The Category Management Association recently released a "2023 Line Review Playbook for Retailers & Manufacturers" (membership login required), which provides a comprehensive guide for explaining some of the common pitfalls CPG suppliers face. Product Line Review (PLR) is an evaluation process in which a retailer and supplier collaboratively assess a product line or category's performance, relevance, and future potential. The objective is to optimize product assortment, improve merchandising strategies, and identify growth opportunities. The review involves in-depth sales data analysis, market trends, consumer behavior, and other relevant metrics. It serves as a critical touchpoint for aligning the goals and strategies of both the retailer and the supplier, ultimately aiming to enhance customer satisfaction and drive business growth. While PLR line reviews are essential, they are often fraught with challenges that can make or break a retailer-supplier relationship.

Let's explore some of these common pitfalls and how HIVERY Curate can help:

Common Pitfalls

#1. Lack of Transparency from Retailers: Retailers often withhold information, making it difficult for suppliers to align strategies effectively.

HIVERY Curate Solution: HIVERY Curate fosters transparency by using data as the ultimate conversation starter. It provides actionable, store-level insights that can help shape the buyer's strategy transparently and data-driven. With HIVERY Curate, you can conduct rapid scenario planning with retailers to validate every decision. You can foresee and compare the outcomes of different strategies before implementation. Utilizing machine learning models and store-level data, HIVERY Curate assesses various strategies based on real-world merchandise constraints. With this tool, you can obtain qualified predictions regarding the potential impact of specific questions, such as:

• Assortment efficiency: How can I reduce the space I request from my retailer while increasing my company's portfolio?
• Product Innovation: How can I demonstrate to my retailer the incremental value of our innovation at the store level?
• SKU rationalization: How can I rationalize my SKUs at each of my buyers' stores and limit churn to no more than 5% so the retailer feels assortments are effectively merchandised and operationally efficient?

#2. Limited Resources for Small Suppliers: Small suppliers struggle to stand out due to budget constraints and a lack of advanced data tools.

HIVERY Curate Solution: Even without a large budget, HIVERY Curate enables you to understand the shopper clearly. Using your own sales data, you can discover retail-specific, store-level insights that allow you to convey why your products matter to the category and their potential impact.

#3. Unclear Objectives from Buyers: Sometimes buyers are unsure of what they want, leading to an ambiguous goal

HIVERY Curate Solution: HIVERY Curate allows CPG suppliers to advise on the strategy, showing each strategy's financial impact and comparing the Buyer's strategies. With scenario planning abilities, HIVERY Curate can simulate various strategies and allows for the setting of specific constraints to align with merchandise rules and financial and operational objectives to help both parties align on a clear growth path.

#4. Inadequate Communication from Brokers Explanation: Brokers may not clearly convey buyer expectations, causing misalignment.

HIVERY Curate Solution: HIVERY Curate is a powerful tool that helps you create innovative shopper strategies, identify growth opportunities, and simulate scenarios to evaluate financial and operational impact. With an average of 5% growth in a category, HIVERY Curate allows you to generate plangorams for execution, ensuring you enter meetings confidently and transparently and get alignment.

#5. Reduced Frequency of Line Reviews: Line reviews have become less frequent, making it challenging for vendors to anticipate retailer needs.

HIVERY Curate Solution: HIVERY Curate allows you to proactively anticipate needs based on sales data and product attributes. This ensures that when the retailer does reach out, you are prepared with data-backed insights.

#6. Vendor Selection Dilemma for Retailers: Retailers face the challenge of balancing focus between major players and smaller, innovative suppliers.

HIVERY Curate Solution: HIVERY Curate helps you discover innovative assortment and space strategies, from "edge assortment strategy" to identifying "Sleeper Stores" or developing a unique pack size architecture strategy that optimizes your product portfolios across single or multiple retailers. Providing strategic category and portfolio thought leadership allows the retailer to view certain suppliers differently.

The Future of Line Reviews with HIVERY Curate

Line reviews are becoming increasingly data-driven, and AI and machine learning play a larger role. HIVERY Curate is at the forefront of this evolution, leveling the playing field and unlocking larger growth opportunities for retailers and vendors. It encourages transparency and collaboration, leading to the best outcomes for all parties involved: retailer, vendor, and shopper.

Navigating the common pitfalls in retail line reviews requires a data-driven approach, and HIVERY Curate offers just that. By leveraging AI for store-level data analysis, strategy simulation, and impact comparison, HIVERY Curate provides the insights and tools needed for a successful line review. It fosters transparency and collaboration, proving that data is the ultimate conversation starter in retail.

Discover how HIVERY Curate unlocks your collaboration potential, be a hero to your retail, and have AI as your copilot for every negotiation.

Related resources you might be interested in:

• Breaking the Doom Loop: Leveraging AI to Transform Data Abundance into Actionable Insights for Retail Assortment Decisions
• Discovering 'Sleeper Stores': How AI is Redefining Retail Insights and Shaping Buying Behaviors
• Interactive Assortment Planning: Using AI-Driven Visual Insights to Make Difficult Decisions
• Can you find individual stores that are worth going to store-specific assortments? AI can