Instore Audit: a review of store space

Excellent plans are worked out for instore sales promotion and BTL communication. However, the question is: how are these implemented in everyday life? Data from Nielsen Instore Audit shows that facings instores are not always as they had been agreed on and sometimes even some items are out of stock. On the other hand, if product placement is not impulsive enough, it will not attract attention. In recent times, the prevailing trend has been to allocate increasing amounts to trade marketing, but not all projects are successful in practice. Nielsen Instore Audit helps us to get a clear view of what is happening inside stores. It monitors the utilisation of BTL tools, products placements, the execution of promotions, consumer prices and distribution. In short, it allows us to check: to what extent agreements are complied with and how effective our sales promotions are. For example, on one occasion last year, we found that a product which should have been displayed in the cash register zone was out of stock in half the stores we visited. Nielsen employs 200 auditors nation-wide, who visit stores regularly. Instore audits focus exclusively on what customers see instores. As visits by auditors are carried out regularly, changes can be monitored. The results of instore audits with data from the Nielsen Retail Index can be used to carry out deeper analysis. The continuous monitoring of the presence of a specific product in a store allows us to decide if a fair share is achieved in practice or not, as shelf placement is compared to the market share of the product according to the Retail Index.