What’s new in Crisp? Direct connectors, UNFI dashboards, and report sharing

Part of our Product Update series, a monthly roundup of the latest updates to the Crisp data platform.

Crisp is on a mission to connect the entire food supply chain through real-time, actionable data. Our growing catalog of connectors helps CPG brands bring all of their retail data under one roof and gain insights to collaborate more effectively with buyers, brokers, and partners. This month’s product release introduces new data source connectors through Crisp Direct, advanced insights for UNFI suppliers through new dashboards, and a feature to help brands share key data with external partners. Read on to learn more about our latest updates.

New connectors available through Crisp Direct

Crisp Direct pipes data in its original format from a wide array of retail sources across distribution, grocery, convenience, and e-commerce, helping brands consolidate their retail data in one place. By ingesting data automatically as it becomes available, Crisp Direct saves analysts approximately 10 hours spent downloading reports from vendor portals each week, so they can focus on more value-added insights. Crisp Direct data is piped directly into a brand’s preferred BI or analytics tools such as Excel, Tableau, Power BI, and Snowflake. New connectors now available through Crisp Direct include Dollar General, CVS, Shopify, and Amazon Vendor Central.

New dashboards surface UNFI supplier insights

UNFI recently announced its endorsement of Crisp to help its suppliers access real-time, actionable data. As part of this ongoing relationship, we’ve refined and expanded the insights available to Crisp’s UNFI supplier partners with three new dashboards:

• Inventory: Striking the right balance between well-stocked and overstocked is a constant pursuit for brands, and it can only be achieved with access to accurate, up-to-date information. Crisp’s new Inventory Dashboard combines inventory and sales data to help brands:
  • Calibrate inventory levels at a given DC based on typical shipment volume
  • Ensure products are adequately stocked for an upcoming promotion
  • Identify inventory close to expiration and prevent spoilage
• Chargebacks: Pulling information directly from UNFI, Crisp’s enhanced Chargebacks Dashboard reveals insights to help brands understand and evaluate trade spend across retailers. Sales managers can quickly drill down in the interactive dashboard to evaluate trade spend efficiency, design more effective promotions, and increase profitability.
• Sales drivers: The UNFI Sales Drivers Dashboard is designed to help brands understand the cause behind sales trends, evaluating both distribution and velocity as factors that drive top-line sales up or down. Managers can then send charts or specific store lists to leadership, retailer partners, and other team members to take action.

Share reports with external partners

While data is typically siloed within a company, the individuals taking action on a brand’s data are often external. Whether it’s a retail buyer making assortment decisions, a digital advertising partner planning an ad campaign, or a broker putting together a sales story, data is meant to be shared. Crisp’s new user permissions allow Crisp customers to share specific view-only reports with external parties. Using our bookmarks feature, these reports can be customized to the recipient — showcasing a velocity report for a specific retailer and region, for example. 

Ready to see how our new features can help your brand grow? Contact us today for a demo. 

To keep up with our product updates and data best practices, subscribe to the Crisp blog.