Certain SKUs are constantly running short in supermarkets across the GCC. And it is most of the times caused by the distributors.
So here’s how brands distributors can have a massive negative impact on products’ shelves availability.
Although consumers generally tend to buy in stores, poor on-shelf availability (OSA) and a large frequency of out-of-stock (OOS) occurrences might negatively influence their shopping experience. There are ways of controlling your OSA with technologies that continuously checks shelf space, but before we get to that, we must first understand what is causing the issue, so instead of curing the symptoms we’ll be curing the cause of it. Hyperactive suppliers play a huge role in your OSA, so if one of your SKUs is on high demand, and goes out of stock, the suppliers are the ones to save the situation.
Khaleej Times estimated that more than 11.8% of FMCG distributors across GCC have left the industry since the start of the pandemic. Now even though it doesn’t seem like a big number, but it is big enough to have an impact on the market and it is now recovering as fast as it should. Therefore, brands are left with a few distributors to fulfill the task of being a liaison between the consumer and the manufacturer, to sell their products that are currently on high demande, and to foster a positive sales-based relationship between the manufacturer and the market.
The million dollar question is, how can your suppliers stay up to date with your OSA status?
In these hard times, brands are starting to rely on technology more to stay in business and to keep up with their competitors. Some of the techy solutions that manufacturers are calling for rescue are AI store audit & live market tracking.
Which provides them an insight into the consumer’s world. Through AI, brands are now able to process and analyze all types of images in a matter of seconds using an AI Image Recognition technology. Entering the era of digital data, this AI technology was built with the aim of generating faster and more accurate big data computing and revolutionize the way research and analysis are done. ScoreCarts can create and develop customized digital platforms and tools which allow Brands to transform their real-time data into an online and interactive dashboard, easy to use and filter through the data. Functionalities and look and feel are all built from scratch to ensure that each dashboard is uniquely crafted for each business.