Harvest Group unveils strategic shift in retail service offerings

Rogers-based Harvest Group, a retail agency that helps consumer packaged goods (CPG) suppliers grow their business at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger, Sam’s Club, Costco, Harris Teeter and Albertsons, has unveiled a new brand identity — integrated commerce agency.

“As brands face increasing fragmentation among service providers, Harvest Group’s transformation integrates all commerce solutions in-house, creating efficiencies and generating strategic insights to unlock growth,” a company blog post explained.

Founder and chief executive Ross Cully said the “updated positioning” is not just a cosmetic change within the business.

“It’s a strategic shift in our service approach,” he said. “Our clients are looking for a streamlined solution to replace the fractured way of working with one agency for tech, one agency for retail media, another for retail representation, and so on. By removing the siloes and integrating all commerce solutions under one roof, we can deliver meaningful growth across their business.”

Cully explained that Harvest Group’s proprietary commerce technology platform is at the heart of the company’s new approach. Developed in-house, it uses application programming interface (API) partnerships with retailers that integrate digital assets, point-of-sale (POS) consumption and media performance for brands to compare across retailers.

“The platform further enables our dedicated retailer teams to provide clients with centralized access to actionable insights across their total business while still accounting for the nuances of each retailer,” Cully said.

Other investments announced by the company include

• Expanded Retail Coverage: Launched four new client service teams at major retailers within the past two years covering Costco, Amazon, Albertsons and Harris Teeter.
• Market Insights Team: Created a Market Strategy and Insights (MSI) team as an add-on service working closely with retailer teams to provide customers with insights across their total business.
• Retail Media Growth: Built a consolidated retail media offering across all retail media platforms through API partnerships with the largest digital retailers, including a demand-side partnership with The Trade Desk and Amazon.
• Enhanced Digital Content: Expanded digital content resources to scale content capabilities and develop new client service offerings.
• Data Clean Room/R&D Innovation: Created an in-house R&D team to test and build client solutions with emerging data tools, including AI innovation and beta access to emerging data sets in Amazon Marketing Cloud and Walmart’s Luminate.

“After almost two decades serving our clients at retail, we see more than ever that the market is rapidly evolving,” said chief operating officer Ashley Knight. “If you are looking at your retail strategy in a silo or within a single channel, you’ll be left behind. We are creating the connection needed to succeed in this complex retail environment.”

Founded in 2006, Harvest Group has 180 employees in Arkansas and a combined 282 employees with offices in Rogers, Minneapolis and Cincinnati.