PDI Technologies can help operators and CPG companies communicate. Let’s break that down. What sort of relationships does PDI have with smaller operators in particular?

PDI works extensively across the c-store industry, and that includes smaller retailer operators, whether they’re multi- or single-site operators or even small- to medium-sized chains. We have a number of products and solutions that are tailored to this specific group. One that I’ll point out is called CStore Essentials. It’s a product specifically tailored to smaller operators to help them better manage their business. That’s inclusive of their back office system, price book and financial management of their business. It includes elements like a scanned data solution, which allows single-site operators to activate transactional data to unlock trade dollars with certain consumer packaged goods companies.

We currently partner with about 35,000 sites nationally, which represents a significant amount of the market. If you look at those sites on an individual basis, each is quite small from the standpoint of a large supplier. But if you look at that entire collective group we partner with in aggregate, it represents about $43 billion in c-store sales in the United States. When you talk to a consumer packaged goods company in those terms, the smaller sites have a completely different context. Access to that data helps fill a big need for CPGs. At the same time, we really think we can help those retailers build stronger relationships with the CPG companies.

What sort of insights can suppliers gain from your small operator network?

Suppliers have very strong relationships with all of the large chains, which is great. However, it’s simply not cost effective for these same suppliers to try and replicate that large-chain approach with smaller retailers. And that’s really where I think PDI can help. We can help the CPGs gain visibility into what has historically been a very opaque channel.

With our network, suppliers can understand basic trends, like overall sales trends for their brands, the category, overall price distribution and out-of-stock items, all the way down to helping them understand return on investment for promotional campaigns that we deploy on their behalf. It could even be inclusive of things like loyalty data where that’s applicable.

Why are these data-driven insights so essential?

Anybody can grow share, but can they do it profitably? Helping these groups understand simple measures like return on investment helps them make better business decisions overall so they can optimize their overall marketing spend in a much more comprehensive, data-driven way.

What’s an example of how CPG companies can work with PDI to speak more effectively to small operators?

Most CPG manufacturers look to new product innovation as a key way to drive growth year over year, but there’s a channel of business that’s difficult for them to access. We can help them drive adoption and acceptance of these new products. And we can do that in an efficient manner. Perhaps most importantly, we can help these brands understand the actual performance of these new products once they go into market.

What value does this unlock for smaller operators?

It’s a little bit of a David and Goliath kind of scenario, isn’t it? If you’re a small, medium or single-site operator, you don’t have access to the same trade dollars that the biggest companies do, so you’re at a competitive disadvantage. We think we can help CPG companies increase their coverage across all sites, and we can help retailers get access to those trade dollars so they can compete with the biggest retailers on an equal footing. There’s a clear opportunity for PDI to be the bridge between retailers and suppliers.