Why 100% Merchandising Execution Matters: The Hidden Cost of Leaving Stores Behind
You’ve spent big on marketing, new product development, FSDUs, planograms, and merchandising calls. But here’s the hard truth: if your product doesn’t actually land in every store flawlessly, you’re leaving real money on the table.
Whether it’s a planogram reset, an FSDU rollout, or your full merchandising programme, you need 100% execution. Because 85%, 90%, or even 99%? That’s not nearly enough.
Good Execution vs Great Execution
- Good execution often means “most stores done” or “majority compliant.”
- Great execution means every single store, exactly to spec, at the right moment.
That last few percent is where campaigns sink. If only some stores display the new product or builds correctly, your overall ROI gets diluted, and your competitor might steal the eye in the stores you missed.
Why Merchandising Calls Matter Too
This isn’t only about planograms or FSDUs. Every merchandising visit - shelf resets, stock checks, seasonal refreshes, plays into the same logic:
- If a store is skipped on a visit, opportunities slip.
- If displays are stale or non-compliant, it signals neglect, not brand strength.
- Incomplete calls break continuity, weaken shopper experience, and create gaps where competitor messaging can creep in.
The Marketing Disconnect: All the Spend, None of the Delivery
You pour investment into brand campaigns, media channels, influencer pushes, point-of-sale materials, and social content. Those efforts drive shoppers to expect the product in store. If it’s not there, or if the display is wrong - they may walk out disappointed and pick something else instead.
In short: your marketing budget only pays off if the last link, in-store execution, is strong and consistent.
Hard Numbers & Industry Insights
Here are some facts that show why execution isn’t a “nice to have”—it’s fundamental:
- Poor visual merchandising is costing retailers billions. In the U.S. alone, visual and organizational deficiencies are blamed for US$125 billion lost annually across categories.
- Nearly half of consumers say they’ve abandoned a store due to poor merchandising (difficulty finding products, messy displays).
- One survey found that CPG marketers expected compliance rates near 70%, but actual display compliance often averages no more than 40%.
- 49% of companies say they lose sales due to stockouts; 45% lose due to fewer displays or merchandising lapses.
- Conducting an inventory audit alone has been shown to create an 11% lift in store‐wide sales (because it reveals discrepancies and restocks hidden demand). arXiv
- Over six in ten in-store promotions fail to break even, largely because of weak in-store execution. repsly.com
These numbers underline a simple truth: without execution, marketing is a shot in the dark.
Although these are American figures, the reality in New Zealand is no different. Shoppers here expect products and displays to be in place, and with more than 90% of Kiwis shopping in-store weekly, any missed execution has an immediate impact on sales and brand trust.
What Happens When You Don’t Hit 100%?
| Issue | Real-World Impact |
|---|---|
| Distorted data & reporting | Uneven coverage skews performance metrics and masks real trends. |
| Wasted marketing ROI | Money invested has no outlet in stores that aren’t executed correctly. |
| Retailer frustration | Retail partners get inconsistent brand presentation—hurts trust. |
| Competitive exposure | Where you fail, competitor displays shine. |
| Customer disappointment | A shopper who arrives and doesn’t see what was promised is a lost sale, maybe a lost future customer. |
Even missing one store can ripple through your campaign.
Why VSS Insists on 100% Every Time
At VSS, we don’t settle for near enough. We believe that when a planogram, FSDU or merchandising cycle isn’t visible in every store, the brand hasn’t truly won.
That’s why we:
- Operate nationwide with an on-the-ground team so no store is “too remote.”
- Provide real-time reporting and audit checks so we can spot lagging stores immediately.
- Hold ourselves accountable: we don’t sign off until every store is completed to spec.
Because you deserve full transparency, full coverage, and full return.
Call to Action
Next time you plan a campaign, product rollout or category reset, ask:
- Are we planning for every store or just “most”?
- Who is owning the last few percent of completions?
- What real signals will tell us whether we got all the way?
- Can we measure incremental lift by store or region to isolate where execution fell short?
You can have the best product, the boldest marketing, the slickest packaging- but unless execution is flawless and complete, you’re handing value away.
