CPG & Retail
Open Options’ unique process and proprietary game theory software have helped guide senior executives in the consumer packaged goods and retail industries for over a decade. Success in these sectors hinges on careful competitive positioning as well the interplay of different players such as suppliers, distributors, intermediaries and powerful customers, making these industries ideally suited to the Open Options Process.
What Does Open Options Do?
- We challenge executives to stretch their thinking and to look at issues differently by explicitly considering the perspectives and motivations of the critical parties involved in the issue
- We provide an effective, structured process to capture organizational knowledge
- We analyze that structured knowledge using proprietary game theory tools to explore the potential competitive strategies and the millions of ways the issue could play out
- We provide a practical action plan to reach the best attainable outcome for our client
- We build deep management consensus and trust on the best path forward
Our Process
Our efficient process consists of five steps:
- Define the Issue
- Harvest Organizational Knowledge
- Determine Players, Options and Preferences
- Reveal Insights with Game Theory Analysis
- Deliver a Trusted Decision and Action Plan
Our Experience
We have worked with some of the biggest retailers and CPG firms around the globe, on projects spanning the following application areas:
- Generating new revenue growth
- Pricing and price wars
- Supply chain management
- Dealing with a dominant competitor
- Dealing with a powerful customer
- Partnerships
- Political / commercial interactions
- New legislation
- Market entry
- Commercial litigation
- New product introduction
- New disruptive technology management
- Responding to a competitor’s new product
- Portfolio expansion
- Mergers and Acquisitions
Related Clients
Case Study Descriptions
Below is an abbreviated list of some of our success stories in the CPG and retail industries. Please contact us to learn more about our process and to review a relevant case study:
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Competitive Positioning – “Under Pressure” Show more
A large consumer packaged goods company was suffering from intensifying competition and a loss of market equilibrium. The market dynamics were being driven by several factors including the actions of its two main competitors, the increased buying power being exercised by a major retailer, and the increased threat of substitution due to an economic downturn.
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Regaining Market Share – “Head in the Sand” Show more
A Fortune 50 consumer products company was quickly losing market share to a new competitor. Under pressure from both large retailers who were relentlessly squeezing margins and a competing brand which was targeting a particular ethnic market segment, the Client desperately wanted to save its market share and margins.
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New Competition – “Disintermediation - Supply Chain” Show more
A component manufacturer was having its traditional relationships with its OEM customers threatened by sub-assemblers increasingly bypassing it in the supply chain. Something needed to be done. The degree of complexity was daunting, with several firms at each stage in the supply chain. The Client had to manage many players including suppliers, distributors and competitors.
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Industry Consolidation - "Family Pack of Competitors" Show more
A leading retailer wanted to understand how to best react to the potential industry consolidation with a particular focus on how other competitors, large national brand suppliers and regulators might react.
What Makes Us Unique
As experts and specialists in solving business issues where multiple players can influence the final outcome, Open Options is unique in several ways:
