Supermarket checkout data: how your brand can obtain and analyze it

Brands want to increase their revenue (sell-in) with distributors, by increasing the rotation of your products in store. To do this, they employ various commercial and marketing mechanisms (increasing the number of references, merchandising, theatrics, promotion, animation, etc.) without being able to measure performance. They would be better off analyzing sales revenue (sell-out) performance by point of sale. Checkout data is the only way to perform these analyses by product and by store, and measure real sales. But these famous "sell-outs" are expensive and difficult to obtain.

That is why we decided to dedicate this article to it: here, you will understand why checkout data is essential for identifying sales dynamics in supermarkets, how to analyze checkout data, and above all, how to put all the chances on your side to get it at a lower cost!

Checkout data: definition

Checkout data refers to the information that points of sale collect when consumers check out while doing their shopping. Analyzing checkout data helps to understand which products are selling well, when, in which stores, etc. A true journal of the store's transactions, this data can be enriched by scanning loyalty cards to link purchases to a customer.

Intermarché, Casino, Auchan, and all other major retail chains use them for their accounting and reporting needs. However, this data, also known as sell-out, proves to be a gold mine for in-depth analyses by point of sale, beneficial both for the retail chains and for you, the brands.

The sell-out therefore corresponds to real sales in store, as opposed to sell-in, which refers to products purchased from your brand.

When distributors share your checkout data with you, it is called data sharing. You then benefit from a powerful tool to strengthen collaboration with your resellers and retailers!

Except that as a manufacturer, you will have to negotiate it with your distributors, because they own it…

Sell-in and sell-out: the headache of supermarket brands

If checkout data is so precious for brands selling in supermarkets, it is because it allows them to put an end to the famous invisibility effect on what happens between central purchasing department purchases and checkout results.

Indeed, in intermediate distribution, the agreements you make with central purchasing departments cover a global volume. Being listed is therefore excellent news, because it guarantees you a certain volume of orders by the retail chain in general. This is what we call sell-in.

Except that…

• You might have been able to sell more;

• You do not know which points of sale are performing and which are lagging behind;

• In either case, you can only guess the leverage for success, due to lack of figures;

• In the end, how do you manage your promotional activities, advertising budgets, POS displays... if you do not know exactly the revenue of each product within each store?

While most companies track the means deployed to increase revenue, notably through shelf audits, only sell-out truly allows you to know it. In other words, although it is essential that your area managers check in stores that the negotiated assortments are actually present, you will still need to collect checkout data to analyze your results.

In the end, increasing sell-out results in an increase in sell-in!

Why analyze checkout data in supermarkets

Sharing this data, known as data sharing, generally allows you to generate the following analyses:

• Sales volume by points of sale: understand the performance of your products through better identification of top-selling products and those underperforming by point of sale;

• Numeric distribution rate;

• Impact of advertising and promotional activities: evaluate the impact of your in-store promotions and discounts on sales;

• Effectiveness of your sales forces;

• Cannibalization rate of your products: analyze your performance by product category to identify growth opportunities;

• Product performance: identify the top-selling products and those underperforming by point of sale;

• Consumer trends: understand consumer preferences and buying behaviors;

• Inventory management: optimize your stock levels based on real demand. This helps reduce stockouts or, conversely, overstocks;

• Pricing: Analyze the impact of price changes on your sales volume;

• Geographic distribution: understand regional variations in sales to adapt distribution and marketing strategies;

• Average Basket: know the average transaction value and opportunities to increase the average basket.

• Etc.

As you have gathered, analyzing checkout data is an essential process for brands operating in supermarkets, as it provides them with valuable insights into consumer purchasing behaviors at a very granular level.

The presence rate - i.e., the number of references on the shelf versus the number indicated in your distribution agreements - is very crucial data, because it indicates the importance of your ranges in the eyes of the distributor.

However, finding that the correct number of references is on the shelf does not mean that the products are selling well. Checkout revenue thus allows correlating presence, representation, and merchandising analyses with the revenue generated.

But that's not all, you might also want to use checkout data to back up your area managers when they are overwhelmed: having these automatic reports indeed keeps an input on sales without your salespeople having to systematically visit the site.

Thus, the multiple uses enabled by obtaining real sales figures make it a highly coveted object for many contacts in your organization: sales and marketing management, but also key accounts, sales directors, regional managers, and of course, area managers.

In summary, checkout data is useful for trade marketing, for area managers, and for driving commercial strategy. So, why do so few use it? Brands do not ask for it because obtaining sell-outs is expensive. To this is added a technological limitation: many CRMs do not allow them to be exploited.

Two limitations that represent challenges for brands wishing to acquire them. We explain to you, in the second part of this article: how to obtain them and how to exploit them, to get this thorn out of your side.

How to obtain checkout data?

As you might expect, distributors are aware of the value of checkout data for brands. That is why supermarkets do not hesitate to use it as leverage to ask for additional financial efforts or to sell you new services.

Data sharing data: data analysis by point of sale

Sharing distributor data allows you to benefit from detailed sales by point of sale. These are the famous sell-outs mentioned above.

Spoiler alert… Your distributors know you want them, and as usual, you're going to have to pay!

Expect, for example, checkout data to be given to you in exchange for subscribing to in-store retail media offers. These digital advertising solutions - often large screens positioned high up in the aisles - tend to replace traditional POS displays. Beyond driving sales, they allow you to benefit from a more modern image, and thus work on your brand's positioning. Obviously, it's not free…

How to analyze checkout data in supermarkets

You have obtained the checkout data and think you have removed the last obstacle!

Yet, you will have to wait a little before popping the champagne…

Data sharing faces two difficulties:

1. Formats are different depending on the retailers;

2. Linking data sharing data to the stores to which they relate.

Fortunately, Sidely takes into account all retailer formats and offers a database that integrates store codes. You just need to import them into our CRM to be able to analyze them. They will be linked to each of your customer stores. In addition, as formats vary depending on the retailers, Sidely takes them into account and links them to store codes, which allows you to establish the connection with the stores to which they belong.

In practice, integrating your sell-outs is quite simple:

1. Receive your checkout data;

2. Import them into Sidely;

3. Analyze them.

Speaking of analysis, let's get to the heart of the matter: how to analyze your checkout data?

Sidely's advice is to think along the following lines:

1. What objectives do you set for yourself?

2. What actions taken meet these objectives?

3. How to analyze these performances?

4. And so on > continuous improvement.

Data sharing and centralizing data in your CRM

This was long the leitmotif of our clients, and now it is ours:

• Why is data sharing data still outside of the CRM?

• Why does this shared data end up in the incompatible database of another CRM?

These dispersion effects harm your company's performance. At a time when EDI systems allow systems to interface, it has become crucial to be able to centralize all your data to reap all the benefits.

At Sidely, we understand these challenges and go beyond simply facilitating in-store data collection. We offer you the tools needed to integrate this valuable information.

And for good reason, centralizing your data and integrating your checkout data into your CRM allows you to have a comprehensive and consistent view of your performance at the point of sale. This facilitates analysis and decision-making, making data accessible and actionable for all members of your team.