How they read Consumer behavior and channel evolution
How they approach their Organizational resourcing and design
How they build Data strategy and enablement
How they drive Execution and activation
In our research, four themes consistently stood out. Together, they form the CODE playbook: a practical model for understanding how leading brands adapt to change.
This year, we’re exploring hot industry topics such as:
KEY FINDING:
Leaders master the biggest channels, then look beyond them for growth.
SO WHAT?
The largest pure-play and omni-channel retailers remain as table stakes, but leaders take a “yes, and” approach — maintaining focus on core channels while leaning into emerging opportunities like Quick Commerce, Social Commerce and Agentic Commerce.
KEY FINDING:
Most organizations have integrated eCommerce. But that doesn’t make them leaders.
SO WHAT?
With 7 in 10 organizations reporting a reorganization around eCommerce in the past year, more than half of organizations now operate with an integrated model, up from just 15% in 2021. But integration alone doesn’t define leadership. Competitive advantage increasingly comes from how organizations build expertise, governance and accountability, often supported by specialist Centers of Excellence and subject matter experts.
KEY FINDING:
Many organizations lack a market share based eCommerce north-star KPI.
SO WHAT?
Only one-quarter of organizations have established online market share as a core KPI, despite its value as a benchmark against category growth and competitors.
Leaders are more likely to track market share and the gap between in-store and online performance, providing a broader view of whether eCommerce is contributing to competitive advantage.
KEY FINDING:
Leaders prioritise a data enabled and AI-powered retail media ecosystem.
SO WHAT?
Leaders are connecting digital shelf intelligence directly to onsite and offsite retail media activation, enabling investment to respond dynamically to availability, pricing and performance.
Holistic insights on your competitors and categories so you can find new growth opportunities and refine your strategies
Personalized insights on content, reviews, prices and out of stocks so you can maximize your resources
Trusted 3rd party data, with 95% accuracy, so you can confidently report success to leadership
"The digital landscape continues to rapidly evolve for CPGs and retailers.
The brands winning online are doing more with less by thoughtfully adapting their data, organizational capabilities and resources to changing shopper behavior, technology and customer needs."
