As a baby boomer, I’ve never been a big online shopper. However, I did purchase a few items online this holiday season and was surprised at how easy it was. I capitalized on sales offers, didn’t have to look for parking or contend with crowded malls, and the items were shipped right to my home, saving me time, gas and aggravation.

For today’s consumer, researching products online is the new norm for consumer packaged goods (CPG). Consumers want to know more about the products they are purchasing well before they grab a shopping cart.

As of July, the Google Play store and the Apple App Store each offered more than 1.5 million apps for download, according to Statista. There’s pretty much an app to make just about anything easier and more convenient.

The world of retail is ever-changing, and retailers continually have to innovate and adapt to the changing times and consumer.

New York-based Nielsen launched Nielsen Homescan Consumer Moments. This new offering, which will be available to U.S. clients in the fourth quarter of this year, leverages mobile application technology to create a new and powerful consumer market research tool, the market research firm says. For marketers, the Nielsen Homescan Consumer Moments will offer a visual, interactive digital dashboard, revealing a complete view of consumer eating and drinking habits. This new service will link to Nielsen’s Homescan Panel purchase behavior data to bridge behavioral patterns of purchase and consumption, it adds.

Summer is here, and Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo Inc.’s Pepsi brand is offering consumers one-of-a-kind fan experiences to some of the hottest music and sporting events, restaurants and travel destinations, it says. The brand announced how it will kick off the season with a summer campaign that will offer consumers prizes as well as a new mobile app that invites fans to "pop open music every hour."

As the mobile gadgets market evolves, beverage companies have to find ways to keep up with the new platforms.

Direct-store-delivery (DSD) solutions no longer are the clunky order-entry devices of times past, notes David F. Giannetto, senior vice president of performance management for Salient Management Co., Horseheads, N.Y.

Consumers are accustomed to placing a call to order take-out food and, in some cases, carbonated soft drinks for home delivery. Now, they’re increasingly doing the same for beer, wine and spirits.