HOW TO ACHIEVE A PERFECT STORE
A Perfect Store can only be achieved when a dedicated system is in place to measure it. This blog will discuss how that is possible to do with CRM software solutions, and the steps needed to take responsibility to monitor your Perfect Store. But first, let’s take a look at what could go wrong.
Your products displayed on the shelf, inside retail stores, have already achieved premiere status. They are on display to see, listen to, taste, smell and touch. However, how do you know if your products actually made it to the stores’ shelves? The products on the shelf are needed for Perfect Store status. If the consumers’ recipes or shopping list calls for your company’s product and the brand is out-of-stock, the consumer will be forced to buy an alternative or change their recipe. The Perfect Store has failed to live up to its name. What has gone wrong?
The stock in store measured from Point of Sale (POS) data daily scans or retail data insight could suggest the products are in stock, but where are they? If the customers aren’t buying the products, who would identify the problem and arrange for the stock to go back on the shelf? Is it a stock book error that’s preventing supply of more product? How long will it take to rectify this issue while sales opportunities are slipping by?
Imagine your company is running a promotion and is expecting the promotion to generate more sales, but sales are actually lower than expected. This would lead you to wonder what’s happening at the shelf, and if the promotion has started on time. You would also wonder if your products are being displayed in the agreed hot zone(s).
Competitors are growing rapidly in the consumer goods industry, and companies want to know what percentage of the shelf belongs to them. A system in place to know and record your percentage of shelf space will allow you to know more about what’s going on in your stores. If your competition has the Perfect Store, you will lose out. Your brand will suffer with lower sales, and could even be delisted. This is why you need the perfect store strategy.
Are your companies’ products being pulled forward on the shelf to create a neat and tidy effect or a perfect shelf? Some fridges are designed with sloping shelves to automatically push products to the front of the shelf. However, most stores don’t have this option. Take a walk through a traditional store and look for your favorite brand of peanuts. Chances are it’s on the bottom shelf with the packet turned sideways. It is likely that that product is not selling much in that store. Are your products misplaced and do you have any agreements with store managers for planogram compliance? How quickly can you produce an agreement in-store when talking to the manager?
What if there was a measurement for the Perfect Store which was data driven? How can you as a manufacturer or supplier know exactly what’s happening on the shelf and increase visibility? What could be measured and how often? How can you achieve a Perfect Store?
There is a solution to optimize the Perfect Store. You need a field sales representative or merchandiser to carry out certain activities in every store visit. The solution creates measurements as KPIs for the field force to follow. It can be used on mobile device dashboards with graphics to highlight KPIs and make them visually interesting. They are dynamic, so they change after every store visit. Reports can be produced and shared with other departments on your Perfect Store performance.
StayinFront Retail Data Insight solution utilizes POS Data to generate a complete range of KPIs and to highlight which stores the field team should visit and which will greatly improve ROI and Image Recognition for Perfect Store shelf accuracy. This Perfect Store optimization solution is deployed in more than 50 countries and in 25 languages.
It is imperative for you to identify and rectify problem SKUs that could prevent your store from being perfect. Automatic alerts and reports for the Field Force Management, Key Account Managers, Customer Marketing Teams, and Supply Chain help facilitate retail actions locally and at Head Office. It is important to ensure your field force visits the right store at the right time to attend to issues that really matter. These steps are mission critical to drive incremental sales and improve the ROI of your field force.
Perhaps you are already auditing shelves in-store. Do you know how accurate your merchandiser is? Can you rely on recently audited data to drive supply chain into action or alert the category manager to make a change? How much value does your shelf audit create for other departments? By using Image Recognition, you can achieve the most accurate results of your SKUs. Results can be received in near real time or the next day. Photos of your products and your competitors’ SKUs will give you the greatest visibility of your Perfect Store, enabling your sales potential.
Contact StayinFront, a leading global provider of mobile retail execution software for more information or questions you may have on Perfect Store optimization.
