Conagra’s Clarity Powered by Shopperations

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Shopper marketing at a company like Conagra is no small feat. Managing hundreds of retail programs across different customers, brands, and fiscal calendars is like juggling while blindfolded. For years, the team relied on a patchwork of spreadsheets to track budgets, plan activations, and report on spend. It worked—until it didn’t. When leadership needed a roll-up of customer-specific trade and marketing investments, pulling together accurate numbers was a painstaking, days-long process of chasing files, cross-checking data, and hoping for the best.

Matt Pabst, who leads the commerce marketing function for Walmart and Sam’s Club at Conagra, knew there had to be a better way. The team needed a system of record—one truth source that could provide real-time visibility into commerce marketing investments without the spreadsheet chaos. That’s where Shopperations changed everything.

From Spreadsheet Chaos to Total Clarity

The early days of managing shopper marketing at Conagra meant navigating a web of disconnected trackers, each with its own format, naming conventions, and reporting logic. No two customer budgets were structured the same way. Every financial reconciliation turned into a guessing game. Leadership reviews required teams to manually compile and validate data across dozens of files. It was an operational headache, slowing down decision-making and pulling valuable time away from strategy and execution.

With Shopperations, everything changed. Suddenly, all customer budgets, events, and spending were captured in one dynamic, always-updated platform. If leadership wanted to know how much was allocated to a specific brand or innovation launch, the answer wasn’t buried in an email chain—it was just a few clicks away. No more data chases. No more best guesses. Just clarity.

Real-Time Reporting That Empowers Decisions

One of the biggest breakthroughs that Shopperations delivered for Conagra was the ability to pull instant reports rather than waiting on a manual data roll-up. Shopperations’ report engine became a game-changer, allowing teams to quickly analyze spend by brand, product category, retailer, and even temperature state (grocery, frozen, refrigerated, etc.).

“We use it daily,” Matt shared. “I can filter by event, by tactic, by fiscal year. I can drill down into exactly what I need to see without pulling data from ten different spreadsheets. Leadership can check progress at any time, and I don’t have to scramble to put together reports. It’s all there, ready to go.”

Even better, Conagra integrated Shopperations with its financial reporting systems, automating forecasting and reconciliation tasks that used to take a lot of effort on behalf of both marketing and finance teams. Shopperations enabled ingestion of invoice payments data, allowing the team to seamlessly connect planned spend to actual payments at the tactic level, allowing for precise post-promotional analytics and more accurate future spend forecasting.

Confidence in Planning and Execution

Beyond the efficiency gains, one of the most valuable benefits of Shopperations has been confidence. For Matt’s team, that means knowing that plans are structured correctly, that budgets are aligned with business priorities, and that the entire organization is working from the same source of truth.

“If I get hit by a bus tomorrow,” Matt joked, “someone else can step in and immediately see what’s planned, what’s been spent, and what’s next. There’s no guesswork, no scrambling. Everything is documented and clear.”

This level of transparency has transformed how Conagra’s commerce marketing team operates. The ability to quickly adjust plans, track performance, and communicate with internal stakeholders means that commerce marketing is no longer seen as an opaque, siloed function—it’s a data-driven powerhouse that leadership trusts.

Eliminating Adoption Barriers and Embracing the Future

For companies hesitant to transition from spreadsheets to a digital planning system, Matt has simple advice: Commit fully.

“When we first introduced Shopperations, I ran my own Excel tracker alongside it—just in case,” he admitted. “But very quickly, I realized I didn’t need both. Shopperations had everything I needed, and I could stop wasting time maintaining two systems.”

His advice to other shopper marketing leaders? Rip the Band-Aid off. The sooner teams embrace the platform, the sooner they’ll see the benefits. “It’s intuitive. It’s flexible. And once you start using it, you’ll wonder why you ever relied on spreadsheets in the first place.”

Looking ahead, Matt sees even more opportunities for Shopperations to evolve. AI-driven insights and natural language reporting, deeper integration with retailer media networks, and enhanced sales data overlays could take trade marketing planning to the next level. “Imagine a system that flags anomalies, suggests better budget allocations, and proactively identifies optimization opportunities. That’s the future.”

What Could Shopperations Do for Your Team?

For Conagra, Shopperations has been more than just a tool—it’s been a fundamental shift in how they plan, execute, and report commerce marketing activities. No more wasted hours. No more data discrepancies. Just confidence, clarity, and control.

If your team is still wrestling with spreadsheets, struggling with reporting, or spending more time consolidating data than driving strategy, maybe it’s time for your own transformation. What would total visibility and automation mean for you?

Matt’s team isn’t the only one transforming trade marketing with Shopperations—yours could be next. Imagine cutting hours of manual work, eliminating budget guesswork, and gaining total confidence in your numbers.

We’ve gathered insights from five top CPG leaders who’ve redefined the way they manage shopper marketing. Now, you can watch their stories in a 30-minute exclusive webinar.

Reach out to Shopperations. We offer a range of software and consulting solutions to enable digital enterprise transformation for busy shopper marketers.