A&P (Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.)

While the call for transformation is loud and clear, the process is still going slowly.

Experts from nine leading solutions providers discuss key challenges confronting consumer goods companies as they seek to transform their trade promotion practices. Plus, a comparison chart of 22 top TPM and TPO vendors.

Raphael Savalle writes articles about the Consumer Goods sector, its strategic challenges and opportunities to help executives think about their options and to engage managers in thinking strategically. The following is an excerpt from his article "Why do FMCG's CFOs care about ROA and why should you?," which is the 4th article in his series on Total Shareholder Return (TSR).

The merger will create a diversified network that includes over 2,400 stores, 27 distribution facilities and 20 manufacturing plants with over 250,000 dedicated and loyal employees. No store closures are expected as a result of this transaction.

A new cloud-based portal enables retailers to share their proprietary data including point of sale, inventory, loyalty and more with their supplier partners.

Celebrity chef, Vintner and specialty foods pioneer Michael Chiarello and Americas cookie queen Debbi Fields, with branding expert Chris Cornyn serve as mentors for aspiring home chefs competing to win product placement on supermarket shelves nationwide.

When you're attending "Retail's BIG Show", it seems like everyone is there and this year's record attendance of 27,000 means there was indeed quite a crowd. If you missed the event, don't fret. RIS News compiled a recap of the most important takeaways, covering omnichannel transformations and smarter commerce to applications for Big Data and more.