Retail systems, such as retail inventory management, often state that a product is in stock. However, in reality, the product is not on the shelf, even though the product is available in the supply chain. A field visit is used to close this gap.
Confirming Physical Presence on Shelf
Retail inventory systems are often only updated when the product is physically received in the store. So even though the system says the product is in stock (i.e. available), the product may not actually be sitting on the shelf where shoppers would expect to find it.
Counting Facings and Checking Shelf Position
Facings: The number of positions allocated to a product on a shelf and the order in which they appear. Agents check that all products receive the correct number of facings and that they are displayed in the agreed position on the planogram (retail display). If a product is moved to a lower shelf or displayed in fewer positions than the planogram suggests, this is a breach of compliance and must be recorded on the agent’s checklist.
Spotting Phantom Stock
Phantom stock – units which appear on the retailer’s inventory system but are in reality missing, misplaced or damaged in store. Here a field agent is able to identify an empty slot on the shelf that the system believes to be fully stocked. This type of issue is difficult to capture using how retail sales data is measured and reported at sector level.
Checking That Replenishment Has Reached the Shelf
Stock in the back room does not make a sale. Agents check that recently received stock has been put out on the shelves and that prompts action by store staff to replenish stock when it’s missing.
Identifying Seasonal and Promotional Range Gaps
Field agents track Seasonal & Promotional Range stock levels to track when stock lines have gone out of season, as well as verifying that display units have been stocked. In addition they check that agreed promotional positioning has been implemented on shops’ floors. If you want a Data Collection Company, https://shepper.com is a good place to start.
Early detection of availability problems in retail enables prompt action to prevent them from resulting in lost sales.
