“And I want 100% distribution”. Ever heard that in a brand marketer’s presentation to the sales team? Yeah – me too. Way too often. Ever had those panic meetings with marketers who have just been told that one of their SKUs is being delisted by a major retailer? Where they suddenly throw everything at some poor neglected runt of an SKU because the idea that they might lose even the least valuable listing is anathema to them? Check! Amusing maybe. But these seemingly frivolous and humorous anecdotes have massive implications for our business. We can’t hope to win with shoppers and retailers if we can’t make shopper-centric decisions about the product ranging for each customer or channel.
Product ranging – More isn’t better
“So what?”, I hear you say Surely more is better? We want to keep (or gain) every listing possible. That ‘runt’ SKU you talked about still sells, and it’s in the budget, so we have to hold onto everything. Right? Wrong. Hanging on to everything has huge, negative consequences!
Poor product ranging decisions are really costly
The behaviors described about are incredibly costly. Not just the wasted time on conversations about whether or not we should keep a tiny SKU when we should have been talking about growing something significant. Not just the sucking up of time throughout our business managing all the details, struggling to persuade retailers to do something that probably doesn’t make much sense.
The true cost of not making shopper-centric Product ranging decisions
Not just that it takes space on a shelf that could be given to a brand that really has potential.
Not just that it clutters the shelf, making it harder for shoppers to find what they want, and increasing the chances that the product they do want is out of stock.
More than that.
It kills our strategic thinking. It steals the time, that precious time, that we could, should, be using to think and act at a higher level.
Poor Product ranging decisions kill your credibility with retailers
It destroys our credibility with retailers. All that time and effort spent trying to persuade our major customers that we really care about them, and we’re here to grow the category? That all goes out of the window when we break our own rules and list something stupid, or fight to hold onto something that their shopper probably isn’t interested in.
If we want to be seen as strategic partners. If we want to build stronger, more collaborative relationships with retailers, it starts here. It starts by being smart about the decisions we make. It starts making smart decisions about what we will prioritize. And ensuring that the prioritization approach isn’t self-serving.
Smart proactive product range decisions build credibility with retailers
The inverse is also true. Proactively recommending that your SKUs should be cut (ideally as well as underperforming competitors builds credibility. At a time when retailers are under pressure and likely to look to cut ranges – proactivity here may be more than welcome.
Product ranging decisions cannot be made in a consumer marketing silo
We need to prioritize what works for consumers, shoppers and retailers.
We know you love your brands. I get that. And I’m sure brand is amazing and loads of people would love to have a chance to use it. But that isn’t the point. A great brand, that consumers love? That isn’t enough.
Having every product everywhere is great for consumers, in theory. That way we have the best opportunity of the perfect product being in the hand of the target consumer whenever and wherever they need it. Right? But how about shoppers? They don’t want to see all of these products. They want to see the right product in the right store, based on their shopping mission on that day. Too many of the wrong products clutter up the shelves and make it hard for a shopper to find what they want. They reduce shelf space to the ‘right’ product for this mission so making it more likely to be out of stock. More products doesn’t equate to more choice for shoppers. Shoppers want relevance, not breadth.
And it doesn’t work for retailers. In a world of limited shelves, warehousing and expensive inventory, retailers only want to hold products which their shoppers want to buy. Anything else is cost.
Real world stupid product ranging recommendations
As soon as we start making crazy requests, we lose our credibility. As soon as we don’t make shopper-centric product ranging decisions, our credibility with our retail partners collapses.
Does this happen? All the time.
We’ve worked with clients who came up with a ‘must-stock’ list for a channel that wouldn’t fit into the category (it would take more than the total category space, just for this brand and their product ranging recommendations).
We’ve worked with clients who were planning to base the distribution targets for their new premium brand on the distribution of their mainstream product. The new brand was double the price of the mainstream offer and targeting a totally different consumer and shopper: why would the distribution be the same?
We’ve worked with clients who recommended a ‘home use’ SKU to a convenience store chain that was targeting office workers out of home. Why? Because the ‘home use’ SKU was the biggest seller. In a different channel. To a different shopper. On a different mission. Go figure!
You get the picture!
Making shopper-centric product ranging decisions
Consumer goods teams need to start setting priorities differently. Focus shouldn’t be based solely on what consumers want. We need to clearly understand, for every brand, product and initiative, who the target shopper is, and on which mission we are hoping to engage with them. We need to make channel prioritizations based on shoppers, not our current sales. We need to engage with our retail partners in creating product ranges that truly work for their shoppers, not some generic idea of ‘a shopper’ (or worse, ‘the consumer as they shop’ as too many agencies still refer to shoppers).
A simple shopper-centric way to make better product ranging decisions
There is a simple process to making shopper-centric ranging decisions. There is an equally simple process to making shopper-centric channel strategies. Check out our shopper-centric ranging training options now. And do yourself a favor: Invite your marketing colleagues to join!
Check out our training options now, or get in touch to discuss your situation. Every one of our training programs is designed exclusively to meet your needs and your budgets.