The turbulent retail patterns and panic-buying of Covid-19 have changed the way Australian brands and retailers make short- and long-term strategic decisions. Data-driven insight is driving increased sales for suppliers and retailers by putting the right amount of products in the right place at the right time and most importantly in front of the right shoppers.

At Strikeforce, with access to retail and field marketing data we leverage our extensive experience and knowledge to drive actionable insights from our unique primary dataset and combined them with secondary datasets to drive optimal results for our clients. Here are four key ways we use data to drive profitability:

1. Field optimisation

By integrating real-time information from the field mined from our proprietary software, Merx, and overlaying this information with contemporary trends Strikeforce is uniquely positioned to optimise in-store activity led by our industry-leading people and tools resulting in the flexibility required in today’s dynamic retail environment.

Outsourced field teams present the optimal agility to go where targeted activations are needed.

2. On-shelf availability

Maximising product on-shelf availability is critical to reducing or eliminating lost sales. Identifying meaningful insights from retail partner apps – Woolworths Compass and Coles Portal and actioning in real time increases availability and prioritises key stores to target. By linking to Vendor Replenishment Planning (VRP) or Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) services Strikeforce aligns the supply chain with optimal stock movement to meet shopper demand and on-shelf replenishment.

3. Genuine return on investment modelling

Increasing return on investment for clients is a key focus for Strikeforce. The rich data pool generated by our field team underpins services with insight and demonstrable ROI. This enables us to make data-driven recommendations to clients to drive up their return on every dollar invested over time.

4. Predictive scenarios

Integrating actionable insight gleaned from various datasets into the field model drives powerful and rewarding results through targeted activity and activations.

Strikeforce applies an agile approach to predictive scenarios based on insight to meet client’s bespoke needs depending on the objective and situation. This approach optimises return on investment and allows tactical flexibility to exploit identified opportunities for the client.

Strikeforce category and insights offer is an end-to-end process integrating market and field information and intertwining with leading space management principles and insight that is a game changer in our industry.

We are proud of our unique and powerful category and insights offer that underpins strategic and tactical activations as we strive to keep our clients at the forefront of a dynamic and ever-evolving retail environment.

Powerful retail solutions are driven by genuine data-driven insight. We are Australia and New Zealand’s leading field sales and retail marketing group. Scope a project with us today.

• Stephen Wilson is Category & Insights Manager at Strikeforce.