Wholesale Grocery Marketplace Pod Foods Launches Data-Driven Discovery Engine

Wholesale grocery marketplace Pod Foods is rolling out a data-driven discovery engine to expand the reach of its “infinite shelf” to more retailers in any location, according to a press release on Thursday (Feb. 24).

With the new engine, the company’s infinite warehouse of emerging brands can be linked to any retailer. Merchants can also tap into Pod Foods software and data-enriched warehousing and fulfillment platform.

Users can guide their inventory and product decisions in real-time based on consumer demand, closing the gap between physical and eCommerce shops.

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“Retailer success depends on assortment. Buyers must procure products their customers want and deliver them in the right format, at the right price, place and time,” said Larissa Russell, CEO and co-founder of Pod Foods. “It is harder for brick-and-mortar retailers to compete with eCommerce businesses on assortment because they have limited real estate — they have to optimize physical space instead of online space.”

Russell added that it can be even harder when so many are depending on “behemoth broad-line distributors” that have their own shortfalls. The new Pod Foods engine offers eCommerce and physical merchants with “targeted access to our ‘infinite warehouse,’ making it possible for them to keep shelves and/or fulfillment centers physically stocked with the most relevant products.”

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The company’s Pod Bytes data platform drives the engine, which blends marketplace data with economic indicators and other sources. Retailers are provided with tailored insights enabled by artificial intelligence.

“Retailers that can shelve the right products will win the business,” said Fiona Lee, co-founder and chief product officer of Pod Foods. “This engine will provide retailers a specifically curated product list supported by a data-driven robust logistics network, all while fulfilling procurement and delivery needs required by the industry.”