In the fast-paced retail industry, strategic assortment optimization is essential for maintaining relevance and profitability. Retailers are constantly required to adjust to changing market trends, consumer preferences, and competitive dynamics. Although price intelligence is important, the true foundation of retail success lies in effectively curating a product assortment. Wiser’s extensive data collection provides crucial insights not only into pricing but more critically into product assortment. This blog post will explore how retailers can leverage these insights to fine-tune their produc ..read more

The ‘Perfect Pour’ strategy is not just about serving beer; it’s an orchestrated attempt to enhance the consumer’s experience, aiming to elevate the act of beer consumption into a memorable event that fosters brand loyalty and boosts purchase intent. However, measuring the impact of such a strategy presents unique challenges, particularly when it comes to gathering unbiased, consumer-centric data that accurately reflects the effect of bar staff training on the customer experience. Traditionally, the company relied on its field team to assess compliance with the ‘Perfect Pour’ guidelines, but ..read more

The brand embarked on an ambitious strategy to boost impulse purchases and drive higher sales by displaying half-priced chocolates across multiple in-store locations. Each location was designated a Minimum Display Quantity (MDQ) believed to maximize the return on investment from these promotional efforts. However, despite the appealing nature of the promotion, the anticipated sales uplift remained elusive. Unwrapping the Challenge The crux of the issue was identified as a potential lack of product availability on shelves and endcaps—critical points meant for product placement during the promo ..read more

For any brand, especially those operating across a broad retail network, ensuring merchandising compliance is a daunting task. The craft brewer faced the common dilemma of how to verify that their merchandise was accurately displayed across thousands of stores nationwide. Their challenge was compounded by the fact that their sales representatives, tasked with auditing these displays, were constrained by typical business hours and their primary sales responsibilities. This limitation hindered their ability to cover all store locations and effectively monitor compliance during the critical shor ..read more

Creating the Perfect Store online merges the essence of physical retail success with digital sophistication to harness the burgeoning eCommerce wave. As traditional brick-and-mortar tactics evolve into eCommerce strategies, brands face the challenge of adapting to a retail landscape where the physical and digital merge seamlessly. What is the Perfect Store Online? At its core, the Perfect Store concept for eCommerce is about crafting an optimal shopping experience that maximizes a brand’s sell-out potential across online platforms. It’s about understanding and responding to the unique feature ..read more

In retail operations, the interaction between category management and price optimization teams is key to staying competitive. This dynamic, often marked by a nuanced blend of cooperation and conflict, plays a crucial role in a retailer’s ability to grow sales, maintain competitiveness, and satisfy customer demands. However, the inherent differences in approach and objectives between category managers and pricing analysts can lead to internal challenges, underscoring the importance of finding a harmonious balance. Editor’s Note: Contributing author is Vaibhav Laroia, Sr. Director of Customer S ..read more

A national ice cream manufacturer sought to make an impact in the market with the launch of four new SKUs. Understanding the critical first two weeks of a product launch, the brand partnered with Wiser Solutions to gain insights into distribution, on-shelf availability, pricing, planogram compliance, and the effectiveness of promotional materials at the store level. The Cold Hard Challenges Launching a new product is never without its hurdles. The brand invested heavily in both above-the-line and below-the-line marketing to drive in-store conversions. Promotions and discounts were strategical ..read more

Implementing technology solutions in retail environments presents several challenges, particularly in balancing the volume of data a brand wants to collect with the utility of that data, as well as the realities involved with in-store data collection (by field reps or mystery shoppers). A common issue Wiser Solutions experiences with customers is the inclination to gather excessive information, leading to field reps spending considerable time in stores, often manually, collecting upwards of 30 metrics, the majority of which end up not being used. This inefficiency not only burdens the field r ..read more

In eCommerce, winning the digital shelf isn’t just about being visible; it’s about mastering the art of digital shelf optimization. This strategy is pivotal for sustainable, profitable growth in the online marketplace. But what does digital shelf optimization really entail and how can it make a difference to your brand? The Cost of Ignoring Digital Shelf Optimization Before diving into strategies, it’s crucial to understand the cost of neglecting digital shelf optimization. In a digital era where consumer choices are vast, not optimizing your digital shelf can lead to reduced visibility, lowe ..read more

In the dynamic world of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), brand management is a critical function that navigates complex landscapes to connect products with consumers. This is particularly challenging when considering the diverse channels and regions through which products must be marketed. Below we’ll delve into some intricacies of how brand managers within CPG organizations manage to get their products in front of shoppers, addressing both the opportunities and internal conflicts that arise between global and local teams, as well as between eCommerce/digital and in-store teams. Editor’s Note ..read more