Found an interesting post on Infosys website:

It is possible to create a unique shopping experience for grocery shoppers in the brick & mortar world. I believe this will create a unique differentiation in the minds of shoppers who are looking for a better shopping experience in the grocery stores. This will create loyalty resulting in the Grocers ability to command higher prices leading to better profitability in the long run.

via Off the Shelf: The Retail & CPG Blog: Can the grocery store provide an Amazon experience?.

Interesting article on Google’s CPG blog about how mothers increasingly rely on search, suggesting how CPG companies should rethink their ad search campaign spend to take advantage of this trend.  Key takeaways from a recent study include:

• Mothers conduct nearly twice as many searches as non-mothers: the study showed that before becoming a Mother, participants averaged 11 searches per week — while Mothers averaged 21 searches per week
• 3 out of 4 Moms believe that they have become better at searching versus a year ago
• Moms use search engines throughout their purchase decision making process
• Moms most often delegate activities like finding recipes, reviews of products/services and finding coupons/deal to search engines

Read more at: Official Google CPG Blog: Moms Give Up High Heeled Shoes and Lipstick For Search.

Alice provides you a better way to manage all of your household essentials online. You tell Alice what you buy—choosing from great deals on 1000’s of products—and Alice goes to work. We organize all of your products, find coupons and deals for you, remind you when you might be running low, and help you order just the items you need so you can avoid that trip to the corner drugstore or the big-box store. And all this convenience comes direct to your door with free shipping included

via Alice.com.

The co-founders state the value proposition on their blog over at their Digital CPG Blog.

We’re taking a different approach at Alice.com, which like the marketplaces mentioned above, is open for manufacturers to sell direct to consumer.  But instead of consumers getting multiple boxes, they receive one Alice box of bundled goods from multiple manufacturers shipped free to their door.  By sharing the box and shipping costs (rather than drop shipping), the manufacturers can offer consumers the convenience and free shipping they demand.

Bottom line for CPG manufacturers?  The lines of what it means to be a manufacturer and a retailer are blurring online, and opportunities abound to innovate in how you get your goods into the hands of the consumer.

Full article here

To Pepsi, and to companies around the world, the days when mass-market media is the sole vehicle to reach an audience are officially over. Instead of pouring millions of dollars into a Super Bowl commercial, Pepsi has started a social-media campaign to promote its “Pepsi Refresh” initiative. Pepsi plans to give away $20 million in grant money to fund projects in six categories: health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education. People can go to the Pepsi website refresheverything.com – which can also be accessed through Facebook and Twitter – to both submit ideas and vote on others they find appealing.

Pepsi Skips Super Bowl TV Advertising for Social Media – Yahoo! News.