The Challenge
A global confectionery manufacturer in Australia ran monthly half-price promotions at key retailers, aiming to boost impulse purchases by placing discounted products in high-traffic areas like aisles and gondola ends. However, sales consistently fell short of expectations.
The brand suspected that stockouts were undermining the effectiveness of their campaigns, especially during peak weekend shopping periods. Without adequate stock to meet the Minimum Display Quantity (MDQ) – the required stock levels to drive visibility and ROI – sales opportunities were being missed.
Compounding the issue, the brand’s field teams were unavailable over weekends, leaving them unable to address stockouts in real time. They lacked the visibility and tools needed to monitor and resolve stock issues during their most critical sales windows.
The Solution
The manufacturer partnered with Wiser to gain real-time, actionable insights into in-store stock levels during their half-price promotions. Using Wiser’s mystery shopping network, the brand collected granular data on stock availability and identified stores falling below MDQ thresholds. This allowed them to:
- Pinpoint Stock Shortages: Wiser’s mystery shoppers gathered real-time stock level data at both the SKU and store level, with a focus on high-impact areas like aisles and gondola ends.
- Track Stock Trends Daily: Daily data collection captured fluctuations in stock availability, highlighting critical stockouts over weekends.
- Target Underperforming Stores: Wiser’s insights enabled the manufacturer to identify and prioritize stores that required intervention, ensuring promotional execution aligned with sales goals.
The Results
With Wiser’s retail intelligence, the manufacturer achieved transformative results:
- Increased Stock Volume by 40%: Leveraging Wiser’s data, the manufacturer successfully negotiated a 40% increase in stock allocation for the next promotional period.
- Quickly Identified Stockouts: Data revealed that by Saturday of the promotional week:
- 45% of stores had stock levels below MDQ in aisles.
- Over 60% of stores failed to meet MDQ at gondola ends, impacting visibility and sales.
- Proactively Rectified Stock Issues: With actionable insights, the brand was able to focus resources on correcting stock shortages during future campaigns, significantly improving promotional ROI.
Conclusion
By partnering with Wiser, the confectionery manufacturer addressed critical stock availability challenges and improved the performance of their promotions. Real-time data and actionable insights empowered them to optimize in-store execution, prevent missed sales, and achieve a 40% increase in stock volume for future campaigns.
Wiser’s retail intelligence provides the tools brands need to transform challenges into opportunities, ensuring smarter, data-driven decisions in today’s competitive retail landscape.
