Using Retail Performance Insights to Reduce Out-of-Stocks and Protect Sales at Walmart
Using Retail Performance Insights to Reduce Out-of-Stocks and Protect Sales at Walmart
The Challenge
While the chocolatier knew demand remained strong, it lacked timely, store-level visibility into where products were unavailable. Out-of-stock conditions affected hundreds of Walmart stores, creating:
- Lost sales opportunities
- Reduced shelf availability for key SKUs
- Limited visibility into recurring execution issues
- Increased risk that shoppers would switch to competing brands
The brand needed a scalable way to identify problems quickly and prioritize corrective action in the stores where the impact would be greatest.
The Solution
Using Survey.com’s Retail Performance Suite, the chocolatier gained continuous visibility into shelf conditions across its Walmart footprint.
Store-level audit data provided real-time insight into inventory availability, enabling the brand to identify OOS risks and prioritize execution where sales impact was highest. These insights triggered targeted field actions to restore availability, correct shelf issues, and improve execution at the store level.
During a six-week pilot:
- Nearly 1,000 stores were monitored for shelf availability and inventory conditions
- Store-level performance signals identified locations experiencing lost sales risk
- Targeted retail execution teams were deployed to high-priority stores
- Shelf and inventory corrections were made before issues could grow into larger revenue losses
By combining visibility with action, the brand was able to focus resources where they delivered the greatest business impact.
The Results
Reduced Out-of-Stocks
After more than 100 replenishment interventions, out-of-stock rates dropped from 50% to 17% at select Walmart locations during the pilot period. Faster identification and remediation of shelf issues helped restore product availability and improve shopper experience.
Protected Revenue
The pilot uncovered approximately $111,000 in lost sales opportunity tied to out-of-stock conditions. With ongoing retail visibility and targeted execution, the chocolatier gained the ability to identify risks sooner and reduce future revenue loss.
Improved Demand Insights
The solution revealed valuable product-level performance trends, including stronger-than-expected demand for dark chocolate varieties. These insights informed merchandising, assortment, and marketing decisions, helping the brand better align inventory and promotional strategies with shopper demand.
Business Impact
The Retail Performance Suite helped the chocolatier move beyond reactive merchandising by providing the visibility needed to detect issues early and the execution support required to resolve them quickly.
By connecting store-level insights with targeted field action, the brand improved shelf availability, reduced lost sales, and gained a clearer understanding of demand patterns across its retail footprint. The result was stronger retail execution, better shopper experiences, and greater confidence that products would be available when consumers were ready to buy.