2026 POI Vendor Panorama: TELUS earns 9 best-in-class distinctions

Key takeaways

• End-to-end trade management (5 consecutive years of Foodservice and TPMx for Tier 2 and 3 / International): Recognised for managing complex foodservice contracts, operator layers, and streamlined tier 2 and 3 / international retail trade planning within a single platform.

• Automated deductions and margin protection (2 consecutive years of TPMx Deductions Management): Recognised for automating claim-matching workflows to eliminate backlogs and stop trade margin leakage.

• In-store retail execution and field operations (4 consecutive years of RetX Coaching and Training and RetX Retail Merchandising): Recognised for equipping field teams with 360-degree customer views, real-time data and structured manager coaching workflows.

• Next-gen retail AI and analytics(3 new 2026 distinctions: RetX Advanced Imaging Technology, RetX Back-Office Desktop UX and RetX Data and Analytics Visualisation): Recognised for enabling shelf image recognition (IR/AR) for instant planogram compliance, back-office desktop cockpits, and real-time data visualisation dashboards.

• Consumer insights (2 consecutive years of Consumer Data and Insights Utilisation): Recognised for integrating consumer behaviour and shopper signals directly into baseline models to detect demand shifts and surface automated recommendations.

Executive summary

The Promotion Optimization Institute (POI) released its 2026 Consumer Goods Enterprise Planning & Retail Execution Vendor Panorama, which evaluates software providers across holistic enterprise planning, revenue growth management, trade promotion management, retail execution and data and artificial intelligence/machine learning. TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods earned 9 best-in-class category distinctions.

Achieving distinctions across multiple functional areas highlights how our suite of products and purpose-built software help FMCGs streamline operations, enhance retail execution and maintain trade discipline.

Summary of TELUS’s 2026 POI best-in-class distinctions

What do best-in-class distinctions mean for leaders evaluating FMCG software?

FMCG leaders evaluating software look to independent analysts to cut through market noise. The Promotion Optimization Institute Vendor Panorama serves as a primary benchmark across the industry.

Instead of naming a single overall vendor, POI highlights specific software capabilities that give FMCGs a competitive advantage. Earning distinctions across multiple areas validates software that solves real-world operational complexity.

TELUS 2026 POI Best-in-Class Category Distinctions

Trade Promotion Management Best-In-Class Distinctions

• TPMx Deductions Management: Streamlines the deductions experience by providing ageing exposure views (30, 60, 90, and 180 days) alongside clear line-item detail. The platform automatically pulls backup documentation from retailer or manufacturer portals, matches claims to planned promotions using OCR technology, matches third-party and wholesaler distributor data, and allows teams to configure custom views to clear deductions faster.

• TPMx for Tier 2 and 3 / International: Delivers trade promotion management through a templatised process and streamlined configuration. Designed to help smaller organisations or international business units gain core TPM discipline without the cost and implementation timeline of an enterprise program, it deploys quickly while keeping the user experience simple and effective. Learn more about TELUS Trade Promotion Management.

Retail Execution Best-In-Class Distinctions

• RetX Advanced Imaging Technology (IR/AR): Uses built-in image recognition to read the shelf directly from a mobile camera, instantly identifying products, prices, share of shelf, and planogram or promotion compliance. It operates online or offline, recognises categories without a preloaded planogram, auto-fills in-store surveys, handles large shelves via blur detection and panoramic stitching and uses augmented reality (AR) to visualise display setups. Learn more about TELUS Retail Execution software.

• RetX Back-Office Desktop UX: Provides a clean, configurable workspace for headquarters teams to view, analyse and direct field activity. Supervisors get complete visibility into corrective actions and store visit summaries, while custom KPI monitors leverage AI to flag anomalies and trigger targeted field responses.

• RetX Coaching and Training: Empowers field managers to monitor and evaluate every step of a retail call to continually develop representative skills. Structured onboarding templates guide new users through in-store or virtual workflows, while managers can assign future activities, share training videos, leverage AI-driven performance feedback and provide optional on-demand Q&A support via a chatbot or live agent during sales calls.

• RetX Data and Analytics Visualisation: Delivers highly configurable dashboards and charts that make key metrics instantly readable across store, channel, client and market segments. The system quantifies lost sales from out-of-stocks and phantom inventory while embedding fully interactive enterprise BI tools.

• RetX Retail Merchandising: Fully equips retail merchandisers with the guidance and data required to know where to go, what to do and how to execute efficiently. Drawing from enterprise data, it provides a 360-degree customer view (including orders, deliveries, and promotions) to coordinate sales reps, merchandisers and delivery drivers within a single connected application.

Data & Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Best-In-Class Distinctions

• Consumer Data and Insights Utilisation: Integrates consumer behaviour data into analysis, modelling and optimisation. Best-in-Class builds consumer behaviour directly into baseline models, detects shifts in behaviour and surfaces those shifts visually or acts on them autonomously through recommendations drawn from consumer signals.

Holistic Enterprise Planning Best-In-Class Distinctions

• Foodservice: Capabilities built for the specific complexities of the foodservice channel, including distributor and operator layers, contracts and bids, commodity-based and complex pricing, channel CRM functions and foodservice deductions and settlement. While generic trade management tools rarely handle these structures well and leave margin exposed, our platform manages contracting and bid management natively, handles multi-layer distributor and operator relationships, and settles foodservice deductions within a single platform. Learn more about TELUS Trade Promotion Management.

Beyond FMCG awards: Software built to solve real world complexities

Securing POI Best-in-Class category distinctions reinforces TELUS’s position as a trusted technology partner for consumer goods manufacturers. Rather than offering single-point solutions, our platform provides a connected data foundation that turns complex operational inputs into clear, actionable insights.

Built for growth: Turning retail chaos into profitable momentum

To thrive in today’s FMCG environment, organisations must move away from disconnected systems and data silos that cause revenue to grow while margins quietly slip away. TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods pairs flexible, purpose-built FMCG software with guidance from industry veterans with deep domain expertise.

Together, we help teams stop margin leaks, optimise trade spend and deliver operational clarity across. Our POI distinctions reflect this continuous commitment to delivering technology and expertise that turn market complexity into predictable, profitable growth.