What started as a premium pasta relaunch quickly became a lesson in how real-time data helps brands correct execution, react to trends and avoid costly missteps.
As retailers and brands race to connect digital insights with real-world execution, shelf intelligence has emerged as a powerful tool to bridge the gap.
Shifting consumer behaviors, emerging product categories and an unstable economy are creating a host of new challenges for retailers and CPGs trying to answer the age-old question of how to stock the right products at the right price.
One of the key challenges Church & Dwight looked to solve was phantom inventory — products that incorrectly appear in its inventory system when they're not actually on store shelves.
Behind the scenes, AI quietly powers everything from inventory planning to digital discovery, fueling what Target calls a "multiplier for growth and creativity."
While some (many) retailers are heading full speed into retail media, Lidl US isn't one of them. In fact, if you ask CEO Joel Rampoldt, it will never be one of them.
Out-of-stocks can be a problem for all brands, but it's a particular challenge in the beverage category where consumers are typically looking to fulfill an immediate need and have plenty of options if their first choice is unavailable.
There's still a widening performance gap between retailers that embrace the technology and those that continue to rely on more traditional, manually intensive strategies.
