No two retail stores are ever quite the same. Even when they sell similar products and target similar audiences, there are always minor differences in how they arrange products, manage their inventories, price their goods, and use promotions and displays to get them into customers’ baskets and through the checkout lines.
The technical term for all this is retail execution. It is something that is critical for success in retail. Yet many brands struggle with it and, consequently, fail to maximise returns from their stores. This guide looks at what is retail execution, in detail. It examines how it works, the benefits and challenges involved, and how your brand can maximise its potential with retail execution software.
What Is Retail Execution?
In the simplest terms, retail execution is about consistently getting the basics right in stores/shops. It involves making sure shelves are fully stocked, products are clearly visible for customers, and prices are right, store-wide. The object is simple: to make stores more effective in generating sales, capturing customer interest, and driving success for their brands.
Brands that get this right see 40% uplifts in profits. That comes from ensuring the products you sell are positioned correctly and have appropriate prices assigned to them. It may sound simple, but many brands get this wrong, and it can hurt them – poor availability alone can make around 31% of shoppers turn to rival brands.
The Core Elements of Retail Execution
Retail execution is not just a singular process. It is a whole web of interconnected elements and practices, all with the shared goal of increasing sales and getting more products in baskets and through checkouts. Fundamental execution elements include:
- Availability: The most in-demand products have to be in stock and on shelves, ready for people to grab and go. Gaps and stockouts are profit-killing problems that must be avoided.
- Visibility: Customers do not always see every single product in a store, so retail firms have to put them in the right places. Eye-level shelves and highlighted displays help in retail execution.
- Pricing: Every item has its price, but there cannot be any confusion about which prices apply to which products. Tags should be clear and consistent, store-wide, for no confusion.
- Promotions: Much of retail execution revolves around promoting particular products with special prices and eye-catching displays to get them into customers’ hands.
- Data: Retail firms need information to make decisions, especially where retail execution is concerned. Analytical tools help acquire relevant intelligence and data points.
The last element – data – is arguably the most important, as it directly influences the effectiveness of all the other points listed above.
Retail teams need constant access to real-time data to help them maintain high levels of availability and reduce the risk of stockouts, for example. They need to carry out retail competitor analysis to learn about their rivals’ prices and product mix. They may also require promotional tracking data to measure effectiveness and identify the optimal time for promotional campaigns.
Numerous data points are needed for effective retail execution. Although many brands collect large amounts of data, they often struggle to utilise it effectively.
Retail business intelligence experts, like Assosia, can make a difference. Assosia brings over 20 years of experience in delivering customised, data-driven insights to retail organisations. Our retail execution software and related services provide brands with real-time, actionable intelligence to build and deploy a retail execution strategy that delivers the best results.
Common Challenges in Retail Execution
As touched on earlier, companies often fail to reap the full rewards of retail execution. Indeed, reports show that 90% of companies fail to deliver on in-store promotional strategies, and retailers today lose up to 25% of potential sales because of poor retail execution. This is due to a myriad of challenges and obstacles that can make retail execution difficult to implement, as seen in the table below.
| Challenge | Explanation |
| Lack of Data | If teams lack data, they may struggle to price products, determine their placement, and optimise store organisation to meet customer needs. |
| Low Stocks | Stock outs, empty shelves, gaps. These are just some issues that ensue when supplies of specific goods run low. |
| Weak Visibility | If products are not in the right place, customers may walk right by without even seeing them. Every time that happens, it represents a potential sale lost. |
| Inefficient Operations | Staff may lack the necessary training, information, or leadership to properly implement a retail execution strategy. This can lead to inconsistencies between stores. |
| Incorrect Pricing | Missing or mismatched price tags can confuse the customer base. This, like the other issues listed above, often leads to lost sales and damage to the store’s reputation. |
Retail Execution Best Practices
To overcome the challenges seen above, it is vital for retail brands – particularly in sectors like consumer-packaged goods (CPG) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) – to master retail execution. The following best practices can help retail brands get ahead in their execution:
Ensure On-Shelf Availability
Keep a close eye on your stock levels at all times, ideally with the aid of inventory management tools and software, so you can maximise the availability of your most in-demand goods. Use the data at your disposal in order to keep stockouts to a minimum. If and when stocks start to dwindle, order more of the product in question and confirm staff are ready to restock shelves as and when needed to close gaps.
Train Staff
A retail execution strategy is only as good as the team implementing it. Many brands encounter issues where their staff members lack the necessary training or instruction to execute the brand’s overall strategy. To avoid this, provide your team members with the necessary tools, experience, and training to consistently implement your pricing, promotional, and placement policies.
Do Not Underestimate the Value of Data
As stated throughout this guide, data is the driving force of proper retail execution. Do not underestimate its importance; trying to conduct efficient retail execution without relevant data points often boils down to making decisions almost at random, with very mixed results. Use the tools and services necessary to obtain market and pricing data to inform your execution decisions.
Optimise Placement and Visibility
Place products that you want to see sell well at eye-level and in high-traffic locations around your stores. Build new displays, if needed, to highlight new additions to your product mix or use signage and other promotional materials to draw attention where it is most needed. All of this should assist in increasing visibility and, in turn, driving more sales of the products that matter most for your brand.
Monitor Metrics and Fine-Tune Execution Accordingly
To continue enjoying the beneficial effects of retail execution over an extended period, you have to commit to tracking performance and making adjustments over time. Use the relevant tools and systems to track sales performance, customer interest, acquisition and retention rates, etc., so that you can fine-tune and improve your retail execution even as your brand’s situation changes.
How Assosia Enhances Retail Execution with Technology and Tools
In the retail execution software space, Assosia takes centre stage. A UK-based global retail research agency with more than two decades of experience, Assosia has helped countless companies, from smaller brands to market leaders, gain the data-driven insights they need to maximise their performance and power their profitability.
Those brands include a leading UK hair care brand, which turned to Assosia for assistance with in-store audits to confirm that its products were implemented correctly on shelf across multiple locations to maximise ROI. Assosia’s field team experts visited the relevant stores, detailing and photographing in-store displays, to give the client a clear picture of how its products were being marketed and displayed to customers.
Assosia’s experts help gather price and promotion intelligence, both online and in-store, from a range of retailers, to help the client understand how its products were being promoted and sold. Numerous other firms have also chosen Assosia for retail audits, merchandising/POS placement audits, and other services that are vital for retail execution.
While it is possible to conduct retail execution without assistance or software, it is much easier when you turn to the pros to assist you. Assosia can provide a wealth of relevant, real-time data you can use to correct your pricing strategy, time your promotions, place your products in the right places, and take back control of your inventory management for far greater retail execution benefits, day in and day out.
Invest in Retail Execution Software for a Stronger Future
Retail execution is imperative for short and long-term success in the retail game. It drives sales, profitability, growth – all the metrics that matter the most – in shops. Brands that get it wrong pay the price, which can include declining customer retention rates and sales statistics. Brands that get it right, however, enjoy numerous benefits.
That is why any retail firm, big or small, seeking an edge over its competition and a more stable, secure future, should invest in execution. With the right retail execution tools and support, provided by Assosia, your brand can and will experience greater success. Reach out today to discuss the finer details with our team.