Signal-Based Merchandising is a data-driven approach to maximizing return on investment through continuous SKU collection that matters most, in the doors that matter most – across any store, any chain, any time
Trax Retail, the computer vision company digitizing the physical world of retail, announces the launch of Signal-Based Merchandising (SBM), providing brands with real-time visibility into what is happening within the store and on the shelf, down to the stock keeping unit (SKU) level. SBM engages a network of shoppers, while they are already in the store, to gather real-time retail condition data points – what Trax calls signals – so brands can make quick and cost-effective decisions about their store-level execution.
“The fundamental principles of merchandising are broken. Brands don’t have visibility into what is happening in store aisles which results in inefficiencies and lost sales. Consumer habits ebb and flow, and brands need real-time visibility into store and shelf conditions to take corrective action within hours, not weeks,” said David Gottlieb, Chief Revenue Officer at Trax Retail. “We’re on a mission to disrupt how the industry thinks about and utilizes retail execution today, and believe that our SBM solution will be transformative for the industry.”
How Signal-Based Merchandising Works:
- Signal Generation: Once a CPG manufacturer identifies its priority and retailers, Trax deploys its network to collect data that shows out-of-stocks, average days of out-of-stocks, etc., and report in real time.
- Store Selection: Based on the data collected, along with additional proprietary insights, Trax provides a matrix of high impact stores, allowing brands to improve ROI by only deploying in the stores with the greatest potential revenue impact.
- Shelf Correction: Following the insights garnered from stores with the highest needs, Trax deploys its flexible workforce, Flexforce, in near real-time. The Flexforce evaluates the data, confirms insights and starts to take action, working with store managers, adjusting inventory, pulling product from the backroom, updating shelf tags and more to ensure accuracy.
- Sales Increase: Brands and retailers receive continued store-level reporting and Flexforce activation as needed, as well as an “end of program” ROI analysis.
“With such rapid insight into on-shelf availability of our power SKUs, we were able to make quick decisions during a peak seasonal period in our category, ensuring our products were available where our customers needed them to be,” said Brian Felter, Sr. Sales Leader with BlueTriton Brands. “Our ability to review sales data, in-stock levels, and measurable ROI metrics in the dashboard allowed us to execute our merchandising strategy and ultimately direct resources to the right place, at the right time to drive fixes (and sales!). This program has definitely elevated our in-store execution and enhanced our ability to meet customer demand.”
Along with BlueTriton Brands, Signal-Based Merchandising was successfully tested in beta with partners like Trü Frü (owned by Mars), DUDE Wipes and more.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with Trax to ensure DUDE Wipes stays in stock as we continue to disrupt the toilet paper aisle,” said DUDE Wipes Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Klimkowski.
Consumer goods manufacturers and retailers around the world leverage Trax’s in-store execution, store monitoring and retail analytics solutions to better manage on-shelf availability and optimize merchandising. These solutions are powered by proprietary fine-grained image recognition and machine learning algorithms that turn photos of retail shelves into granular, actionable shelf and store-level insights.
