{"id":27814,"date":"2024-04-30T12:35:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T12:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3pillarglobal.com\/?post_type=case-studies&p=27814"},"modified":"2024-08-08T19:03:56","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T19:03:56","slug":"data-driven-digital-discovery-brings-specialty-retailers-and-brands-together","status":"publish","type":"case-studies","link":"https:\/\/www.3pillarglobal.com\/insights\/case-studies\/data-driven-digital-discovery-brings-specialty-retailers-and-brands-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Data-driven Digital Discovery Brings Specialty Retailers and Brands Together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Products in the natural sector, including food, beverages, and household products account for a healthy share of the overall consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry\u2019s $5 trillion in annual sales, with steady growth driven in large part by consumer demand for healthier, more sustainable products. To get the latest and greatest products that consumers want onto store shelves, retailers first need to discover the companies that make and sell these brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To discover the latest sought-after products, retailers depend on two cornerstone events: Natural Products Expo West and the newly launched Newtopia Now, set to debut in August 2024. Hosted by New Hope Network, a subsidiary of Informa Markets, Expo West\u2014the world\u2019s largest gathering of buyers and sellers of natural, organic, and healthy products\u2014takes place in March, boasting around 3,000 exhibitor brands and 70,000 attendees. With Newtopia Now joining the lineup as the second show, industry leaders gain another avenue to connect, innovate, and forge meaningful partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of their relationships with key industry brands and retailers, New Hope Network has provided the primary venues for retailers to discover new products that support their standards and values \u2014 from plant-based proteins and probiotics to tree-free toilet paper and turmeric tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Informa is constantly focused on innovating and evolving the event experience, providing insights to buyers and sellers where and when they\u2019re needed the most. They brought in 3Pillar Global to help them reimagine how they stay connected with natural product retailers and brands \u2014 both on and off the show floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenge:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Enabling Brands and Retailers to Connect on the Expo Floor and Beyond<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

With thousands of exhibitors competing for attention on a crowded, sprawling show floor, it\u2019s challenging for independent retailers to find products with the specific attributes they\u2019re looking for. For example, it\u2019s difficult to understand the environmental impact that different products might have or whether they contain specific ingredients. And as one independent grocery retailer attending Expo West noted, it can be hard to know which products are actually distributed to his rural area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also hard for a small, independent retailer to stand out from large, global corporations. And for many smaller brands and retailers, it can be challenging to attend in-person events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Hope Network envisioned a digital product that would expand the opportunities retailers and brands have to connect with each other \u2014 and make it more of a year-round experience. Bringing the vision to life meant bringing together the data to match the mission and vision of brands with the mission and vision of retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This type of discovery may sound simple, but it requires an extraordinary level of data integration. When our initial research together demonstrated a clear appetite for the kind of digital product New Hope envisioned, both companies went all in on delivering a robust experience powered by real-world data that would meet the market\u2019s demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Conceiving and Delivering a Product That Enables Year-Round Data-Driven Discovery<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After working with the New Hope Network digital products team to understand their vision, prioritize features and functionality, and define the technical requirements, we conducted interviews with end users to understand their needs, wants, and concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people in this industry are very passionate,\u201d says Alexandra Newman, a 3Pillar Senior Product Manager who led the work with New Hope. \u201cThey care about where each ingredient comes from and what the farming practices are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Alexandra says, \u201cNatural products brands want retailers to know how cool they are and what makes them unique. And tiny companies can\u2019t always afford to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team took only four months to build a combined proof of concept (POC) and prototype to validate technical feasibility, end-user desirability, and stakeholder buy-in. With support in place, the team delivered a beta launch five months after the POC and delivered a key iteration six months after the POC, in time for the 2023 Natural Products Expo West. These early milestones put us on track to successfully build and launch the full minimum viable product (MVP) in time for Expo West in March 2024. We focused on minimizing time to value, prioritizing ruthlessly to focus on the essentials based on the user feedback. The most important ingredient? Integrated data that\u2019s easy to digest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we get there? The 3Pillar team shared an initial prototype with small focus groups in the fall of 2022, incorporating their feedback to deliver beta launches the next spring that included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n