The pace of change in the consumer goods markets has accelerated over the last several years due to a number of social, macroeconomic and industry-specific trends. In some product categories the rate of technological change has provided a source of product innovation and protected price realization; in other sectors the slow pace of innovation has forced increased attention from producers on supply chain cost reduction and price competition.

The continued growth of big box retailers has further consolidated distribution channels, shifting the balance away from producers without significant brand power, and further intensifying competition for shelf space and margin. Meanwhile, the increasing globalization of the economy has had a variety of consequences, from allowing producers to lower product sourcing costs, to allowing retailers to increase their private label business through direct import programs.

Consumer goods companies face different issues across each category, but in general are facing a common set of challenges - how to accelerate revenue growth through more effective consumer marketing and branding programs, how to generate increased new product innovation, how to increase price realization and margins, and how to manage distribution and channel relationships to maximize account profitability.

Our Capabilities

Alliance's Consumer Goods practice is focused on helping our clients deal with these challenges by sharpening their competitive strategies, increasing their rate of innovation, and improving their operational performance. Our professionals have worked across an extensive range of industry segments including household products, health and beauty, apparel, toys, consumer electronics, hardware, domestic appliances, food storage, furniture, stationery and art products, and many other product categories. We have a number of capabilities for assisting our consumer products clients with their businesses, and in particular excel in:

• Creating growth strategies to target attractive new markets or customer segments through rigorous market, competitive and customer needs analysis
• Developing new product positioning, marketing programs, or pricing strategies to grow key customer segments and increase product usage
• Enhancing the effectiveness of existing brand and marketing programs through applying detailed customer knowledge or competitive analysis
• Identifying new opportunities for product innovation, and increasing the speed and organizational effectiveness of the new product development process
• Analyzing channel performance and retailer relationships, and identifying opportunities to improve distribution economics or sales performance through account management
• Aligning salesforce, customer service, supply chain, organizational structure, and operational architectures to improve key financial and operational performance metrics
• Defining and assisting with international expansion and acquisition-based growth strategies

Case Study

• Restructuring appliances product line and pricing strategy to face new competition
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