Technology

Even though the following IT firms did not land a coveted spot on this year's Reader's Choice list, Consumer Goods Technology would be remiss by not bringing them front and center.

As the retail sector consolidates and the larger players grow stronger, a rising number of consumer goods (CG) firms, such as Adolph Coors Company and Molson Inc., Hershey Foods Corporation and Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. are executing merger or acquisition strategies.

The past year was one of struggle and experimentation in consumer goods companies' use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), with lingering standards, product immaturity, cost and return on investment issues clouding the ability to reach Wal-Mart's January 2005 mandate.

Business Intelligence (BI) wasn't the hottest topic of conversation amongst IT types in 2004, and to be perfectly honest, it likely won't be the belle of the ball in 2005 either.

In trade promotions management technology, integrated analytics tools that provide for precise tracking of promotions dollars are currently drawing the most attention from consumer goods (CG) companies, analysts say.

Technology that helps consumer goods (CG) manufacturers manage promotions and get a clearer picture of consumers who use their products are the hot CRM items of the moment, say analysts, who also predict expanding investment in CRM technology by CG companies in 2005.

How to drive value from integration, forecasting and new product development

There is no doubt that 2004 proved to be a more than challenging year for consumer goods (CG) companies.