5 Realities Brands Must Face to Overcome Merchandising Challenges

Brands face numerous obstacles when it comes to executing strong merchandising campaigns — insufficient reporting and data, lack of responsibility, and overcomplexity in the retail merchandising process, to name a few. These are magnified tenfold during busy shopping seasons, and many retailers themselves say their stores struggle to achieve compliance when merchandising results are evaluated.

Having your brand’s product missing from shelves or incorrectly priced during key shopping times kills in-store sales opportunities. Not only that, but the results of your merchandising execution influences everything from marketing budgets to supply-chain scheduling, sales results and customer experience. So how can brands overcome merchandising challenges? There are five key retail realities they need to keep in mind when planning merchandising strategies:

1. Your brand is sitting alongside its competitors: While you surely consider competitors during the product development process, inside physical stores is the ultimate battleground. In-store, consumers have the luxury of choice, as the benefits, pricing, etc., of each option are laid out in front of them. Ultimately, the winner — i.e., the brand that’s purchased — stands out in some way, whether due to more appealing packaging, better price or another factor. See what products you're sitting next to, and consider testing different ways to stand out from the crowd.