CMA Forms Initiative with Leading Retailers and Manufacturers to Establish Ecommerce Best Practices

Minneapolis, MN, November 11, 2017 --(PR.com)-- The Category Management Association (CMA) has engaged The Partnering Group (TPG) to lead a cross-functional team from prominent retailers and manufacturers to jointly develop standards and best practices for online retailing. The group will be known as the Ecommerce Category Leadership (ECL) Board and will address the transformative ecommerce challenges in the CPG (Consumer Product Goods) industry. The ECL teams already include several major retailers and will ultimately include up to 10 retail companies and 20 manufacturers from a diverse number of industries.

The ECL initiative will specifically address these key ecommerce areas:
Planning & Content – Determine best practices for ecommerce planning, content strategy, and developing the most effective processes and teams.

Retailer & Marketplace Analytics – Examine how new techniques and tools can provide deeper insights into shopper behavior to maximize customer traffic and achieve higher purchase conversion rates.

Digital Marketing & Site Merchandising – Leverage omni-channel insights to build core brands, and optimize merchandising, assortment, and online marketing campaigns.

Store Centric & Pure Play Supply Chain – Review and expound on current best practices for improving product availability while minimizing total costs in the value chain for pure play (online only) and store centric ecommerce.

The ECL pilot and deliverables are expected in Spring of 2018 and will include a Best Practices Report, White Paper on Pilot Findings, Complete Workbooks and Notes from Practice Areas plus working sessions to allow sharing and cross learning.

“We are excited to start this industry initiative to help develop standards and best practices in Ecommerce. Ecommerce Analytics and online category management is in its infancy and remarkably like the state of Category Management 20 years ago. Our goal is to help our members grow their business through industry learning’s from key retailers and manufacturers.” -Tom McDonald - CMA

“We seek to bring the same ethos of collaboration, objective category analytics and strategic thinking to the digital and ecommerce experience that exists today in bricks and mortar. This work will provide a framework for the industry to execute smarter and faster.” -Peter Leech - TPG

About The Partnering Group
The Partnering Group is a growth consultancy firm serving more than 200 manufacturers and retailers globally. TPG’s clients operate in every consumer products sector including electronics, food, beverages, foodservice, apparel, household products, luxury goods, health and beauty aids, automotive, entertainment, pet care and sporting goods. Visit www.thepartneringgroup.com or contact Peter Leech at pleech@tpg-mail.com.

About the Category Management Association
With more than 7200 participants from over 175 member companies worldwide, the mission of the Category Management Association (www.catman.global) is to help its members drive meaningful category and brand growth by building shopper satisfaction and facilitating strategic collaboration between retailers, suppliers and their solution providers. The CMA hosts an annual conference, offers certification and provides leading edge category insights via webinars, newsletters, networking groups and industry reports.