Enhancing Retail Performance: Iowa Beverage Decreases OOS Rates by 50%+

INDUSTRY: Distributor   PRIMARY BEVERAGE: Beer & Seltzer   

What Is Retail Insights?

Retail Insights connects distributors to live retail POS (point of sale) data and enables sales organizations to increase revenue by eliminating manual inventory processes, building better orders, and mitigating out-of-stocks to gain a competitive market advantage.

Background

In the fast-paced world of retail, staying competitive requires innovative solutions to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences. Iowa Beverage has seen significant success since leveraging Retail Insights in 2021. The company has received the prestigious Molson Coors Distributor Excellence Award, seen an increase in revenue, decreased product waste, and achieved outstanding reductions in out-of-stocks.

This case study showcases the remarkable results Iowa Beverage achieved with two large regional small format chains. Leveraging the cutting-edge capabilities of Retail Insights to revolutionize supply chain management has led to substantial reductions in out-of-stock (OOS) rates and elevated business performance.

Challenges of Small-Format Environment

Out-of-stock rates are a major problem for beverage distributors and small-format retailers. The challenge of out-of-stock situations, where desired items are absent from the shelves, hampers revenue potential, customer loyalty, and the ability to gain market share. Customers are more likely to go to a different store, or buy a different competing brand, leading to lost sales for the distributor and lost customers for the retailer.

Data + Analysis + Informed Ordering

Iowa Beverage used a three-step method to most effectively leverage Retail Insights to achieve an outstanding reduction in OOS rates. 

Iowa Beverage's three-step method effectively reduced OOS rates by 61% in 5 months at Kwik Star and by 57% in 7 weeks at Kum & Go.

Implementation of Retail Insights for Small-Format Retailers

• Reduced OOS rates: Iowa Beverage used real-time store level data to quickly identify and address OOS issues before they impacted customers. With Retail Insights, sales representatives were able to proactively identify low-inventory items that would not make it to their next delivery date based on sales velocity, current inventory, and DOI.

• Increased sales: Leveraging trend analysis reduced OOS rates and led to increased sales because customers found the products they wanted when they wanted them. And perhaps more importantly, retail customer satisfaction skyrocketed due to the right products being on the shelf, at the right time, and in the right quantities - leading retailers to buy more.

• Cost savings: Recommendations for inventory management, forecasting, and replenishment saved money by reducing the number of products damaged or thrown away due to OOS. Retail Insights also directly confronted and reallocated time once spent counting cases and shifted that precious time to revenue driving activities.

Value is maximized when our team is selling. We identified the need to double down on where their competitive advantage exists.

Alex Brewington

VP of Operation, Iowa Beverage

Schedule a discovery call by visiting our website to connect with a member of our team to see how your sales reps can leverage Retail Insights to reduce out-of-stocks and increase sales while saving time and money.

(970)449-8000 | EncompassTech.com