With the traditional model, manufacturers design new products and then roll them out to customers. Sales staff emphasize selling points and technological features to customers. These may appear to be innovative but are typically designed with the manufacturer in mind, and not the buyer or end user of the product.
Imbera turns the traditional model on its head through its partner Indica. Indica is a creative research agency headquartered in Mexico. In addition to Imbera, Indica’s clients include international food and beverage leaders like the Coca Cola Company, FEMSA, and Heineken.
Imbera relies on Indica’s innovative approach to creative research to help clients maximize their investments in commercial refrigerators and create successful point of sale (POS) environments.
With the traditional model, execution of a plan begins after purchase and installation of coolers and commercial refrigerator equipment. Beverage producers, convenience stores and retail outlets must then design their POS environment around the equipment.
What happens if the commercial refrigerator equipment is not the right fit for the brand, product, retail space or consumers? Waiting to find out the answer to this question after the purchase and installation of equipment is a high stakes gamble.
Indica’s Innovation Model
Imbera utilizes Indica’s Innovation Model to prevent these types of situations. Imbera’s designers and engineers work closely with Indica’s interdisciplinary team of experts from the fields of marketing, mathematics, social science, geography and the creative arts. Together, we offer customers innovative market leading strategies that clients can leverage to lead their markets.
Research is at the heart of everything Indica does on behalf of Imbera and its customers. For Indica, execution begins with a point of sale analysis that occurs before products are designed, manufactured and installed. Indica also conducts feasibility studies that allow Imbera to gain valuable strategic insights before introducing and positioning new products into the market.
The process starts by having Indica collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative information on all the competitors in the market. They also get to know the customers, their vendors and their end users. This helps us understand who is selling and buying the products stored in commercial refrigerator equipment.
Indica then looks at the point of sale space. Indica analyzes the POS space to understand consumer behavior, explore communications, determine needs and identify opportunities. This stage yields important, actionable data on what drives consumer purchases of food and beverages.
Indica looks for what stimulates consumer interest from the messages in the shopping environment to their response to POS displays to their interaction with commercial refrigeration equipment. They examine the layout of the POS space and consider how long consumers interact with the environment. Indica also evaluates the consumer purchasing process to understand what works and what does not. Indica uses non-participant observations, mystery shoppers, in-depth interviews and consumer surveys to gather this information.
Once this is done, Indica shares this information with our team at Imbera. Imbera’s designers and engineers then conceptualize and design products that will win in the point of sale space and satisfy consumer needs. Technology is incorporated into product design not just as a selling point but to increase operational efficiency, promote environmental sustainability and enhance the consumer experience.
During this stage of the process, Imbera evaluates material costs, assembles prototypes and conducts pilot testing of products. Once we have received approval from the client, we negotiate prices with suppliers, purchase the required inputs and initiate production. This process results in better designed, energy efficient and highly cost effective commercial refrigerators, coolers and freezers.
Beyond Commercial Refrigeration Installation
However, Imbera and Indica don’t stop providing clients with valuable insights once a commercial refrigerator is installed. We follow up with training for sales and customer service staff. We monitor and assess equipment performance and analyze the profitability of the point of sale post-installation. We imagine future scenarios for increasing sales, enhancing brand value and maximizing efficiency. This part of the process helps us identify potential niche markets and new areas for market growth our customers can leverage.
Imbera and Indica’s partnership is a major advantage for food and beverage manufacturers, distributors, convenience stores and retail outlets. Research is an essential part of Indica’s process from concept to implementation to follow up. This approach gives Indica the ability to be creative, competitive and flexible when working with Imbera and its clients. Indica also gathers data after execution in order to measure results and help clients improve upon those results. This positions Imbera customers to create attractive point of sale environments for customers and sell more food and beverage products.
