In the competitive environment of the consumer goods industry, prioritising customer experience (CX) is a vital component of sustainable growth. The foundation of successful partnerships lies in shared expectations and collaborations, a thorough understanding of customer needs, and strong brand loyalty, which are all cultivated through trust and commitment.
Unathi Mhlatyana, Managing Director of Mondelēz Southern Africa, along with Amelia Vorster, Customer Services and Logistics Director, emphasise that delivering on promises to retailers and customers is essential for mutual business growth.
The sixth edition of the Salesforce State of the Connected Customer Report for South Africa highlights that customers are seeking more data privacy, customer-centricity and transparency from their favourite brands in order to remain loyal. While many South Africans have their preferred brands, these brands need to improve to keep their loyal customers.
The report reveals that preferred brands excel in three areas: data privacy and transparency, with 49% of customers trusting them to handle data responsibly; customer-centricity, where 44% believe their needs are prioritised; and visibility, with 44% acknowledging easy access to information. However, brands are missing the mark by over-communicating, with 55% feeling contacted too often, and only 24% receiving requests for feedback.
To elevate customer experiences, brands should focus on three strategies: strengthening data security by using cloud-based CRM systems; enhancing personalisation through unified customer insights and AI; and ensuring consistent communication across platforms.
Mondelez was rated the number one supplier in South Africa according to retail partners in the annual Advantage Report ‘Voice of Retailers’ survey.
The 2024 Voice of South African Retailers report highlights how retailers rate working with their supplier partners. Advantage Group Africa Managing Director, Dylan Piatti, highlighted the importance of relationship dynamics in trading environments. Better business relationships lead to better commercial outcomes. Advantage Group is the preeminent global partner for future-fit partner-centric organisations, providing data and insights that measure the health of business partnerships. Partnership feedback that is unbiased and anonymous provides real and actionable insights into working better together
The Advantage report assesses suppliers based on retail customer experiences and measures 26 key metrics benchmarked against their peers. These include Collaboration, Trust, Delivering on Commitments, Strategic Alignment, and a genuine focus on retailer centricity. The results unearth insights into South Africa’s trading dynamics between Retailers and Suppliers.
An interesting result from 2024 is in the Trust and Collaboration metric: Across categories, retailers’ perceptions of suppliers have consistently improved year-on-year, whereas suppliers’ perceptions of SA retailers have declined slightly overall (for more detail on South Africa’s results, please contact Advantage Group directly).
It is a significant accolade to be recognised as the #1 Supplier in South Africa’s Top25 FMCG Manufacturers rank set, especially as the top tier suppliers all improved their scores year-on-year. While Mondelez came out #1 Overall, it also excelled in a number of competencies, including being rated #1 for seven out of 26 metrics. Crucially, the overall Trust score for Mondelez also improved by 17 points (scores are in a range of -100 to +100).
What Mondelēz has gleaned from measuring its retail partnerships and retail centricity over time, is that a purposeful strategy is needed to build trust. When faced with challenges, clear objectives must be set to elevate a supplier’s offering. This commitment involves engaging every department within the organisation to align efforts towards the goal, acting as One Mondelēz, thereby ensuring clarity and transparency with retail partners. By promising openness and addressing challenges together, retail suppliers can elevate their trust quotient significantly.
Central to a supplier’s business strategy must be the recognition of the customer’s voice. By prioritising customer feedback and utilising it to inform decision-making processes, a business can establish its dedication to partner satisfaction. A company’s success is not measured solely by key performance indicators, but is rooted in understanding and empathising with customer needs, thereby fostering loyalty and reciprocal efforts.
Mondelēz openly acknowledges that building strong partnerships and securing business success is no simple feat. Both retailers and suppliers have distinct objectives, yet honesty and a collaborative spirit can turn challenges into shared opportunities for growth.
Once at the top of the Advantage Survey, however, the challenge lies in maintaining this position amidst fierce competition. Leadership must understand that achieving success is not a point of arrival but an ongoing journey. Continued innovation, proactive communication, and strategic investments in brand and product categories are essential to keeping retailers and consumers engaged and satisfied.
Key Strategies To Enhance Customer Experience
Leveraging technology for personalisation: using data analytics and CRM tools allows businesses to deliver tailored experiences that align with customer preferences.
Providing an omnichannel experience: ensuring consistency across various channels (social media, email, websites, and physical stores) helps create a seamless customer journey.
Training and empowering employees: investing in employee training enhances their ability to deliver effective customer interactions and fosters a culture of ownership and responsiveness.
Gathering and acting on customer feedback: actively seeking and responding to customer insights helps identify areas for improvement and adapting to changing expectations.
Ultimately, the focus remains on the consumer. Market share serves as the ultimate indicator of success, reflecting the effectiveness of a company’s strategies in creating meaningful connections with consumers. In this dynamic market, effectively understanding and responding to consumer needs will continue to be the cornerstone of success. To remain a leader in the industry, businesses must champion CX as a key driver of business strategy.
MONDELĒZ
www.mondelezinternational.com
