Pepsico has introduced a new data-driven consultancy in an effort to help its customers adjust to digital disruption by making better use of their marketing and customer data. The Lab will make recommendations for improving online reviews and search engine results, determining the most effective digital and in-store promotional combos, and selecting digital strategies to increase customer loyalty.
PepsiCo Foodservice has introduced a Foodservice Digital Lab, which it says is the first such suite of capabilities for connecting food service operators with digital solutions.
The company said the new Lab, a data-driven consultancy, is an effort to help its customers adjust to the digital disruption of the food service industry.
PepsiCo, which owns brands including Pepsi, Lays, Quaker Oats, Gatorade, Doritos, Lipton, and Aquafina, has taken note that the food service industry is yet another space that stands to be transformed and improved by better use of marketing and customer data. Key focus areas include customer journeys, customer experience, audience targeting, and data-driven attribution.
For instance, PepsiCo Foodservice said it worked with restaurant delivery service Grubhub to identify issues that restaurants have when fulfilling online orders for beverages and snacks. And it worked with customer loyalty provider Mobivity to find ways to improve personalized experiences.
The Lab, said PepsiCo Foodservice CMO Scott Finlow in a statement, is a “one-stop service for operators to access the resources and knowledge needed to drive a better consumer experience.” And, of course, the Lab will make it easier for these food service operators to order and receive PepsiCo’s food products and services.
Gilbertson Cuffy, Director of Digital Marketing at PepsiCo Foodservice, told ClickZ that the Lab is available to his company’s customers at no charge.
In its announcement, the company noted that food service operators are still unsure about the longevity of digital technology in their industry, with 47% of respondents to a recent PepsiCo survey questioning whether it’s here to stay.
Nevertheless, almost two-thirds, or 63%, intend to upgrade their food service tech this year with new technologies, although PepsiCo said many of those operators worried about the resources needed to figure out the best solutions – a need the Lab is intended to fill.
The Lab will offer four components to help operators identify and deploy tech solutions:
Cuffy said that some typical use cases might include increasing the beverage attachment rate on digital ordering apps like Grubhub, managing online reviews and search engine results, implementing point-of-sale tools and customer rewards programs, recommending strategies to employ digital tools to increase customer loyalty, and determining which kinds of digital and in-store promotion combos might be the most effective.
