Case Study

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

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 merchandising 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.

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.

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.