Alex Andreyev of Evidnt On The Future Of Retail Over The Next Few Years
https://medium.com/authority-magazine/alex-andreyev-of-evidnt-on-the-future-of-retail-over-the-next-few-years-12ae4cec3f7c
It’s about the experience — Consumers do not buy products; they buy product benefits and the feelings associated with them. Make the buying experience enjoyable.
Aspart of our series about the future of retail, we had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Andreyev.
Alex Andreyev is the CEO and Co-founder of Evidnt, a data and analytics platform that provides deep sales insights and analytics for CPG brands. Alex is a known innovator and leader, having developed the first multicultural data platform for Gravity, which was later acquired by Dentsu. He also contributed to the development of IPG’s maturity canvas and led data, analytics, and programmatic teams for major companies such as Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Sara Lee, Este Lauder, Darden, IBM, and AMEX. Alex is recognized as one of the foremost thought leaders in the space of retail and CPG data development and management.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Inmy previous roles, I’ve spearheaded performance marketing initiatives in various industries and for well-known brands like IBM, AMEX, TD Ameritrade, Caesars Hotels, and UFC, among others. However, running the performance marketing team for Coca-Cola while at Universal McCann presented unique challenges due to readily available sales data. Anecdotally, I always joked that by the time we received performance insights on our Superbowl ads for Coca-Cola, my beloved NY Jets would already be out of the following year’s playoffs. This was due to data scarcity, delays, and fragmentation across retail sales data. This motivated me to seek a better solution. Thus, we launched Evidnt to bridge the gap and provide CPG brands with superior, quicker, and more profound sales insights to facilitate better business decisions.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
I have been fortunate to work with incredible brands and individuals. One of the most exciting experiences was working with the Inter Milan soccer club to help expand their brand in the US and Asian markets. I had the pleasure of meeting iconic players such as Javier Zanetti and of sitting in the executive box to enjoy the game.
Are you working on any new exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?
Yes, we’re currently working on incorporating AI’s power into our database to help brands answer business questions faster and provide deeper insights that are not easily caught. Retail space is dynamic and fast-moving and is a great indicator of the economy, brand perception, and buyer behaviors, using AI we’re hoping to unlock this for brands and marketers to make better decisions for their business.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful, who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
There have been many people who have been tremendous supporters in my career. Still, one person who has consistently given me opportunities to grow and has fueled my passion for creating is Sean Muzzy, the current Global President of Kinesso. Sean has always supported me, allowing intrapreneurial ideas to flourish within the large organizations he managed. He enabled me to help build the first in-house programmatic team at Ogilvy and to develop an innovative and consultative approach at Kinesso.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
We have had the privilege of working with numerous small and medium-sized businesses on both the retail and brand sides. SMBs are often left behind due to the lack of data and deep insights needed to compete with larger companies. We are proud to provide deep insights used by big box retailers to these smaller retailers who are instrumental parts of their local communities. We help them grow their businesses, regardless of size.
Ok super. Now let’s jump to the main questions of our interview. The Pandemic has changed many aspects of all of our lives. One of them is the fact that so many of us have gotten used to shopping almost exclusively online. Can you share a few examples of different ideas that large retail outlets are implementing to adapt to the new realities created by the Pandemic?
Online retail has grown, it still makes up a relatively small portion of total sales. Larger retailers are now using data and analytics to track sales and buyer trends, and are making more products available to customers through curated marketplaces. Like Amazon’s marketplace, retailers who understand their customers well use their brand as a platform to allow other brands to reach their customers while making money through marketing and marketplace fees. If every platform is now a retail platform, every retailer is now also a marketplace.
The supply chain crisis is another outgrowth of the pandemic. Can you share a few examples of what retailers are doing to pivot because of the bottlenecks caused by the supply chain crisis?
We are seeing many retailers using data and analytics to improve their inventory management. They want to ensure that they don’t have an excess of inventory, but also that they don’t run out of stock and miss out on sales. Retailers are also focusing on understanding regional differences and trends as demographics change, and as international and DTC brands drive growth.
How do you think we should reimagine our supply chain to prevent this from happening again in the future?
