Case Study

Display Setup & Ongoing Merchandising for Plush Toy Brand

Client Profile

Industry: Consumer Goods

Retail Store Types: Big Box, Specialty, Drug, Grocery, Convenience, Discount, Boutiques

Company Type: Plush/Soft Toy Manufacturer

Services Delivered: Display Building, Ongoing Merchandising, Photo Verification & Reporting

Overview:

A well-established plush toy brand, known for its strong market presence and consumer recognition, historically operated with a nationwide network of commissioned sales agents. These agents were responsible for driving sales across retail locations as well as in-store merchandising of the product.

However, given the brand’s inherent strength and consumer pull, the brand recognized an opportunity to optimize its operating model by reducing reliance on commission-based sales.

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Stores
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Different Store Types
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Displays Placed

Challenge

Despite the brand’s popularity, they were incurring significant costs through the use of their own commissioned sales force.

The challenge they were facing was twofold:

  • Cost Efficiency:
    Maintaining a large network of sales agents was expensive and increasingly unnecessary given the brand’s self-selling nature.
  • Sales Process Management:
    The decentralized nature of the sales force made it difficult to manage and scale sales operations nationally with consistency and data-driven insights.

As a result of these challenges, the company needed a solution that would:

  • Reduce operational costs
  • Maintain or grow sales volume
  • Centralize and modernize the sales process

Proposed Solution

They implemented a strategic shift in their Target Operating Model (TOM) by:

  • Eliminating Commission-Based Sales Agents:
    Phasing out the traditional sales network to cut costs.
  • Partnering with CI for Retail Merchandising and Store Servicing:
    CI provided a national framework for in-store retail merchandising and product servicing, replacing the need for individual sales agents.
  • Leveraging Photo-Based Sales Intelligence:
    During retail service visits, CI representatives captured photos of store shelves and displays. These images were analyzed to determine inventory needs and generate sales orders.
  • Centralized Sales Management:
    The new model allowed the brand to manage the sales process nationally, improving consistency, visibility, and responsiveness.

Outcome

The transformation yielded significant benefits:

  • Cost Reduction:
    Eliminating commissions and streamlining operations through CI led to substantial reduction in fixed costs.
  • Profitability Increase:
    With lower operating costs and sustained sales levels, the company experienced a marked improvement in profitability.
    • Increase in merch quality contributed to increase in sales, etc.
  • Sales Stability & Growth:
    Despite removing the commissioned sales force, the company maintained—and in some regions, grew—its sales volume, validating the strength of the brand and the effectiveness of the new model.
  • Operational Efficiency:
    The centralized model enabled better data collection, faster decision-making, and more agile inventory management.

Get started with Customer Impact

Step 1: Schedule a Call

We want to learn about you, your retail execution needs and business goals.

Step 2: Receive a Customized Project Scope

Our onboarding team will develop a strategic action plan based around your needs.

Step 3: Retail Execution

Your dedicated project team will take it from here, delivering flawless in-store retail execution.

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