Company Name:  InContext Solutions
Author of the post (Name, job title):  Cassandra Magnussen, VP, Virtual Solutions
Tenure With Current Company: Cassandra re-joined the company in 2021, after a previous tenure of 8 years.
Years of Industry Experience:  20
 

1. Give us a brief history of your company, when and how did you get started and what is your high-level mission statement?

InContext Solutions began in 2009 with the simple goal of helping brands and retailers understand what shoppers actually do vs. what they say they are going to do. Behavioral research is key in this validation and our virtual reality (VR) platform allows us to do this highly accurately (96%+ correlation to in-market execution). A key detail to point out, is that virtual existed, and so did behavioral research, we however were the pioneers who brought this technology and methodology online over the internet – it changed the game on how you validate strategies with shoppers. It’s this key detail that inspires us to always challenge and push the technology in ways we can expand our solutions to empower our customers.

Our company has built its foundation on immersive virtual store environments, putting shoppers into the context of how they normally shop, because context, matters. This VR experience allows teams to test virtually the success (or failure) of real-world strategies around assortment, arrangement, pricing, and packaging before they ever hit the physical shelf. Eliminating wasted time, effort, and significant amount of dollars on a failed strategy.

Not stopping at our behavioral research, we recognized quickly the power of the VR ecosystem. Think; planning, activation, and compliance for starters. To that end, InContext has developed its’ VR/AR/AI ecosystem.

2. What would you like CMA and SIMA members to know about your brand/company?

We don’t just tell you what might work, we show you what will.

From planning, activation, to compliance we are not just another “research vendor” we are a decision engine. While our bread and butter is our virtual behavioral validation at shelf, we’ve leaned into:

Ecomm validation as a complement to the physical shelf. Store shelf research does not transfer to the retailer website, and we have to stop pretending that it does.
Assortment Planning with AI insights. Brands and retailers often go into assortment decisions without a clear view of what will truly grow the category versus simply shift volume around. We bring an AI-enabled assortment process that helps both sides make smarter, faster, more confident decisions by identifying the right cuts, the right adds, and the real growth opportunity before the line review happens.

We’ve also expanded our software to meet teams wherever they are in the shopper planning journey:

Capturing realograms in-market and enabling digital manipulation
AI-driven shelf optimization to maximize performance
Immersive storytelling through video for stronger sell-in and alignment
Visual planogram compliance and execution support

3. What is the most common question you hear from current and potential customers, and how do you answer it?

The most common question is around real-world applicability, and our answer is simple: we measure behavior, not intent, in environments that mirror how people actually shop.

4. Any white space in the industry or areas you are looking to expand into?

The biggest white space is not more data, it’s connected, actionable data that drives decisions faster. That means empowering teams to use AI that matters AI solutions that have been developed with real-world usage applications. Not all AI is created equal and it’s important to help bridge that gap.

5. What is the most important thing that needs to be addressed in the category management and shopper insights disciplines going forward?

Too many decisions are still based on what shoppers say vs. what they actually do. There is a critical need for a single, trusted methodology that aligns retailers and brands ... and Speed matters. The current processes are too slow for how quickly retail is evolving. I’ve said this before, it’s not more data, it’s better data.

6. How are you thinking about the next 3-5 years in retail? 

AI will play a larger role in prescriptive decision-making, but must be grounded in real behavior. So it'll be important to remember that not all AI is created equal. AI will then allow retailers to move at the speed that shoppers want. Keeping up with ever evolving trends and preferences.

While digital channels like retailer websites come with their own idiosyncrasies that must be respected in order to get the most value out of them, there is an increasing connectedness across all channels, digital and brick and mortar. It’s important to test each to optimize within their frameworks, but also understand how the channels play off each other to drive customer lifetime value.

And lastly, retailers and CPGs will demand more concrete ROI before implementation (risk aversion) and faster validation cycles.