While no one can predict another pandemic or a run on certain products, we can track and provide insights into local buying behaviors to prepare retailers for changes in buying behaviors. By unlocking the insights from sales data, retailers should be able to better prepare and proactively make business decisions to limit interruptions to supply chains.
In your opinion, will retail stores or malls continue to exist? How would you articulate the role of physical retail spaces at a time when online commerce platforms like Amazon Prime or Instacart can deliver the same day or the next day?
The retail industry is changing, and although it’s hard to predict the future of large malls that may have been overdeveloped in some areas, online services like Amazon Prime and Instacart can’t provide the same experience as a physical store. The next generation of consumers will demand a more engaging shopping experience, and retailers that can combine entertainment and enjoyment with the act of making a purchase will continue to thrive. Customers will want more than just convenience and fast delivery. This also applies to brands, which are beginning to integrate their brand into retail stores, allowing customers to experience their products and brand promise beyond just using them. As David Ogilvy once said, you can’t bore people into buying a product, so in this sense, the shopping experience needs to be more captivating.
The so-called “Retail Apocalypse” has been going on for about a decade. While many retailers are struggling, some retailers, like Lululemon, Kroger, and Costco are quite profitable. Can you share a few lessons that other retailers can learn from the success of profitable retailers?
Just like AI won’t eliminate all jobs, eComm won’t kill all retailers. Kroger and Costco are masters at utilizing data to understand which products to stock, how to price them, and when to phase out products that aren’t selling well. They leverage their sales data to assist brands in improving their product marketing and driving higher sales, broadening their product offerings and opportunities for profit. By embracing data to gain a better understanding of their customers, retailers can take cues from Costco and Kroger to enhance profits and offer the right products to their customer base.
Amazon is going to exert pressure on all of retail for the foreseeable future. New Direct-To-Consumer companies based in China are emerging that offer prices that are much cheaper than US and European brands. What would you advise to retail companies and e-commerce companies, for them to be successful in the face of such strong competition?
As mentioned earlier, Amazon and DTC retailers, as well as brands that focus solely on low prices and convenience, will capture a portion of the market, especially during economic downturns caused by inflation and market uncertainties, which put pressure on consumers. However, retail involves more than just purchasing products and necessities; it’s about purchasing the value of the product and the associated emotions. Even for utilitarian products like a simple salt grinder that I can buy inexpensively on Temu, the experience and satisfaction are completely different when I can choose, touch, and feel a similar product while enjoying a Starbucks drink at Target.
Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to create a fantastic retail experience that keeps bringing customers back for more? Please share a story or an example for each.
Know your buyers — Understand who they are, what they buy, and why. Look at the data and talk to them anecdotally.
Keep a close eye on trends — It is crucial for retailers to utilize trend trackers and monitor their in-store sales in order to stay current with the latest developments. As a side note, Evidnt’s analytics app provides retailers with product insights and trends from their own stores as well as similar ones in their markets. While keeping track of every TikTok trend may be challenging, closely monitoring changes in product sales is an effective way to understand the preferences of your buyers.
It’s about the experience — Consumers do not buy products; they buy product benefits and the feelings associated with them. Make the buying experience enjoyable.
Collaborate with brands — There are multiple ways to make brands stand out in your stores, whether through data partnerships, extra marketing opportunities, or simply by placing products that sell well together in high-traffic areas. Brands tell a story, and your store can be the perfect place for them to do it well.
Let your customers find you online — There are numerous solutions that can help you showcase your products online. Some of the easiest options, like Evidnt’s store locator, can help buyers find your store through advertisers’ ads. Online platforms provide an incredible opportunity for you to connect with both current and prospective buyers.
Thank you for all of that. We are nearly done. Here is our final ‘meaty’ question. You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would initiate a movement centered around empathy and active listening. With so much division in the world, I believe that truly listening to our clients, partners, friends, and even those we don’t agree with is the initial step toward understanding their challenges, pains, and ambitions. Empathy involves making an effort to see things from their perspective and walking in their shoes.
How can our readers further follow your work?
Follow our insights and posts on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/evidnt)
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
