LEARNINGS FROM TRAX RETAIL’S INAUGURAL EVENT

On January 18th, Trax Retail, a leading provider of computer vision and AI-driven solutions for in-store execution, merchandising and shopper engagement, held their inaugural event – at the New York Stock Exchange, no less. Leaders and industry experts from fast growing and emerging brands came together under the iconic roof of NYSE to learn about the current state of retail in the industry

Over the course of the day, speakers ranging from brand leaders at Once Upon a Farm and Hello Products to the Senior Market Strategist at NYSE brought their expertise to the stage. Here are 6 of the most interesting takeaways from the event:

1. Transparent is the new black

Craig Dubitsky, founder of Hello Products and co-founder of eos Products, emphasized that the coolest new trait in retail is transparency. “Make it friendly, not preachy,” he says. As an example, every one of Hello Products’ labels has a parenthetical next to each ingredient of exactly what that ingredient does.

2. Don’t “tell” a buyer – “ask” a buyer

Craig reminded the audience that, at the end of the day, a retailer is asking themselves “what’s in it for me?” Instead of going into a pitch determined to convince them why your brand is deserving of being on shelf, find out what they are actually looking for to fill their shelves. Ask what needs they are looking to fill, and genuinely determine if your brand is the right fit.

3. Every account in every channel is its own unique business

Chris Jane, founder of Proper Good, brought up the importance of treating every single account as its own unique business. At the end of the day, you’re not running a single business – you’re running as many “franchises” of your brand as individual stores it is in. Each requires different investments, different launch strategies and trade marketing. Paying attention to each account can feel impossible, which is one of the many reasons why Chris and the other panelists – Chuck Casano (Pitaya Foods), Jessica Pratt (Pop & Bottle), and Ashley Christensen (MingsBings) – rely on Trax Retail to manage their many businesses, near and far.

4. Authorized store count =/= actual store count

Cheryl Vanvalkenburgh, CCO and VP of Sales at Once Upon a Farm, reminded the crowd that authorized store count does not determine where you’re actually placed. Thanks to Trax Retail, her team discovered that they were only actually present in 40% of their authorized stores at one point in time. Retail is not something you can “set and forget.” It’s a continuous lift – which is why having a partner like Trax Retail is critical to in-store success.

5. Living on-shelf in center store is not enough

Matt Weiss of RIND believes that much of their success came from moving off-shelf to captivating displays and endcaps in their retail locations. Taking advantage of these off-shelf opportunities was critical for RIND, and was only made possible by Trax Retail’s ability to work with each unique store location.

Announcing: Trax Smart Action

Trax Smart Action is a data-powered merchandising solution providing fast-growing and emerging brands data, insights, and recommended actions to optimize in-store execution. Shelf data is proactively collected in-store data from national retailers and is closed-looped into Trax’s merchandising solutions for prompt actions.

This comprehensive dataset unlocks a new level of retail visibility and allows high growth brands to better understand current shelf and market conditions. Key performance indicators like OOS and competitive insights are integrated into a single dashboard that allows brands to efficiently grow sales based on data-driven decisions.

Trax Retail is a proud sponsor of Startup CPG. If you are a service provider or industry partner interested in partnering with Startup CPG, please email partnerships@startupcpg.com

By Jenna Movsowitz