THE CHALLENGE
Ensuring product display and availability within the first 3 days of a new product launch was critical to sales performance for this client. They were looking for a way to easily identify which stores had availability issues, and the value of not fixing those issues.
The client was essentially looking for answers to the following questions:
- Which product items fall below expected sales rates?
- Do product items have low or inconsistent sales that may arise from shelf gaps?
- Which stores should receive merchandising visits as a top priority?
OUR APPROACH
To solve this problem, we used the AXIS ALERT methodology which detects precision targeted sales opportunities at SKU-level and drives field teams to the most profitable stores and tasks using 3 different types of alerts:
- SKU ranged but has No Stock
- SKU had Stock but Zero Sales
- SKU had Stock but has Low Sales
Each alert has a ‘lost sales value’ which is linked to an agreed value threshold define by the client, to prioritise action and maximise ROI. The Alerts were directly implemented into the field reporting tool, making activation as easy and streamlined as possible.
RESULTS
On top of the incremental sales volume generated, the retail merchandising team became much more efficient thanks to having a list of SKU-level issues to fix prioritized by lost sales value.
Each Axis Alert fed into a robust measurement framework that analyses and reports on incremental value stemming from each actioned Alert. Promotional execution and new product launches are more highly scrutinised for problems.