Its the Facings, St**id!
For a number of years the industry has been trying to deal with the challenge of that “first moment of truth”, the collision between buyer, brand and banner. We have had all manner of developments and innovations trying to triangulate on that moment in order to make the result of that encounter more predictably successful. In the end we have improved supply chain elements but had very little impact on the actual shelf conditions encountered by the consumer. Over the last 20 months ShelfSnap has compiled evidence that there is a lot of white space in the information we see on the supply - demand chain. That white space is on the shelf, where facings put on a products’ “Sunday Best” to try to convince that browser into a buyer. ShelfSnap has generated a unique view of that product facing in its natural habitat. The new information that ShelfSnap provides has been missing since industry players started worrying about out of stocks and other deviations from the category, promotion and shopper marketing plans. This information provides a clear analysis of what Logistics Viewpoints describes as a void in shelf level collaboration. It is the only thing not effectively measured by inference engines, POS data, audits and, certainly, not by sign or tag printing programs, i.e., product facings. The characteristics of those facings we measure include: Permanent or temporary Number Condition (in-stock . . . all of them?) Orientation (is the product putting its best face forward?) Shelf Adjacency Blocking Signage And perhaps, most importantly, comparison to the plan Pretty much everything that retail and manufacturer planners want to do revolve around facings. They plan in order to - Add facings.
- Rearrange facings. - Move facings into the line of consumer site. - Send consumers in search of them. - Promote with facings. - And, occasionally cull a particular product facing from the herd. Which is the chicken and which the egg? Are the facings allocated based on “sales results” or are the “results” the effect of the facings?
Facings have three natural enemies which are: The Consumer - Consumers hate seeing holes on the shelf. Studies have found that they have “helped” by filling in holes with neighboring products. Or, taken product out of their basket and put it on the shelf. The Competitor - This one is predictable. There is a lot of incentive to slide your tag down a slot. Or, to exchange their position for yours. Savvy competitors know that facings create sales and that discrepancies from plan are very hard for the human eye-mind combination to sort out when the shelf looks full. The Caretaker - The caretaker can be the manufacturer’s employee or agent or it can be the aisle personnel. In these cases the practice of keeping the shelf neat, tight and full can result in a change in facings
All of the changes wrought by these “natural enemies” of the facing go unseen by the planner, and not clear from POS data. Rather than infer that something has gone awry at the shelf the natural conclusion about the majority of products is that the plan was faulty or that sales are simply sliding. As a result we can’t honestly determine what’s happening What ShelfSnap provides is the only true measure of the facing and with it a clear picture of the factors impacting sales.
