NutraCast: GNC on near term merchandising future

20-May-2022 - Last updated on 03-Nov-2022 at 14:57 GMT

After a more than a year of merchandising uncertainty, GNC’s Chief Merchandising Officer, Karlyn Mattson, discusses the market’s current state, growth strategies and technology platforms.

If the last couple years taught the merchandising industry anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. We’ve seen uncertainty with demand, customer behavior, and the supply chain. So, what do merchandising industry leaders think is in store? GNC’s Chief Merchandising Officer, Karlyn Mattson, said the merchandising industry is going through a pretty significant transformation right now.

“I think now I would really describe it as this age of information and the customer is certainly taking a lot more control over their decision-making over the information that they need to make decisions specifically about their health and their wellness, the types of services that they want, and their needs states are so different. And so that personal engagement is really at a high. The flow of information back and forth both from the consumer and how the retailer really harnesses that to do well by the consumer, it's exciting. It's a time where we really, really can personalize that experience for them on so many levels. So having done this for a while, it's so exciting for me to really start pivoting and thinking about all those opportunities with the customer in many, many different ways.”

Mattson credits much of GNC’s recent success to making listening to the customer a top priority.

“Because if you're not, you're not going to be ahead of customer needs or wants and I think that also has served us really well. I think also ensuring that providing information and being prepared to provide the customer information so we're ready when they're ready has also helped serve us really well,” she said. “We've been very aggressively involved in developing standards in the industry to elevate quality, safety, traceability, transparency, and the overall supply chain. So that we're all helping the customer with the right information so that they can make good decisions.”

To hear more on the state merchandising industry and the growth strategies that GNC has in store, listen to the NutraCast.

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