Closing the Execution Gap: How Store-Level Insights Boosted Beverage Brand’s Sales

Background and Challenges

A leading beverage company depended on strategic fridge placements at grocery store checkouts to drive impulse buying. These high-traffic areas are essential for product visibility and, when executed correctly, can significantly boost sales. Despite substantial investment in securing these prime locations, the brand was not achieving the anticipated returns.

The brand faced a number of challenges:

• Limited Store-Level Visibility: Despite strong distribution, the brand faced lower-than-expected sales from checkout fridge placements. With minimal store-level visibility, the team struggled to identify problem areas or pinpoint underperforming locations, making it difficult to address the root causes of their challenges.
• Inconsistent Execution: The brand’s products were inconsistently stocked across many stores. In some cases, products were clustered in a single fridge, while others were left empty. This inconsistency reduced shopper exposure in key impulse-buy areas, lowering the chances of purchase.
• Competitive Advantage: Insufficient product placement across multiple touchpoints increased the likelihood of shoppers choosing competitor products. These execution errors misaligned with the brand’s impulse-buy strategy, leading to lost sales opportunities and reduced profitability.

Wiser’s Retail Intelligence Solution

The beverage company implemented Wiser’s Retail Intelligence to gain real-time, store-level insights into checkout fridge execution. Wiser’s solution delivered:

• Real-Time Data and Photos: The team collected real-time shelf data and photos to monitor execution across thousands of stores. This revealed that 80% of stores were non-compliant with execution plans.
• Actionable Insights: Armed with these insights, the team identified the specific stores and locations where corrective action was needed. They ensured products were consistently placed in high-visibility locations, reducing the chance of competitors capturing impulse buys.
• Strategic Field Visits: With data on where execution gaps were the largest, the team could reprioritize field visits, focusing efforts on the stores that offered the biggest improvement opportunities.

Looking Ahead

With improved execution, the beverage brand saw a significant uplift in annual sales. Increased visibility ensured that shoppers were consistently exposed to the brand’s products, driving more unplanned purchases and reducing those missed opportunities.

Going forward, the company is well positioned to maintain high levels of execution and compliance. By leveraging Wiser’s real-time insights, they can continuously optimize checkout fridge placement, strengthen their presence in key impulse-buy areas, and stay ahead of the competition.