Singapore computer vision company Trax has brought its signal-based merchandising (SBM) to the USA so retailers can have real-time visibility down to the stock keeping unit (SKU) level.

SBM engages shoppers already in the store to gather real-time data points or signals so brands can make quick and cost-effective decisions about their store-level execution.

“The fundamental principles of merchandising are broken,” said David Gottlieb, chief revenue officer at Trax Retail. “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. We’re on a mission to disrupt how the industry thinks about and utilises retail execution and are confident that our SBM will be transformative for the industry.” 

SBM is a continuous, signal-driven approach to increasing return on investment through SKU collection in critical locations with the highest returns. Trax directs its flexible merchandising workforce – known as the Flexforce – to these key stores on a recurring cadence, or expands the store or SKU list.

Once a CPG manufacturer identifies its priority and retailers, Trax deploys its network to collect data that show out-of-stocks and the average duration of the issue. It then delivers insights reports in real time. Based on the data and additional proprietary insights, Trax can highlight high impact stores, allowing brands to improve RoI by only deploying in critical retail locations.

Empowered with the insights garnered from these high impact stores, Trax deploys the 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, and updating shelf tags to ensure accuracy.

Brands and retailers receive continued store-level reporting and Flexforce activation as needed, as well as an end of programme 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, 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 programme has definitely elevated our in-store execution and enhanced our ability to meet customer demand.”

Along with BlueTriton Brands, SBM was successfully tested in beta with partners such as 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 to manage on-shelf availability and optimise merchandising. These 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.

For more information, visit traxretail.com/solutions/signal-based-merchandising-sbm.

Trax (www.traxretail.com) has a mission to help brands and retailers harness the power of digital technologies to improve shopping experiences. The company has hubs in the USA, Singapore, Budapest and Israel.