THE FUTURE OF B2B SALES IN THE CONSUMER GOODS INDUSTRY
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, DATA & DIGITALIZATION
The Sales & CX Innovation Afternoon at the GS1 Knowledge Center in Cologne focused on a key question recently: How can B2B sales in the consumer goods industry really improve today? Together with our partners SAP and marktguru, we from 4brands Reply discussed openly with customers and industry colleagues what works in everyday life – and where the challenges lie.
A very interesting practical report came from HiPP, where they implemented the SAP Sales Cloud to manage international sales more efficiently. It was particularly interesting to see how the team not only rolled out the software technically, but also adapted the processes and organization. The goal was to bring together different sales force streams, reduce Excel chaos, increase transparency and improve standards – even across national borders. This enables an agile and efficient sales architecture that meets the specific requirements of the market. The company not only thinks sustainability in terms of IT infrastructure, but also lives it holistically throughout the entire company and in its products. #FunFact: The Mango HiPP jars are not only delicious, but also ideal for fitness enthusiasts. 
Customer experience as a key success factor
SAP explained in its presentation how customer experience (CX) is becoming a decisive competitive advantage now more than ever. Companies that manage to not only satisfy their customers, but also inspire them with outstanding experiences, ensure long-term success. It is therefore more important than ever to think in terms of customer journeys and to empower employees with suitable tools that are suitable for everyday use. In this context, the first insights into the new Retail Execution App, which shows how digital tools can support sales in everyday life, were particularly exciting.
Data-driven sales optimization
My personal highlight was the joint presentation with Martin Langhauser from Data Insights by marktguru. Here we were able to show in a practical way how market and consumer data can be used in a targeted manner to measurably increase sales success.
With data-based insights and smart product recommendations, sales processes can be optimized and customer needs proactively served. We were particularly proud to be able to present an implemented use case directly in the SAP Sales Cloud v2 to make the synergies of our partnership directly visible and tangible. Creating good, data-supported sales arguments for the sales force – this data-driven sales optimization is a real game changer for us, far beyond classic retail execution.
Apart from the presentations, the networking “op Kölsch” was a real benefit. Many honest questions and challenges were discussed in a relaxed atmosphere – from data quality to change management.
The “GS1 meets Sales & CX Innovation Afternoon 2025” impressively demonstrated how important the mix of innovation, data-driven solutions and well thought-out customer experience is for sales in the consumer goods industry.