Industry Spotlight: Retail & Process Mining

by Lindsey Peters 

As CPG and Retail companies prepare for the worst but hope for the best, our customers are leveraging process mining as a key differentiator within their business operations. The last few years have been a rollercoaster for our customers with supply and demand challenges to inflationary pressures to a looming recession – the list goes on. However, now it feels like there is a light at the end of the tunnel but if the last few years have taught us anything we don’t know what is around the corner.

The Retail and CPG companies that are thriving are the companies that have continued to invest in their business operations. As an example in 2022 the top performing CPG companies like Nestle, Pepsico, Unilever and Anheuser Busch-InBev excelled due to their investment in innovation and increased digitization all while focusing on the core of their business and their customer. The story in Retail is similar, the top performing Retail companies are investing in their technology stack while looking at different angles to improve the customer experience. The companies that are not investing are falling behind and will continue to fall behind while those who are investing in their digital core will continue to leapfrog the competition.

One of the core technologies that CPG and Retail companies are investing in to help leapfrog the competition is Process Mining. Retail and CPG companies are leveraging Process Mining to improve customer service, increase operational efficiency and unlock trapped value in their inefficient processes.

• • Improve Customer Service: Process mining helped Pepsico avoid stockouts by identifying alternative sources of stock or substitutes within their operations in real-time. This helps to ensure CPG companies are not only maintaining their space on the shelf but also increasing it while others are unable to pivot to meet the demands.
  • Increase Operational Efficiency: Process Mining is also able to drive sustainable impact and operational efficiency by ensuring full truck loads or optimizing routes so not only are we able to impact the bottom line but we are able to impact the green line. And with end consumers putting their money where their beliefs are sustainability continues to be a key metric that Retail and CPG companies are tracking and reporting against.
  • Unlock Trapped Value: At Celonis we know there is value to be uncovered as it relates to process inefficiencies. At a large retailer in the US, we are supporting their Accounts Payable team and have already found more than $50M in realized value due to duplicate payments. This is a company who believed their AP department was working in mint condition and they were blown away to realize the inefficiencies in their processes. And this is only one piece of the larger puzzle.

These are only a few examples as to how Process Mining is driving value for Retail and Consumer Goods companies as we work with our customers to identify and solve their most pressing challenges. Process Mining enables our Retail and Consumer Goods companies to weather any storm and to not only survive but to thrive.