In years to come, the extreme product shortages of the pandemic may seem like just another blip in the history of marketplace behavior, but they leave behind a permanent realization that the possibility of near-term events that can rapidly cause consumer demand to explode or supply to be interrupted is very real. Furthermore, these events seem to be happening more than ever before, and they can also defy market logic. Case in point – the recent unbowed demand for lumber despite prices that are more than four times the norm.

Powerful insights are almost always perishable. Hence there is a need to have a dynamic system to turn insights to decision tasks instantaneously. Analytics initiatives are, by design, rolled out with this intention. And like any other initiative, this too must be justified with the immediate impact created, and mostly on the financial return. Like every piece of luggage in the airport needs a TSA approval, every corporate initiative needs an ROI stamp. However, estimating the impact of analytics projects is not straightforward, especially, if it’s not measured against the intent with which the projects were initiated.

Many forecasts, especially historical-based forecasts, were rendered useless during this pandemic, forcing many to rely on manual intuition for the foreseeable future. But from any disruption comes the next generation. In this special podcast, Joe Vernon, Capgemini America Retail and CPG Transformation Leader and Siva Lakshmanan, antuit.ai EVP Forecasting & Digital Supply Chain, discuss next-generation forecasting, Consumption Sensing, and how it detects consumer behavior shifts much more quickly and accurately than traditional methods.

The panic buying and consumer demand shifts ravaged demand forecasts, leaving most CPG companies reverting to manual intervention to fix their stock issues. While unavoidable in the beginning, this event highlights the shortcomings of many forecasting methodologies: a basic assumption that demand is steady and slowly changes. Consumption sensing takes a new approach by creating a "conversation with the consumer" to predict consumer demand and identify shifts for near, mid, and long term forecasting and planning.

Over recent months, the global pandemic has shifted the rules of engagement for everyone, both professionally and personally. For many retail companies, doors continue to remain closed, demand for products continues to fade, and consumers are now categorizing products into either ‘essential’ or ‘non-essential’ buckets. Some Consumer Products companies (CPG) seem to be benefiting during this time as they continue to manufacture ‘essential’ products and distribute them effectively across all channels, including ecommerce. However, as the world starts to see the light at the end of a pandemic tunnel, how will this shift their CPG pricing strategy?