In today’s fast-moving retail world, real-time shelf visibility isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Out-of-stocks, phantom inventory, and poor execution are daily threats to both revenue and customer satisfaction. Nearly half of retailers cite out-of-stocks as their biggest challenge, and 1 in 5 shoppers often leave stores empty-handed (Statista).
Yet many brands still rely on outdated, aggregate data that fails to capture what’s really happening on the shelf. A product may show 95% availability for the month—but not when the shopper is actually there to checkout.
This disconnect leaves CPGs asking about real-time inventory levels: Are my products truly available, in the right stores, at the right times?
That’s where Trax comes in. By monitoring shelf conditions weekly at the store level, we help brands close the gap between shelf capacity and shopper demand, also improving the customer experience.
This article explores how throughout the supply chain, how national account managers, retail ops teams, and sales leaders can all benefit from a smarter approach: Signal-Based Merchandising (SBM). Whether reclaiming shelf space, improving ROI on price, or earning retailer trust, SBM delivers real-time data and root-cause insights that drive results.
Understanding Signal-Based Merchandising
Traditional merchandising depends on periodic audits and delayed data collection reports, allowing shelf issues to go unnoticed for days—or even weeks. That means lost sales, wasted resources, and frustrated retailers. In fact, Trax finds that 80% of partner stores experience these stock level issues at least once a year, proving this is an ongoing challenge—not a one-off problem.
Signal-Based Merchandising is our smart shelf solution that changes the game. By capturing real-time shelf data, SBM acts like a live feed of in-store conditions. No more guesswork thanks to our data analytics to help guide decision making processes across teams. No more relying solely on retailer data. Just facts. It’s a streamlines and continuous solution for a continuous problem.
With Trax’s SBM solution, brands gain valuable insights such as:
· Data visibility within 48 hours
· Deployment readiness in just 3 days—only where it’s needed
· 90% national signal coverage
All of this is powered by the Trax Signal Dashboard, delivering weekly KPIs, root-cause analysis, and clear, actionable recommendations. It helps teams prioritize smarter, grow faster, and strengthen retail partnerships.
Retail Shelves Example: How a Global Chocolatier Transformed Execution with SBM
A leading chocolatier faced a major execution challenge at Walmart: widespread out-of-stock during a key seasonal sales period. Sales across the supermarkets for their products were slipping. Customers were frustrated. Retailer trust was on the line.
By activating Trax’s SBM solution, the brand was able to:
· Deploy shoppers to nearly 1,000 stores over six weeks
· Capture real-time data on targeted SKUs
· Trigger 870 visits by Trax’s dedicated workforce to 567 stores where issues were flagged
· Drop out-of-stock rates from 50% to 17% in a single 3.5-day cycle across retail stores
· Submit over 100 restocking requests, resolving critical availability gaps in consumers retail experience
This wasn’t just about fixing issues—it was about transforming how the brand executed at scale and delivered results across teams.
For National Account Managers: Build Buyer Trust with Data
Account managers are expected to deliver more than just promises—they need proof. With SBM, they can bring real-time, store-level insights into the room.
In the chocolatier’s case, the sales team used SBM data to tell a compelling story: “Here’s what was broken, here’s what we fixed, and here’s how we’re preventing it from happening again.”
That level of transparency not only rebuilt credibility with Walmart but unlocked new opportunities for displaying more product information and placement including on endcaps, and future promotions across their retail environments.
For Retail Ops: Real-Time Action, Proven ROI
Retail Operations teams can’t afford to fly blind. Limited labor and inconsistent store conditions make it tough to prioritize. SBM offers clarity—and action.
For the chocolatier, SBM didn’t just identify problems—it automatically deployed Trax’s dedicated workforce to fix them. Retail Ops could then focus their efforts, track impact, and confidently prove ROI on execution spend.
For Sales Leaders: Link Execution to Growth
VPs of Sales need to connect shelf performance to revenue. With SBM, they finally can.
The chocolatier’s results helped sales leadership push for greater distribution and investment—armed with hard data tying better execution to sales lift. SBM became more than a tactic; it became a strategic lever to fuel growth and target a broader range of customer preferences.
The Power of One Shared Source of Truth
What makes SBM truly transformational is its ability to align cross-functional teams around the same real-time data. Instead of working in silos, Sales, Ops, and Field teams share a live execution dashboard, fostering faster decisions, clearer accountability, and stronger collaboration. This in turn can also make labor costs more efficient for the business.
For the chocolatier, that alignment was key. Everyone—from HQ to field—rallied around one shared truth. And that made all the difference.
More Success: Frozen Fruit Brand Fills the Gaps
Another standout example? A leading frozen fruit brand struggling with phantom inventory. Using SBM, they were able to isolate key stores, quantify the gap, and resolve availability issues—resulting in a 40% sales lift for those SKUs.
Read the full story here: Frozen Fruit Brand OOS Solution
Getting Started with SBM
Here’s how to bring SBM into your retail strategy:
· Identify a high-priority category or retailer
· Establish baseline functions and metrics (OOS rate, phantom inventory, fix times)
· Launch a 1-week Signal test with up to 3 SKUs
· Start collecting real-time shelf data within days
· Use insights to optimize execution, build a business use case, and scale
It’s that simple.
Final Thought: What’s on the Shelf, Tells the Story
Even the strongest strategy can unravel if it breaks down on the shelf. SBM ensures what’s happening in-store reflects what was planned at HQ. It unites every team under one truth—and delivers real results.
Whether you’re fixing an OOS issue at Walmart or prepping your next buyer pitch, Signal-Based Merchandising gives you the tools to win in the retail industry with better operational efficiency.
Just like our chocolatier, who turned a critical problem into a data-backed success story—your brand can too.
Ready to see it in action? Start your 1-week Signal test today.
Let’s bring your shelf strategy to life.
