the CEO of the world’s largest retailer, there was no ego in the room. He listened carefully, spoke plainly, and always anchored decisions in associates, customers, and communities. Through all the change, he stayed focused on preserving and renewing Sam Walton’s culture: save people money, make their lives easier. People sometimes point to the reversals as signs that Walmart changed direction too often. I’ve always seen something else: a level of agility rarely achieved at global scale. Doug McMillon normalised a mindset of trying early, learning fast, and moving on when the world changed, while holding firmly to the company’s values. It quietly reset expectations not just within Walmart, but across global retail. His tenure won't be defined by what stayed. It will be defined by the willingness to change direction at scale, without losing who Walmart is. That is the legacy that will endure.

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Same-day grocery is easy to promise and very hard to do profitably. Most retailers start with the P&L. They ask: how do we make same-day work without destroying margins? They add fees, cut assortment, outsource the experience. On paper it looks fine. In reality, NPS drops, repeat rates fall and the unit economics never really improve. At Rohlik Group we took the opposite path. We started from customer obsession: would I be proud to offer this to my own family? That meant same-day delivery as a standard, 15-min time windows, ultra-fresh product and almost perfect availability. NPS became our daily report card. I still read NPS comments every morning. Every late van, every bad substitution, shows up immediately as a lower NPS, and we treat it as a defect in the system, not a problem with the customer. To deliver same-day at scale while keeping a very high NPS (80+ in all markets), you cannot rely on spreadsheets and point solutions. You need an AI-native operating system that: • Sees the whole journey end-to-end – from demand to fulfilment to last mile. • Orchestrates people, robots and vans in real time to keep every promise. • Optimises every decision for both customer happiness (NPS) and contribution margin. When you do this, customer obsession and economics stop fighting each other. You can be faster, more reliable and more personal than the local store, and still be profitable order by order. That is exactly the system we built inside Rohlik. And we are opening it up as Veloq – an AI-driven operating platform that helps grocers deliver same-day service with top-tier NPS and strong unit economics. Let me know if you are interested in learning more!

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Whole Foods Market reveals its plans to open 2 more locations of its smaller-format Daily Shop store -- including its 1st in New Jersey -- before the end of the year, Full story: https://lnkd.in/gBeDvP_w #foodretail #grocery #wholefoods

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Tariffs are about to decimate emerging CPG brands and the retailers that bet on them. When tariffs spike to the degree that was announced yesterday, margin disappears. Suddenly your $3 landed cost becomes $3.60. Your wholesale price to retailers doesn’t budge. And your already-tight unit economics? Cooked. For brands scaling into retail this is an existential threat. Expect fewer major retail launches. More brands getting delisted. Attempting to take price which I’d expect buyers to push back on. And a widening gap between the haves and have-nots: at scale brands who can absorb it vs. everyone else. The brands that survive will be the ones who: 1️⃣ Rework their COGS aggressively now. 2️⃣ Locked in alternative suppliers before the impending rush. 3️⃣ Get brutally honest about what costs you can pass through 4️⃣ Build retailer relationships based on collaboration, not desperation Hard to see how this economic blunt instrument makes us more competitive or prosperous long term. Big L for the consumer ecosystem.

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The CEO of Target stepped down. He couldn't fix the declining sales. My question is: Has he ever been to a Target store? How disconnected was he from the stores? I have been wondering for years why Target never fixed the checkout process. Always max 2 cashiers and limited self registers. Big lines of customers waiting to checkout and always noticed people leaving without completing the purchase, and probably never coming back. Market Research is key...but sometimes you just need to be a customer too to put yourself into customers' shoes and understand WHAT you need to research. Customer Experience and Reputation can bring you to heaven, step by step, but can also make you fall to hell in few days. #Target #CX #Reputation

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Big consumer brands are increasingly integrating retail media into their core strategies and banking on its ability to unify brand and commerce, even while measurement questions around true incremental impact remain unresolved. But here’s the tension: ✅ Investment is accelerating ✅ Retail networks are scaling ❓ Incrementality remains unclear ❓ Creative quality remains inconsistent In my experience, retail media creative is often the weakest link. It's templated, transactional, and disconnected from broader brand and content strategy. If retail media is becoming a core growth engine, then parallel evolution is required: - Content must become retailer-specific and algorithm-aware - SKU-level assets must be instrumented and continuously optimized - Measurement must move beyond ROAS to creative-level intelligence Otherwise, retail media becomes expensive paid shelf space. Curious how others are thinking about the creative + data side of retail media’s rise.

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Is there innovation stagnation in the CPG industry? As consumer preferences change rapidly, big CPGs are buying rather than creating - is it a good strategy? Mintel LCP Matt Valle recently broke down PepsiCo’s acquisition of poppi, and the calculated strategy rooted in the complexities of changing consumer trends. Should your brand re-evaluate current growth strategies? Read more: https://bit.ly/3GmaXKB

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This article really resonated with me. Having led large, distributed teams across CPG and Retail, I’ve seen firsthand how frontline empowerment can transform both performance and culture. When teams are trusted with clarity, structure, and real decision-making authority — and supported by consistent rhythms, coaching, and feedback loops — results follow. Productivity rises, engagement improves, and the business becomes stronger. And, it looks like BCG was able to quantify the impact — from profit growth of 5–10% to a doubling of time spent on value-added work. It reinforces what many great operators know intuitively: sustainable growth starts on the front line. Worth a read! https://lnkd.in/e3XTwaqK

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There are a lot of questions swirling on what’s going to happen in CPG as the consumer reacts to the administration’s actions. Things to consider: 1. The vast majority of consumers have already positioned themselves as strategically as possible over the past two years. Many don’t have anywhere else to go within the category. If the variables below weren’t in play, I’d say we were in our new baseline. 2. The exception is going to be those with spending power - they’ve been propping everything up. They will be most impacted by a market correction, but the market will also react most aggressively to their behavior. 3. Remember, if those in 2 are half of spending right now, roughly every 1% of pullback from them is worth .5%. It’ll only take a 4% pullback to turn consumption flat (assuming the other 70% stat flat). 4. Blessing and curse - a lot of that behavior is likely going to be a reduction in service/experience spending, which could help in-home. The curse side is the overall business impact it’ll have and how that could flow out to jobs. 5. Now Tariffs - the question isn’t if it’ll impact certain products. It will. The question is how will consumers redistribute spending. If they’re half of buy a tariff impacted item, will they pull from another one? Only way to get to this…you have to ask them now and track it over time. If you wait a couple of months, you’re going to find yourself in a situation where you’re trying to react to a rapidly changing environment. Not ideal. 6. MAHA - Same as above. Almost every category is at risk if subsidies get modified based on categories covered. Even if you sell a product not covered with SNAP, if a consumer can’t use those benefits for something they buy weekly…those dollars are being redistributed. —————— I strongly believe every company should be assessing these things today. Talk to your consumers…get an idea of what they want to do with the information they have today. It could be the highest ROI research you’ve ever done, and the difference in your business performance tomorrow.

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