This article is brought to you by Skupos.
“Skupos has access to data from over 15,000 c-store retailers,” said Christine Shriver, chief revenue officer at Skupos, a software company that provides brands with data analytics on small chain and independent convenience retailers. “We have a data-driven approach that can help brands grow distribution, increase sales and understand their convenience-store customers on a deeper level.”
Independent and small chain retailers drive 70% of sales in the channel; however, due to their fragmented nature, these stores have been hard to access and track. With scan data directly from retailer's point of sale, the Skupos dataset provides critical insight into an often-ignored market segment.
Recently, Skupos helped an emerging energy shot brand increase new store distribution by 10% and up the number of new SKUs on shelves by 13%. How? Skupos utilized its data to identify high-potential stores for brand placement, and it ran promotional and rebate programs within its network to incentivize stores to carry target SKUs.
“We have helped brands of all sizes optimize their convenience retail strategy. We are not only able to provide data from a previously untapped part of the market, but brands are also able to action that data by running results-oriented programs within our network of retailers,” said Shriver.
Shriver says that a mid-sized brand also tapped Skupos to help increase new store distribution.
“This company faced challenges like accessing data on the independent c-store space and connecting with retailers to launch brand-funded programs,” she said. “So we created a data-driven approach to drive new store distribution, leveraging both of Skupos’ products for CPG brands, Insights and Engage.”
The mid-sized brand was able to net an additional 1,670 new stores and 9,400 new points of distribution, received a six-times return on investment and sold an additional 340,000 incremental units. “Skupos Insights provides brands with the data they need to develop winning strategies, and Skupos Engage allows brands to action that data—providing a one-stop shop for brands looking to make an impact in independent c-stores,” says Shriver.
Likewise, a larger brand came to Skupos for a solution to the independent c-store market. Large-sized brands face unique challenges, according to Shriver, including reaching new customers and identifying and navigating shopper behavior in the small c-store space.
“We created a twofold approach for this larger brand,” she said. “We utilized shopper analysis based on transaction data from thousands of stores, as well as a transaction-level data feed to really set the brand up for success.”
Because of this approach, the large brand found that it had loyal shoppers, but that the loyalty was decreasing due to other competitive brands. From these findings, the brand decided to shift its strategy, adopting a more data-driven approach. It partnered with Skupos to integrate Skupos’ data into its own reporting system and also used the Skupos Engage platform to incentivize retailers to correctly price its products, run valuable promotions and carry the right mix of products.
“Skupos allows brands to make every dollar count in the independent c-store space,” said Shriver.
This is the final installment of a two-part NACS Daily series on how CPG brands and convenience retailers can use data to sell smarter. Learn more about Skupos.