Case Studies
Work samples have been anonymized and redacted to ensure that sensitive data is not shared.
How can we more effectively collaborate across our business units to achieve this shared goal?
Category Review Process Development
Situation:
Organizational restructuring led to communication issues between national and divisional teams within the retailer, causing friction and inefficiencies.
Task:
Build a new process for category reviews that fostered open dialogue and communication across multiple levels of the organization.
Action:
Developed a process map that included vendor partners and stakeholders from the retailer and SymphonyAI, enabling unbiased category reviews and actionable insights. Established a structured process for regular communication and review of work through the category review process.
Result:
The test project was a success, leading to a national rollout. Integration of AI-powered tools and analytics identified $4.4M in incremental sales opportunities in the kick-off category alone, with over $32M in actioned AI insights across an additional 10 categories over the remainder of the year.
Long-Term Impact:
This project fostered better communication and collaboration, driving sales growth and operational improvements across the organization, enhancing the effectiveness of category management. Additionally, it drove retailer usage of SymphonyAI’s new AI-powered tool, CINDE Insights, and incremental CPG monetization contracts.
If I expand Brand B will it recapture lapsing shoppers by significant out of stock issues with Brand A?
Supplier Out of Stock
Situation:
Significant out-of-stocks from Brand A in various categories were impacting sales.
Task:
Analyze shopper migration and develop strategies to recapture lost sales.
Action:
Partnered with Circana to pair rest-of-market data with internal loyalty card data. Analyzed brand A performance and retailer merchandising practices, discovering that the retailer was not receiving its fair share of product allocation. Leveraged AI tools to measure likelihood of demand to transfer from Brand A to Brand B. Recommended expanding Brand B assortment and promotions to fill the gap left by Brand A.
Result:
The expansion and targeted promotions recaptured $3.3M in sales that had lapsed due to Brand A’s out-of-stocks.
Long-Term Impact:
This project strengthened the retailer's negotiation position with suppliers, ensured better product availability, and provided a framework for addressing future supply chain disruptions. The work also built trust in our AI-powered tools to accurately predict customer behaviors, leading to additional projects of this nature.
Why is brand A losing sales in this business unit when other units are seeing growth?
Cheese Strategy Review
Situation:
In a national reset, refrigerated cheese sales were increasing in most business units except one, specifically with Brand A products.
Task:
Identify the root causes of the decline in sales for the specific business unit.
Action:
Analyzed key metrics across manufacturers and discovered that while overall units had grown, Brand A experienced the largest dollar decline. Through Custom AI analytics of sales data and pricing gaps, it was revealed that price gaps between mainstream cheese (Brand A), Private Label, and premium (Brand C) had closed, causing customers to switch brands - pinching the mainstream brand between the private label and premium alternatives.
Result:
Adjusted retail strategies and improved sales approaches helped recapture market share and added an incremental $755,000 in margin. The division also improved profitability by strategically managing price gaps and brand positioning.
Long-Term Impact:
This analysis provided valuable insights that informed long-term pricing and promotional strategies, leading to enhanced profitability and market positioning for the division.
If I move this event to the inside of the circular, from the back, how will it impact sales?
Ad Placement Review
Situation:
Friday promotions were traditionally placed on the back page of the ad, but sales were declining, and the back page is valuable space for high-velocity products.
Task:
Measure the impact of moving the Friday program inside the ad and compare sales performance.
Action:
Recommended testing inside placement of the Friday promotion, combining like products into the same ad block. This approach allowed for more products to be included in the promotion while using less ad space, freeing up the back page for high-velocity items.
Result:
The combined product mods saw a sales lift of 125% when moved inside the ad, compared to a 75% lift on the back page. The strategic placement resulted in around $9.6M in incremental sales annually.
Long-Term Impact:
This strategic change optimized ad space usage and significantly boosted sales. The AI driven ad-placement and product coupling analysis set a new standard for ad placement strategies, and demonstrating the value of simple but innovative promotional tactics.