Closing Display Gaps in Chain Features

It's key week, do you know where your DISPLAYS are? With more and more of the US beer market shifting to large format grocery chains (pre-Covid and certainly during Covid with a likely acceleration post-Covid) more beer distributors are learning to rely on tracking systems to know where their beer displays ARE and where they AREN'T.

(to access this article via Podcast, jump to the bottom for links)

Let me introduce you to DDSOF, Distributor Display Support of Feature. This is different from the traditional DSOF, a Nielsen metric, used to "guestimate" distributor display execution at retail. But distributors hate DSOF and there are 4 legitimate reasons why.

1. DSOF metrics are lagging indicators. By the time they are available they can't be improved.
2. DSOF metrics are based on radio/TV DMA geographies, which seem to never match up against a distributor's total footprint.
3. DSOF metrics are "extrapolated with a degree of confidence" which is derived by taking a random sample from a small group of stores and then applying those results to the entire population of stores - a method that provides "directional" feedback but never, ever, never specific actionable (good job or get better) results that can be passed down to each supervisor and route.
4. DSOF metrics almost always come from the Supplier, without warning, and are usually used to initiate a conversation about an "opportunity for improvement" on execution by the distributor.

To clarify, DSOF is a percentage, like "67%" and this percentage is derived from a fraction. A fraction has two numbers, the numerator on top and the denominator on the bottom. When you divide the n/d you get a fraction. The denominator is represented by the TOTAL number of accounts in a chain that COULD have a display. The numerator is represented by the number of accounts in that total that actually DO have a display during the given time period.

And here's the good news, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the math used to calculate DSOF. The problem lies in the "how" the data is calculated in my four points above, specifically #2 and #3. Needing a better system, I invented DDSOF. It's an open-source royalty-free acronym used to denote the idea that the DISTRIBUTOR is collecting 100% of the data in real-time for their exact market footprint and then calculating the fraction of success using the same (numerator/denominator) calculation to arrive at a percentage of success.

How do you do this? I spent nearly 2 decades in heavy western-state chain markets perfecting this system, first by paper, then with the App I invented, iSellBeer(tm).

In my early years I was asked to calculate this with pen and paper and then I had to FAX 60-something pages to our west region office each Thursday by noon to show my distributor's results for each ad feature, for each chain. (I lived in Seattle in the mid-90's, they were early adopters on putting price features on everything. No, I didn't consider taking a job with Microsoft or Starbucks or Amazon or Costco. Wudda, Cudda, Shudda, but then I wouldn't still be selling beer!) Even today this model can work, sans fax machine. But you can certainly use pen and paper to collect and calculate DDSOF each Wed/Thur and if you do it that way then you are WAY AHEAD of the distributors who don't track this at all. Yes, they talk about it, they throw the terms "gaps" and "closing" up in the air all week - but they also make so much drama around "putting out fires" that they never get around to actually calculating and recording it.

Another method I've seen is the "admin-spreadsheet" model, where each rep contacts an inside analyst, chain analyst, brand manager, or admin and provides a binary (Yes/No) answer for each account, by feature, by chain. This certainly works well and if you're doing it this way then you're half-way home to really understanding your opportunities for improved gap-closing at retail.

But why gap-close? Simple: there is no greater ROI on distributor labor for "Thursdays" than to gap-close chain feature displays for these 3 reasons:

1. The chain buyer and the distributor are expecting the display to be built. No buyer authorizes a feature + display program with expectations of less than 100%. No distributor / supplier chain manager asks for a feature + display program without calculating expectations of less than 100%.
2. The distributor, the supplier, and the retailer have all "invested" in the price discount with actual dollars with the assumption that increased volume will make up for the allotted discount.
3. Distributors and suppliers have invested in POS, thematic, cross-merch ties, coupons, rebates, or specialized packaging to promote this SKU.

For these reasons my company has made it our #1 priority to help distributors close gaps at retail with our iSellBeer(tm) app and portal. iSellBeer(tm) quickly and easily tracks "DDSOF" for distributors, sharing all the results in real-time on a mobile app, with photos and roll ups by rep, by route, by chain, by feature. Ever rep has a fraction that calcs to a percentage and the numbers roll up to the top, with voids highlighted by rep. We're now entering our 8th year in business and we've tracked over 100,000,000 cases of beer using this program with distributors across the country.

If you'd like to learn more about iSellBeer(tm) and how it can help your team sell more beer by closing chain gaps, please contact Jim or I and we'll be happy to show you a demo: Tracy Neal, Founder, [email protected]; Jim Kenny, VP of Sales, [email protected].

Here are the links to episode #033, a summary of DDSOF and the importance of gap-closing chain displays at retail.

Apple Podcast: www.isellbeer.com/apple33

Spotify: www.isellbeer.com/spotify33

Stitcher: www.isellbeer.com/stitcher33

Google Play: www.isellbeer.com/google33

Tunein: www.isellbeer.com/tunein

(C) Copyright 2020, iSellBeer, a division of CPG Data, LLC, all rights reserved.