CASES STUDY
How Technical Solutions Kept Candy on the Shelves During the Pandemic
A multinational company sells mass market and high-end confectionery products at Walmart stores. The company sells most of its items every day but also offers seasonal items during major holidays.
Primarily due to the global COVID crisis, the company experienced major disruptions to its supply chain in 2020 and 2021. The company found that it could produce only a limited supply of its core products.
The company faced the unprecedented situation that it could not keep enough chocolate and other items in stock at Walmart. Consequently, the company disappointed customers and lost sales.
Given the supply shortages, the confectionery company needed to optimize its item distribution to Walmart stores. Readily available measures calculated at a macro level proved inadequate. To counter declining sales, the company required detailed item and store data.
The company’s small replenishment staff was overwhelmed by the data provided by Walmart and its own company. The data came from disparate sources, was bulky in size, and required transformation and cleansing.
Without a technical solution, it was impossible to compile the needed data at the item and store level in time to make decisions.
The confectionery company partnered with mOOkstr to build a set of reports to monitor the health of each item and provide actionable data.
Each week, mOOkstr provides key measures that facilitate a quick comparison of items, with a distinction made between items sold every day and items sold seasonally.
In addition, mOOkstr compiles groupings and lists of stores requiring immediate attention.
Using this data, the confectionery company could focus its efforts on the items and stores requiring the most attention to maximize sales given supply constraints.
After implementing this solution, the confectionery company was able to stabilize the Weeks of Supply on hand at Walmart stores so that there was neither too little nor too much inventory.
The company’s replenishment staff felt empowered with data to make recommendations to company executives about where to focus supply chain efforts.
In the end, the company was able to turn around declining sales it experienced during the COVID crisis and gain momentum with efforts focused on the most strategic items.