Georgia-Pacific finds faster, contextual answers for complex B2B purchasing behavior

Georgia-Pacific uses market research analysis and reporting platform Harmoni to investigate complex B2B purchasing behavior and find contextual answers quickly

Background

Georgia-Pacific’s away-from-home business, GP PRO, delivers hygiene and foodservice solutions designed to help businesses create safer, healthier and more efficient environments. They offer a broad portfolio of towels, bath tissue and hand soap products, along with innovative dispensing systems, backed by trusted brands and a strong distribution network. GP PRO serves customers across healthcare, foodservice, office, education, manufacturing and other commercial and industrial settings—supported by service, supply reliability and partnerships that help operators run better.

As B2B online purchasing rapidly evolves, buyer behaviors are changing and market share is being reshaped in real time. GP PRO needed to better understand how operators research, evaluate and buy in today’s digital-first environment—so we can identify the moments that matter, strengthen engagement, and win where commerce is moving.

Challenge

Against this backdrop, the Georgia-Pacific insights team set out to understand what was driving recent shifts in purchasing behavior—specifically, how loyalty patterns were evolving and what factors were influencing customers to adjust where and how they sourced products.

The analysis had to move quickly. Leadership required a report that went beyond descriptive findings to outline clear strategic options. The data spans a broad range of segments and attributes, making the analysis both comprehensive and intricate. Extracting meaningful patterns through traditional spreadsheet analysis would have required significant time and manual effort. 

Solution

Georgia-Pacific has been an Infotools Harmoni user for more than 12 years on the consumer side of the business. Recognizing the opportunity to apply the same analytic power to B2B purchasing data, the team uploaded the dataset into Harmoni to leverage its respondent-level tools and interactive analytics.

Using Harmoni, and particularly the new AI-driven ChatHarmoni capability, the team was able to rapidly explore patterns in purchase behavior, distributor usage and switching behavior across product categories and distributors. Instead of manually manipulating data in spreadsheets, they could interact directly with the dataset, test hypotheses and refine insights in real time.

Harmoni enabled dynamic exploration, allowing the team to move from raw data to narrative development in a fraction of the time traditionally required.

“Using Harmoni was a game changer for me. There’s no way I would’ve analyzed that much data that quickly. I used the ChatHarmoni feature to help synthesize the data and it uncovered an insight that I would never have found otherwise. The tool even captured the right message to include in my report.”

Results

Harmoni provided immediate access to actionable insight, saving 2 weeks over trying to examine the data in a more traditional spreadsheet format. With Harmoni, the team was able to:

• Validate and quantify shifts in professional buyer behavior

• Pinpoint changing market dynamics and the underlying reasons behind them

• Identify engagement opportunities

• Develop strategic response options for leadership consideration 
  

Harmoni enhanced the insight discovery process rather than distracting from it.

The speed of analysis fundamentally changed the scope of what was possible, freeing the team to focus on interpretation and strategy rather than data assembly.

Under budget constraints, this area of shopper insight had not historically been explored at this depth. With Harmoni, the team was able to conduct a comprehensive analysis that would not have been feasible using traditional tools.

“Learning Harmoni was far easier than I expected. An extremely quick learning curve. I was surprised to find how quickly I could interact with my own data through the platform. It allowed me to think through the story I would need to tell my leadership team. I could see patterns and formulate questions that I think my stakeholders would ask. It harnessed my curiosity and I enjoyed all the discovery.” - Alisha Meek, CCXP, Director, Insights at Georgia-Pacific