As marketing and sales professionals, one of our priorities is to find solutions to accelerate sales growth while offering greater visibility to your brand and your products. Among these strategies, commando operations, also known as merchandising commandos, are one-off actions that can help you achieve this objective. To carry out these operations successfully, it is essential to follow a rigorous methodology and respect the key stages.
When should a merchandising commando be called in?
The commando merchandising operation is a dynamic marketing strategy that involves sending a team of field marketing professionals - the "commando" - into a sales outlet to set up a temporary sales or promotional operation. It is generally used when launching new products to ensure immediate and massive visibility, but also to reinforce the presence of existing products in points of sale. In this way, it accelerates the rise of DN, increasing the digital distribution of products and boosting sales.
Why use a specialist agency like Service Innovation Group France?
Setting up a merchandising commando is an operation that requires expertise and a specific strike force. Calling on an agency like Service Innovation Groupe means choosing a partner who masters the mechanisms of field marketing and knows how to maximise the impact of these operations. Our agency has a wide range of skills (sales promotion, merchandising, back-up sales force, distance selling) and is able to provide a comprehensive service to ensure the success of your trade-marketing operations.
The key ingredients for a successful commando operation
1. Identify clear objectives.
What do you want to achieve? Increase sales of a product? Improve the visibility of your brand? Increase consumer engagement?
Make sure your objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART).
2. Targeting points of sale
Identify the most relevant shops for your operation.
Take into account criteria such as location, target clientele, shop size and track record.
Opt for shops that have the potential to generate the best results and represent opportunities for growth.
3. Draw up a detailed action plan
Create a precise action plan specifying the stages, resources required, deadlines and responsibilities.
Make sure you include any merchandising strategies adapted to the specific nature of each point of sale.
4. Recruiting the commando team
The team is selected on the basis of a number of criteria: interpersonal skills and know-how in line with the objective of the assignment, availability over the period, ability to respond to the specifics of the operation, full mastery of field feedback tools and proactivity in shop execution.
5. Train and coach the team
Make sure your teams are well (in)trained on the objectives of the operation, the products to be promoted, how to present them and the planogram to be followed. Involved with the point of sale staff, the team must also be flexible, agile and ready to deal with the unexpected, while acting quickly.
6. Organising schedules
What defines the effectiveness of a commando is his ability to act quickly and precisely!
The organisation of schedules - by drawing up team route plans - helps to optimise in-store intervention times and team movements, and thus optimise costs.
7. Design promotional material
Promotional material is a key part of your commando to help showcase your products and inform customers.
So develop attractive, eco-responsible merchandising tools to support your operation.
This can include point-of-sale advertising (POS), such as posters, flyers, shelf-stoppers, totems, etc.
8. Coordinating logistics
Products and promotional material must arrive at the targeted points of sale on time and in perfect condition.
To achieve this, good coordination and fluid communication between the various players involved in product dispatch and delivery is essential.
9. Monitor and adjust performance
Check in real time that the work is being carried out on site.
Qualitatively, thanks to the analysis of individual and collective feedback, and quantitatively, thanks to the monitoring and analysis of the KPIs set beforehand.
This constant monitoring enables us to react quickly to events on the ground and possibly adapt the structure of the commando.
10. Taking stock of the operation
After the operation, it is essential to evaluate the results. This may include analysing sales, customer feedback or traffic data.
The results must be compared with the initial objectives to assess the success of the operation and identify areas for improvement for your future rollouts!
Conclusion
The success of your merchandising commando depends on a combination of well thought-out strategy, expert execution and continuous evaluation. It's a challenge, but you're not alone in this mission! Service Innovation Group France is there to support you in this process and turn your objectives into tangible commercial realities. With 60 years' expertise in field marketing, we have the experience, skills and strike force to make your merchandising commando operation a real success. So don't wait any longer, take control of your visibility and sales at the point of sale. Contact us now and find out how our team can help you design and deploy a commando merchandising operation that matches your ambitions.
In conclusion, commando merchandising operations can be an excellent strategy for increasing visibility and boosting sales. With the right planning, a dedicated team and effective execution, they can deliver an excellent return on investment.
Don't wait any longer! Take control of your visibility and sales by contacting us. Let's see how our teams can help you design and deploy a commando merchandising operation to match your ambitions! co************@*******pe.com
