"One hand away from customer reach" - That's how one of the best CEOs of the Coca-Cola Company defined the route to market strategy 30 years ago.

"Ubiquity" - that's how Ramon La Guarta redefined Pepsico's strategy a few years ago, when he took over the management of Pepsico worldwide.

"One youghurt/day, in every house, world wide" this was the dream of the founder of Danone, and it defined the global strategy of the Danone brand.

Route to Market, as a strategy, addresses 3 major points: Availability, Cost and Customer Preference.

However, each of these strategic points has dozens of chapters, which require reflection, attention and investment decisions.

In the Route to Market methodology we are talking about Structures, Market Model, Service Model, Execution Tracking, Incentives, the P&L scenarios, Call Concept and some other important capabilities.

All these elements actually define the relationship with the client. Today, this relationship is dependent on the quality of our people in the field, on their ability to understand growth opportunities, to ensure the presence of the product in the store and on the "degree of freedom" that our representative in the store has to activate the brand .

From the perspective of FMCG companies, if we look at the future of the consumer and that of the retailer, we identify a series of macro trends that affect all geographies:
- Hyperconnection regardless of age, which leads to what we call the omnishopper
- Consumption oriented towards over-customization (customers are willing to pay a premium price and become loyal if the brand/product can be customized in the smallest details)
- Changing preferences towards the "healthy" area of the purchasing palette regardless of whether this refers to the benefits for the planet or for the individual
- The explosion of on-demand services and home consumption
- Prudent spending, as a result of a mentality focused on caution
– Increased efforts by companies to implement DTC (direct-to-consumer) channels as quickly and correctly as possible
- Accelerated digitization in the "Traditional Trade" channel

Globally, digitization brings exceptional trends, which in RTM, will accelerate the differentiation of brands at points of sale, in all 4 sales channels: Food Service, Traditional Market, Modern Retail and "At Work & Institutions". We will only refer to 4 of them:

• "B2B Plaform" - B2B e-commerce platforms in the FMCG category, are starting to play an essential role in customer loyalty, and in activating brands directly with the owners or managers of the locations.
• "Suggester Order - AI" - the importance of presence on the shelf is crucial for any brand, the "Out of stock" phenomenon being the number 1 enemy of brands
• "Omnichannel Ordering" - ordering solutions that give the customer the opportunity to order directly, anytime, from anywhere, using all possible digital media.
• "Digital Payments" - from microfinancing to "automated payment" - solutions that solve both the client's need for cash and the need to limit suppliers' financial exposure, by delaying payments

Digitization in RTM creates opportunities, both for the Company as a supplier, for the Sales Force, for connecting Brands with points of sale, but especially for customers.

Speaking about digitalization in the context of the DTC channel, we can give 2 examples that managed to increase loyalty, creating packages that did not exist before, offering the possibility of very detailed customization and re-purchase in the form of a subscription.

The first is the pantryshop.com platform launched by Pepsico - consumers can choose from predefined bundles (drinks, snacks, cereals, protein bars, sweets, breakfast) for regular consumption or to send gifts to family and friends.

The second example is heinztohome.co.uk, the purchase and customization platform launched by the Heinz brand in the UK.

It offers consumers the opportunity to name their sauces and all products with their names (think of how it would be to open the fridge and instead of Ketchup you see "Victor's Ketchup" next to "Maria's Ketchup"), to add greetings, personalized messages, to build personalized packages with your favorite products in different packaging, and to purchase accessories or clothing items.

The investment in the future begins with a good understanding of the market potential, the creation of a scalable and efficient sales structure, and updating the current systems with digital solutions that give a competitive advantage.

The current context captures an incomplete digitization, with automated processes based on Data Management Systems, Sales Force Automation and Integrated Business Planning solutions and which only partially offer opportunities for making decisions based on data management.

The next step in the digitization of RTM comes to provide detailed details about purchasing behaviors and planning and delivery capabilities, correlated with analytical data and meta information using AI technology and predictive solutions.

"Within our projects, we work together with global companies in the development of "Selling Stories" solutions with the help of AI, in the digital environment. Such solutions create personalized 100% sales scenarios, based on the customer's characteristics, the type of consumer and the advantages of the product/brand", says Lucian Marin, founder of the commercial consulting company Growth Leadership Consulting.

In conclusion, modeling an RTM strategy connected to the reality of today and tomorrow is one of the most important decisions that must be taken by the board of a company active in FMCG.