Today, ITC is one of the largest FMCG players in the country, and its products reach every second household in India.
The company is home to more than 60 brands across FMCG categories and reaches about 2 million retail outlets directly.
Every day, its brands compete with 100+ companies in the marketplace.
“We have a huge portfolio. From sutta to atta, we make everything,” quipped the head of sales analytics at ITC.
He explained, at length, how the company uses machine learning and analytics to build personalised recommendations to solve the most complex challenges.
Challenges in sales and distribution, emphasising how models work around the most crucial human in the loop – the salesman.
Atul said they have 30,000+ salesmen trying to sell 1,500+ SKUs and reach about 2 million outlets across India.
“Now, if we give a bad recommendation… the salesman will not be able to convert that recommendation. If he does not convert, he will keep losing his income”
For instance, if the recommendation fails, a Netflix or Amazon doesn’t lose much, but if it goes wrong for an FMCG salesman, he may lose out on INR 500-1000 of his variable income