Salesforce - Helping Processed Food Manufacturers Delight Customers

The processed food manufacturing industry is undergoing a major transformation – over the last few years, buyers across the globe have developed sophisticated palates, resulting in companies in the sector coming up with innovative products that satisfy the needs of their customer’s taste buds.

Another key trend shaping the processed food manufacturing sector is the rapid growth in the number of consumers purchasing online. According to a research conducted by Salesforce, 68% of people said they are most likely to purchase food and other necessities through digital channels even after the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end.

How can processed food manufacturers meet the needs of their customers for new, tasty products and provide excellent online buying experiences? They need a good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. An effective CRM system allows manufacturers of processed food products to collect relevant, timely data about customer tastes and enables them to deliver hassle-free digital buying experiences.

One of the most widely used CRM systems in the processed food manufacturing industry is Salesforce. Today, we will look at how two leading processed food manufacturing companies are leveraging the power of Salesforce to achieve business success.

Empowering a Biscuit Manufacturer to Deliver Yummy Customer Experiences

A world-leading biscuit manufacturer with operations in more than 170 countries used Salesforce to come up with novel products to meet the ever-evolving tastes of its customers. The company also used the powerful CRM platform to deliver seamless digital buying experiences. The food manufacturer made the best use of Salesforce to:

Analyze Data Pertaining to Changing Customer Tastes Very Effectively

Tasty food prepared from plant-based materials, vegan biscuits, wafers prepared from soya milk -- the list of consumer tastes is long and constantly evolving. It is very important for the biscuit manufacturer to keep itself in the know of changing consumer food habits to come up with the right products to stay on the top of its game. Making things complicated, consumer tastes are primarily driven by geographical and demographical factors; for a company with worldwide presence, this means it needs a powerful analytics tool to crunch data collected from various sources.

The biscuit manufacturer relies on Salesforce Einstein Analytics (EA) to collect consumer data – EA’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled capabilities help the company to gain the right insights about consumer tastes at the right time. This allows it to come up with new products that satisfy the dietary needs of its customers. For instance, the company rapidly met the growing demand for biscuits containing eggs across its global markets in the wake of COVID-19, as people increasingly began consuming protein-rich food.

Set Up a Customer-friendly Digital Store

The biscuit manufacturer fully understood the importance of providing seamless online buying experiences to its customers; it considered various options to deliver smooth digital experiences, and finally zeroed-in on creating a digital store that is accessible easily through web and mobile devices, with little effort.

The company used Salesforce Commerce Cloud to come up with its digital store. The online store delivered optimal shopping experiences – it was easy to use and allowed the biscuit manufacturer to personalize customer interactions. The store contained a search engine that provided product recommendations to shoppers based on criteria supplied by them.

Provide Various Delivery Options to Meet the Needs of Each consumer

It is well-known that consumers of food products (or for that matter, any essential item) appreciate flexible delivery options suited to their specific needs. Some online buyers may prefer picking up products from a nearby store, while in-store purchasers may find assistance in getting the products delivered at home useful. The key is to provide tailor-made delivery options suited to the needs of each consumer.

The biscuit manufacturing company used Salesforce to develop an online delivery mechanism that empowers consumers with all the information they require to fulfill their order. This includes indicating the time when the products will be delivered and listing special rebates to regular customers, who subscribe to the company’s products on an annual or bi-annual basis. More about subscriptions in a moment.